Recent advances in catalytic/biocatalytic conversion of greenhouse methane and carbon dioxide to methanol and other oxygenates

Methane gas has been identified as the most destructive greenhouse gas (Liu et al., 2004). It was reported that the global warming potential of methane per molecule relative to CO2 is approximately 23 on a 100-year timescale or 62 over a 20-year period (IPCC, 2001). Methane has high C-H bond energy of about 439 kJ/mol and other higher alkanes (or saturated hydrocarbons) also have a very strong C-C and C-H bonds, thus making their molecules to have no empty orbitals of low energy or filled orbitals of high energy that could readily participate in chemical reactions as is the case with unsaturated hydrocarbons such as olefins and alkynes (Crabtree, 1994; Labinger & Bercaw, 2002)...

Improving quality management system implementation in Indonesian construction companies

As the Indonesian construction industry is now promising to become the engine of national economic development, achieving quality and higher performance, not only domestically but also in the international market, are becoming crucial issues. Implementing quality management systems (QMSs) based on ISO 9001 are important in helping Indonesian construction companies become more competitive, for it is acknowledged that quality in construction is a major concern in the global construction industry. However, the possession of ISO 9001 certification does not reflect the presence of a well-operated QMS, which is capable of giving customer and project end-users satisfaction. The review of literature found that there is a significant correlation between a company.s organisational culture and the quality performance of contractors. While research into this area has involved many researchers, there is no critical mass of information specifically related to the Indonesian situation. Studies based on contemporary perspectives of the characteristics of the Indonesian construction organisational culture using Cameron and Quinn.s Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) and its relationship with the contractor.s ISO 9001 practices, have not been previously undertaken. This thesis research, therefore, investigated the culture profiles in Indonesian construction organisations, together with the current implementation of ISO 9001 and their performance during implementing QMSs, as information in these areas has a bearing on the poor performance and low levels of competitiveness of Indonesian construction companies. Questionnaire surveys were distributed to selected representative grade 7 civil engineering contractors located in the two provincial capitals of Makassar and Manado, and the national capital, Jakarta, in order to collect responses designed to examine the effectiveness of their QMSs implementation. The survey also aimed to identify current problems within the systems, and examine the performance of companies while implementing their QMSs. The questionnaire contained questions to assess the organisational culture profiles of Indonesian construction companies, adopting the OCAI. The survey results were then used to analyse the influence of different organisational culture profiles on QMSs implementation among respondent companies. The results from the questionnaire survey supported the development of a Culture-based Quality Management System Improvement Implementation Framework, designed to help Indonesian construction companies identify some typical barriers associated with impacting on effective QMSs implementation; to assist them to develop cultural values that can drive effective QMSs implementation; to undertake effective QMSs practices; and to recognise the potential results and longer-term benefits obtainable from implementing effective QMSs. A Focus Group Discussion was conducted with the assistance of a panel of professional construction practitioners, policy makers and academic experts, which further considered and validated the usefulness and applicability of the framework. Based on the outcome from this discussion and on the results of the earlier data analysis, a final version of the framework was developed to assist Indonesian construction companies in improving their capability of construction project delivery, and thereby contribute to providing or improving the competitive advantage of Indonesian construction companies in the local, national and global construction market.

Collaborating to develop research data management services and collections

The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Library, like many other academic and research institution libraries in Australia, has been collaborating with a range of academic and service provider partners to develop a range of research data management services and collections. Three main strategies are being employed and an overview of process, infrastructure, usage and benefits is provided of each of these service aspects. The development of processes and infrastructure to facilitate the strategic identification and management of QUT developed datasets has been a major focus. A number of Australian National Data Service (ANDS) sponsored projects - including Seeding the Commons; Metadata Hub / Store; Data Capture and Gold Standard Record Exemplars have / will provide QUT with a data registry system, linkages to storage, processes for identifying and describing datasets, and a degree of academic awareness. QUT supports open access and has established a culture for making its research outputs available via the QUT ePrints institutional repository. Incorporating open access research datasets into the library collections is an equally important aspect of facilitating the adoption of data-centric eresearch methods. Some datasets are available commercially, and the library has collaborated with QUT researchers, in the QUT Business School especially strongly, to identify and procure a rapidly growing range of financial datasets to support research. The library undertakes licensing and uses the Library Resource Allocation to pay for the subscriptions. It is a new area of collection development for with much to be learned. The final strategy discussed is the library acting as “data broker”. QUT Library has been working with researchers to identify these datasets and undertake the licensing, payment and access as a centrally supported service on behalf of researchers.

