The social construction of prostitution in Californian 'John' Schools

The existence of prostitution in society continues to be a highly contested issue in both political and social arenas. With traditional criminal justice methods to address prostitution focussing predominantly on sex workers, newly formed initiatives have been created to target the demand side of prostitution. ‘John Schools’ – diversionary programs for clients, or ‘johns’ who have been arrested for prostitution offences – aim to educate participants on the various harms and risks associated with such behaviour and claim to provide an innovative means to reduce prostitution by decreasing demand for sexual services. It is evident however, that these programs perpetuate traditional social constructions of prostitution, characterising the act, and the actors, as sexually deviant. This paper examines the curriculum of these programs in order to identify how prostitution is constructed, firstly through the depiction of the victims in the program, and secondly through the characterisation of prostitution offenders. This paper argues that such initiatives merely extend the charge of sexual deviance from the sellers of sex to the buyers, and fail to acknowledge autonomy and choice for sex workers and clients.

Organisational culture in airworthiness management programs : developing a measurement model

All civil and private aircraft are required to comply with the airworthiness standards set by their national airworthiness authority and throughout their operational life must be in a condition of safe operation. Aviation accident data shows that over twenty percent of all fatal accidents in aviation are due to airworthiness issues, specifically aircraft mechanical failures. Ultimately it is the responsibility of each registered operator to ensure that their aircraft remain in a condition of safe operation, and this is done through both effective management of airworthiness activities and the effective program governance of safety outcomes. Typically, the projects within these airworthiness management programs are focused on acquiring, modifying and maintaining the aircraft as a capability supporting the business. Program governance provides the structure through which the goals and objectives of airworthiness programs are set along with the means of attaining them. Whilst the principal causes of failures in many programs can be traced to inadequate program governance, many of the failures in large scale projects can have their root causes in the organisational culture and more specifically in the organisational processes related to decision-making. This paper examines the primary theme of project and program based enterprises, and introduces a model for measuring organisational culture in airworthiness management programs using measures drawn from 211 respondents in Australian airline programs. The paper describes the theoretical perspectives applied to modifying an original model to specifically focus it on measuring the organisational culture of programs for managing airworthiness; identifying the most important factors needed to explain the relationship between the measures collected, and providing a description of the nature of these factors. The paper concludes by identifying a model that best describes the organisational culture data collected from seven airworthiness management programs.

Efficient route update and maintenance processes for multipath routing in large-scale industrial wireless sensor networks

Reliable communications is one of the major concerns in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Multipath routing is an effective way to improve communication reliability in WSNs. However, most of existing multipath routing protocols for sensor networks are reactive and require dynamic route discovery. If there are many sensor nodes from a source to a destination, the route discovery process will create a long end-to-end transmission delay, which causes difficulties in some time-critical applications. To overcome this difficulty, the efficient route update and maintenance processes are proposed in this paper. It aims to limit the amount of routing overhead with two-tier routing architecture and introduce the combination of piggyback and trigger update to replace the periodic update process, which is the main source of unnecessary routing overhead. Simulations are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed processes in improvement of total amount of routing overhead over existing popular routing protocols.

A waste management system for small and medium enterprises engaged in office building retrofit projects