Which cultural values matter to business process management? Results from a global Delphi study

Purpose – Business process management (BPM) requires a holistic perspective that includes managing the culture of an organization to achieve objectives of efficient and effective business processes. Still, the specifics of a BPM-supportive organizational culture have not been examined so far. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics of a cultural setting supportive of BPM objectives. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the constituent values of a BPM-supportive cultural setting through a global Delphi study with BPM experts from academia and practice and explore these values in a cultural value framework. Findings – The paper empirically identifies and defines four key cultural values supporting BPM, viz., customer orientation, excellence, responsibility, and teamwork. The paper discusses the relationships between these values and identifies a particular challenge in managing these seemingly competing values. Research limitations/implications – The identification and definition of these values represents a first step towards the operationalization (and empirical analysis) of what has been identified as the concept of BPM culture, i.e. a culture supportive of achieving BPM objectives. Practical implications – Identifying these cultural values provides the basis for developing an instrument that can measure how far an existing cultural context is supportive of BPM. This, in turn, is fundamental for identifying measures towards achieving a BPM culture as a necessary, yet not sufficient means to obtain BPM success. Originality/value – The paper examines which cultural values create an environment receptive for BPM and, thus, specifies the important theoretical construct BPM culture. In addition, the paper raises awareness for realizing these values in a BPM context.

Multidisciplinary team approach for a peer-support based cardiac-diabetes self-management program

Background: Cardiac patients with diabetes are at higher readmission rates (22%) compared to only 6% for those patients without diabetes. Evidence shows benefits of peer support and using information technology to improve chronic illness and achieve better health outcomes. However limited evidence suggests that cardiac or diabetes self-management programs incorporating peer supporters (patients with similar conditions) or telephone and text-messaging, have improved health outcomes and reduce health care utilisations. A multidisciplinary research team approach is crucial to accommodate the complex aspects of delivering intervention programs for these at-risk patients. However, challenges such as the inconsistency in significance of key concepts across research fields, as well as practical and operational issues within different contexts are often experienced. Aims: To develop an effective multidisciplinary team approach to deliver a peer support based cardiac-diabetes self-management program incorporating the preparation of lay personnel to provide telephone and text-messaging follow up support. Methods: The approach was used for a multidisciplinary project using randomised controlled trial. Results: The findings from multidisciplinary team approach reveal the feasibility of a Peer support based cardiac-diabetes self-management program.

Organisational obstacles to reducing carbon emissions in Hong Kong

An emerging theme for a nation transiting into a sustainable future is the provision of a low carbon (dioxide) environment. Carbon emission reduction is therefore important for the industry and community as a whole. Buildings contribute immensely to total greenhouse gas emissions, so pragmatic actions need to be taken to cut the amount of carbon emitted by the construction industry. These typically involve strategies such as energy-saving features in the design, construction and operation of building projects. However, a variety of characteristics of the markets and stakeholders involved are suppressing their development. This paper reports on a series of interviews with a variety of Hong Kong construction project participants aimed at identifying the drivers of, and obstacles to, the construction industry's attempts to reduce carbon emissions. The results confirm the main actions currently undertaken are energy efficiency enhancement, green procurement, research and development activities, waste/water management and other technical measures such as the provision of thermal insulation. The majority of the drivers are economical in nature, suggesting that financial aids, and particularly government incentives, are likely to be useful motivators. Also suggested is the increased promotion of the benefits of environmental sustainability to the wider community, in order to alert the general public to the need for reducing the amount of carbon originating from building usage.