Waste management and minimisation is considered to be an important issue for achieving sustainability in the construction industry. Retrofit projects generate less waste than demolitions and new builds, but they possess unique features and require waste management approaches that are different to traditional new builds. With the increasing demand for more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable office spaces, the office building retrofit market is growing in capital cities around Australia with a high level of refurbishment needed for existing aging properties. Restricted site space and uncertain delivery process in these projects make it a major challenge to manage waste effectively. The labour-intensive nature of retrofit projects creates the need for the involvement of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as subcontractors in on-site works. SMEs are familiar with on-site waste generation but are not as actively motivated and engaged in waste management activities as the stakeholders in other construction projects in the industry. SMEs’ responsibilities for waste management in office building retrofit projects need to be identified and adapted to the work delivery processes and the waste management system supported by project stakeholders. The existing literature provides an understanding of how to manage construction waste that is already generated and how to increase the waste recovery rate for office building retrofit projects. However, previous research has not developed theories or practical solutions that can guide project stakeholders to understand the specific waste generation process and effectively plan for and manage waste in ongoing project works. No appropriate method has been established for the potential role and capability of SMEs to manage and minimise waste from their subcontracting works. This research probes into the characteristics of office building retrofit project delivery with the aim to develop specific tools to manage waste and incorporate SMEs in this process in an appropriate and effective way. Based on an extensive literature review, the research firstly developed a questionnaire survey to identify the critical factors of on-site waste generation in office building retrofit projects. Semi-structured interviews were then utilised to validate the critical waste factors and establish the interrelationships between the factors. The interviews served another important function of identifying the current problems of waste management in the industry and the performance of SMEs in this area. Interviewees’ opinions on remedies to the problems were also collected. On the foundation of the findings from the questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews, two waste planning and management strategies were identified for the dismantling phase and fit-out phase of office building retrofit projects, respectively. Two models were then established to organize SMEs’ waste management activities, including a work process-based integrated waste planning model for the dismantling phase and a system dynamics model for the fit-out phase. In order to apply the models in real practice, procedures were developed to guide SMEs’ work flow in on-site waste planning and management. In addition, a collaboration framework was established for SMEs and other project stakeholders for effective waste planning and management. Furthermore, an organisational engagement strategy was developed to improve SME waste management practices. Three case studies were conducted to validate and finalise the research deliverables. This research extends the current literature that mostly covers waste management plans in new build projects, by presenting the knowledge and understanding of addressing waste problems in retrofit projects. It provides practical tools and guidance for industry practitioners to effectively manage the waste generation processes in office building retrofit projects. It can also promote industry-level recognition of the role of SMEs and their performance in on-site waste management.

Silver Gelatin Print: A group exhibition curated by Karen Milder that investigates and captures the traditional processes using photograms, liquid emulsion, toning, hand-colouring and film. Part of the Queensland Festival of Photography 4 (QFP4).

Pillar of salt: (3 hand-applied silver gelatin photographs) Statement: For women moving into new experiences and spaces, loss and hardship is often a price to be paid. These courageous women look back to things they have overcome in order to continue to grow.

Automated risk mitigation in business processes

This paper proposes a concrete approach for the automatic mitigation of risks that are detected during process enactment. Given a process model exposed to risks, e.g. a financial process exposed to the risk of approval fraud, we enact this process and as soon as the likelihood of the associated risk(s) is no longer tolerable, we generate a set of possible mitigation actions to reduce the risks' likelihood, ideally annulling the risks altogether. A mitigation action is a sequence of controlled changes applied to the running process instance, taking into account a snapshot of the process resources and data, and the current status of the system in which the process is executed. These actions are proposed as recommendations to help process administrators mitigate process-related risks as soon as they arise. The approach has been implemented in the YAWL environment and its performance evaluated. The results show that it is possible to mitigate process-related risks within a few minutes.

From ABCs to ADHD : the role of schooling the construction of behaviour disorder and the production of disorderly objects

Discussion of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the media, and thus much popular discourse, typically revolves around the possible causes of disruptive behaviour and the “behaviourally disordered” child. The usual suspects - too much television and video games, food additives, bad parenting, lack of discipline and single mothers – feature prominently as potential contributors to the spiralling rate of ADHD diagnosis in Western industrialised nations, especially the United States and Australia. Conspicuously absent from the field of investigation, however, is the scene of schooling and the influence that the discourses and practices of schooling might bring to bear upon the constitution of “disorderly behaviour” and subsequent recognition of particular children as a particular kind of “disorderly”. This paper reviews a sample of the literature surrounding ADHD, in order to question the function of this absence and, ultimately, make an argument for an interrogation of the school as a site for the production of disorderly objects.

Revealing performance heterogeneity through knowledge management maturity evaluation : a capability-based approach

The dynamic capabilities view (DCV) focuses on renewal of firms’ strategic knowledge resources so as to sustain competitive advantage within turbulent markets. Within the context of the DCV, the focus of knowledge management (KM) is to develop the KMC through deploying knowledge governance mechanisms that are conducive to facilitating knowledge processes so as to produce superior business performance over time. The essence of KM performance evaluation is to assess how well the KMC is configured with knowledge governance mechanisms and processes that enable a firm to achieve superior performance through matching its knowledge base with market needs. However, little research has been undertaken to evaluate KM performance from the DCV perspective. This study employed a survey study design and adopted hypothesis-testing approaches to develop a capability-based KM evaluation framework (CKMEF) that upholds the basic assertions of the DCV. Under the governance of the framework, a KM index (KMI) and a KM maturity model (KMMM) were derived not only to indicate the extent to which a firm’s KM implementations fulfill its strategic objectives, and to identify the evolutionary phase of its KMC, but also to bench-mark the KMC in the research population. The research design ensured that the evaluation framework and instruments have statistical significance and good generalizabilty to be applied in the research population, namely construction firms operating in the dynamic Hong Kong construction market. The study demonstrated the feasibility of quantitatively evaluating the development of the KMC and revealing the performance heterogeneity associated with the development.

Exploring governance issues on collaborative contracts in the construction industry

This paper reports the findings of an in-depth literature review, which was designed as the first phase of a study that ultimately aims to rank the importance of key governance mechanisms on collaborative construction projects, in terms of impact on value-for-money. The absence of such information in the global knowledge base has prompted the current study. Seminal research completed recently concluded that deductive evidence with regard to the performance outcomes of collaborative procurement mechanisms is currently limited (Eriksson and Westerberg 2011). The authors aim to address this gap in current understanding. The literature review identifies key features of both formal and informal mechanisms which have been applied within collaborative contracting contexts. The literature review lays a solid foundation for designing a deductive research strategy to be implemented in the second phase of the study, which will employ a large-scale quantitative survey to shed light on the governance structures of collaborative contracts, and the ways in which they impact on realisation of VfM during project delivery in the Australian infrastructure industry. The current paper aims to identify the main categories of formal and informal governance mechanisms currently being employed globally. This will provide structure for the development of the survey in the second phase of the study.

The strategic importance of tacit knowledge management activities in construction

Purpose: Tacit knowledge is perceived as the most strategically important resource of the construction organisation, and the only renewable and sustainable base for its activities and competitiveness. Knowledge management (KM) activities that deal with tacit knowledge are essential in helping an organisation to achieve its long-term organisational objectives. The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence for the stronger strategic role of tacit KM in comparison to explicit KM. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was administered in 2005 to a sample of construction contractors operating in Hong Kong to elicit opinions on the internal business environment, intensity of KM activities as executed by targeted organisations, and contribution of these activities to business performance (BP). A total of 149 usable responses were received from 99 organisations representing about 38 per cent of the sampling frame. The statistical analyses helped to map the reported KM activities into two groups that, respectively, deal with tacit and explicit knowledge. The sensitivity to variations of organisational policies and strength of association with BP in relation to the two groups of KM activities were also compared empirically. A total of 15 interviews with the managerial and professional staff of leading contractors was undertaken to provide insightful narratives of KM implementations. Findings: The effective implementation of organisational policies, such as encouraging innovations and strengthening strategic guidance for KM, would facilitate human interactions of tacit KM. Higher intensity of activities in managing tacit knowledge would ultimately help the organisations to achieve economic gain in the long run. Originality/value: The stronger strategic role of tacit KM is empirically investigated and established within the context of construction organisations.

A prototype system dynamic model for assessing the sustainability of construction projects

There is a worldwide demand for an increasingly sustainable built environment. This has resulted in the need for a more accurate evaluation of the level of sustainability of construction projects. To do this it involves the development of better measurement and benchmarking methods. One approach is to use a theoretical model to assess construction projects in terms of their sustainable development value (SDV) and sustainable development ability (SDA) for implementation in the project life cycle, where SDA measures the contribution of a project to development sustainability and as a major criterion for assessing its feasibility. This paper develops an improved SDA prototype model that incorporates the effects of dynamical factors on project sustainability. This involves the introduction of two major factors concerning technological advancement and changes in people's perceptions. A case study is used to demonstrate the procedures involved in simulation and modeling, one outcome of which is to demonstrate the greater influence of technological advancement on project sustainability than changes in perception.