Reconceptualising policy integration in road safety management

Unless sustained, coordinated action is generated in road safety, road traffic deaths are poised to rise from approximately 1.3 to 1.9 million a year by 2020 (Krug, 2012). To generate this harmonised response, road safety management agencies are being urged to adopt multisectoral collaboration (WHO, 2009b), which is achievable through the principle of policy integration. Yet policy integration, in its current hierarchical format, is marred by a lack of universality of its interpretation, a failure to anticipate the complexities of coordinated effort, dearth of information about its design and the absence of a normative perspective to share responsibility. This paper addresses this ill-conception of policy integration by reconceptualising it through a qualitative examination of 16 road safety stakeholders’ written submissions, lodged with the Australian Transport Council in 2011. The resulting, new principle of policy integration, Participatory Deliberative Integration, provides a conceptual framework for the alignment of effort across stakeholders in transport, health, traffic law enforcement, relevant trades and the community. With the adoption of Participatory Deliberative Integration, road safety management agencies should secure the commitment of key stakeholders in the development and implementation of, amongst other policy measures, National Road Safety Strategies and Mix Mode Integrated Timetabling.

Livestock production in a changing climate : adaptation and mitigation research in Australia

Climate change presents a range of challenges for animal agriculture in Australia. Livestock production will be affected by changes in temperature and water availability through impacts on pasture and forage crop quantity and quality, feed-grain production and price, and disease and pest distributions. This paper provides an overview of these impacts and the broader effects on landscape functionality, with a focus on recent research on effects of increasing temperature, changing rainfall patterns, and increased climate variability on animal health, growth, and reproduction, including through heat stress, and potential adaptation strategies. The rate of adoption of adaptation strategies by livestock producers will depend on perceptions of the uncertainty in projected climate and regional-scale impacts and associated risk. However, management changes adopted by farmers in parts of Australia during recent extended drought and associated heatwaves, trends consistent with long-term predicted climate patterns, provide some insights into the capacity for practical adaptation strategies. Animal production systems will also be significantly affected by climate change policy and national targets to address greenhouse gas emissions, since livestock are estimated to contribute ~10% of Australia’s total emissions and 8–11% of global emissions, with additional farm emissions associated with activities such as feed production. More than two-thirds of emissions are attributed to ruminant animals. This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities facing livestock industries in Australia in adapting to and mitigating climate change. It examines the research needed to better define practical options to reduce the emissions intensity of livestock products, enhance adaptation opportunities, and support the continued contribution of animal agriculture to Australia’s economy, environment, and regional communities.

Brave new green world : consequences of a carbon economy for the conservation of Australian biodiversity

Pricing greenhouse gas emissions is a burgeoning and possibly lucrative financial means for climate change mitigation. Emissions pricing is being used to fund emissions-abatement technologies and to modify land management to improve carbon sequestration and retention. Here we discuss the principal land-management options under existing and realistic future emissions-price legislation in Australia, and examine them with respect to their anticipated direct and indirect effects on biodiversity. The main ways in which emissions price-driven changes to land management can affect biodiversity are through policies and practices for (1) environmental plantings for carbon sequestration, (2) native regrowth, (3) fire management, (4) forestry, (5) agricultural practices (including cropping and grazing), and (6) feral animal control. While most land-management options available to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions offer clear advantages to increase the viability of native biodiversity, we describe several caveats regarding potentially negative outcomes, and outline components that need to be considered if biodiversity is also to benefit from the new carbon economy. Carbon plantings will only have real biodiversity value if they comprise appropriate native tree species and provide suitable habitats and resources for valued fauna. Such plantings also risk severely altering local hydrology and reducing water availability. Management of regrowth post-agricultural abandonment requires setting appropriate baselines and allowing for thinning in certain circumstances, and improvements to forestry rotation lengths would likely increase carbon-retention capacity and biodiversity value. Prescribed burning to reduce the frequency of high-intensity wildfires in northern Australia is being used as a tool to increase carbon retention. Fire management in southern Australia is not readily amenable for maximising carbon storage potential, but will become increasingly important for biodiversity conservation as the climate warms. Carbon price-based modifications to agriculture that would benefit biodiversity include reductions in tillage frequency and livestock densities, reductions in fertiliser use, and retention and regeneration of native shrubs; however, anticipated shifts to exotic perennial grass species such as buffel grass and kikuyu could have net negative implications for native biodiversity. Finally, it is unlikely that major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions arising from feral animal control are possible, even though reduced densities of feral herbivores will benefit Australian biodiversity greatly.