Impact of the internal business environment on knowledge management within construction organisations

Purpose: Recent knowledge management (KM) literature suggests that KM activities are influenced by the elements of the internal business environment (BE) of organisations. This paper attempts to provide some unique insights into the contextual input of the KM process through empirically identifying the major factors (i.e. “forces”) within the internal BE of construction organisations operating in Hong Kong, and investigating their impact on the intensity of KM activities. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was administered to a sample of construction contractors operating in Hong Kong to elicit opinions on the internal BE and intensity of KM activities as executed by targeted organisations. A total of 149 usable responses were received from 99 organisations representing about 38 percent of the research population. In parallel, to the survey, a total of 15 semi-structured interviews were undertaken to provide more insights into the phenomenon under investigation. Findings: Supported by the empirical and qualitative evidence, this study established that firstly, both organisational and technical environments have the capacity to either positively or negatively impact the intensity of KM activities, and both environments serve as stimuli in increasing each other's dynamism; secondly, certain types of KM activities are stronger “energy receivers” and easily to be “powered up” by manipulating factors representing these two environments. Then, through interactions between KM activities, the intensity of the whole strategic KM cycle will be increased thus helping to strengthen organisational competitive advantage.

Real-time risk monitoring in business processes : a sensor-based approach

This article proposes an approach for real-time monitoring of risks in executable business process models. The approach considers risks in all phases of the business process management lifecycle, from process design, where risks are defined on top of process models, through to process diagnosis, where risks are detected during process execution. The approach has been realized via a distributed, sensor-based architecture. At design-time, sensors are defined to specify risk conditions which when fulfilled, are a likely indicator of negative process states (faults) to eventuate. Both historical and current process execution data can be used to compose such conditions. At run-time, each sensor independently notifies a sensor manager when a risk is detected. In turn, the sensor manager interacts with the monitoring component of a business process management system to prompt the results to process administrators who may take remedial actions. The proposed architecture has been implemented on top of the YAWL system, and evaluated through performance measurements and usability tests with students. The results show that risk conditions can be computed efficiently and that the approach is perceived as useful by the participants in the tests.

Scheduling decisions and their dynamic consequences on construction performance

Construction practitioners often experience unexpected results of their scheduling-related decisions. This is mainly due to lack of understanding of the dynamic nature of construction system. However, very little attention has been given to its significant importance and few empirical studies have been undertaken on this issue. This paper, therefore, analyzes the effect of aggressive scheduling, overtime, resource adding, and schedule slippage on construction performance, focusing on workers’ reactions to those scheduling decisions. Survey data from 102 construction practitioners in 38 construction sites are used for the analysis. The results indicate that efforts to increase work rate by working overtime, resource adding, and aggressive scheduling can be offset due to losses in productivity and quality. Based on the research findings, practical guidelines are then discussed to help site managers to effectively deal with the dynamics of scheduling and improve construction performance.

Reasoning about component similarity in building product models from the construction perspective

Identifying the design features that impact construction is essential to developing cost effective and constructible designs. The similarity of building components is a critical design feature that affects method selection, productivity, and ultimately construction cost and schedule performance. However, there is limited understanding of what constitutes similarity in the design of building components and limited computer-based support to identify this feature in a building product model. This paper contributes a feature-based framework for representing and reasoning about component similarity that builds on ontological modelling, model-based reasoning and cluster analysis techniques. It describes the ontology we developed to characterize component similarity in terms of the component attributes, the direction, and the degree of variation. It also describes the generic reasoning process we formalized to identify component similarity in a standard product model based on practitioners' varied preferences. The generic reasoning process evaluates the geometric, topological, and symbolic similarities between components, creates groupings of similar components, and quantifies the degree of similarity. We implemented this reasoning process in a prototype cost estimating application, which creates and maintains cost estimates based on a building product model. Validation studies of the prototype system provide evidence that the framework is general and enables a more accurate and efficient cost estimating process.