Specifying information systems for business process integration : a management perspective

Supply chain management and customer relationship management are concepts for optimizing the provision of goods to customers. Information sharing and information estimation are key tools used to implement these two concepts. The reduction of delivery times and stock levels can be seen as the main managerial objectives of an integrative supply chain and customer relationship management. To achieve this objective, business processes need to be integrated along the entire supply chain including the end consumer. Information systems form the backbone of any business process integration. The relevant information system architectures are generally well-understood, but the conceptual specification of information systems for business process integration from a management perspective, remains an open methodological problem. To address this problem, we will show how customer relationship management and supply chain management information can be integrated at the conceptual level in order to provide supply chain managers with relevant information. We will further outline how the conceptual management perspective of business process integration can be supported by deriving specifications for enabling information system from business objectives.

Using management objectives to specify management information systems : a contribution to MIS success

Data warehouse projects, today, are in an ambivalent situation. On the one hand, data warehouses are critical for a company’s success and various methodological and technological tools are sophisticatedly developed to implement them. On the other hand, a significant amount of data warehouse projects fails due to non-technical reasons such as insufficient management support or in-corporative employees. But management support and user participation can be increased dramatically with specification methods that are understandable to these user groups. This paper aims at overcoming possible non-technical failure reasons by introducing a user-adequate specification approach within the field of management information systems.

Identity, forgiveness and power in the management of child sexual abuse by personnel in Christian Institutions

The ongoing crises of child sexual abuse by Christian institutions leaders across the Anglophone world continue to attract public attention and public inquiries. The pervasiveness of this issue lends credence to the argument that the prevailing ethos functioning within some Christian Institutions is one which exercises influence to repeatedly mismanage allegations of child sexual abuse by Church leaders. This work draws on semistructured interviews conducted with 15 Personnel in Christian Institutions (PICIs) in Australia who were identified as being pro-active in their approach to addressing child sexual abuse by PICIs. From these data, themes of power and forgiveness are explored through a Foucaultian conceptualising of pastoral power and ‘truth’ construction. Forgiveness is viewed as a discourse which can have the power effect of either silencing or empowering victim/survivors. The study concludes that individual PICIs’ understandings of the role ofpower in their praxis influences outcomes from the deployment of forgiveness.

Theoretical framework for a management decision evaluation system

A theoretical framework for a construction management decision evaluation system for project selection by means of a literature review. The theory is developed by the examination of the major factors concerning the project selection decision from a deterministic viewpoint, where the decision-maker is assumed to possess 'perfect knowledge' of all the aspects involved. Four fundamental project characteristics are identified together with three meaningful outcome variables. The relationship within and between these variables are considered together with some possible solution techniques. The theory is next extended to time-related dynamic aspects of the problem leading to the implications of imperfect knowledge and a non­deterministic model. A solution technique is proposed in which Gottinger's sequential machines are utilised to model the decision process,

Corporate governance and risk management : the role of risk management and compensation committees

This paper examines the role of compensation and risk committees in managing and monitoring the risk behaviour of Australian financial firms in the period leading up to the global financial crisis (2006–2008). This empirical study of 711 observations of financial sector firms demonstrates how the coordination of risk management and compensation committees reduces information asymmetry. The study shows that the composition of the risk and compensation committees is positively associated with risk, which, in turn, is associated with firm performance. More importantly, information asymmetry is reduced when a director is a member of both the risk and compensation committees which moderate the negative association between risk and firm performance for firms with high risk.

Tax Expenditure Management : A Critical Assessment

A tax expenditure is a 'tax break' allowed to a taxpayer or group of taxpayers, for example, by way of concession, deduction, deferral or exemption. The tax expenditure concept, as it was first identified, was designed to demonstrate the similarity between direct government spending on the one hand and spending through the tax system on the other. The identification of benefits provided through the tax system as tax expenditures allows analysts to consider the fiscal significant of those parts of the tax system which do not contribute to the primary purpose of raising revenue. Although a seemingly simple concept, it has generated a range of complex definitional and practical issues, and this book identifies and critical assesses the controversial aspects of tax expenditure and tax expenditure management.