Developing an IS-Impact decision tool : a literature based design science roadmap

This paper derives from research-in-progress intending both Design Research (DR) and Design Science (DS) outputs; the former a management decision tool based in IS-Impact (Gable et al. 2008) kernel theory; the latter being methodological learnings deriving from synthesis of the literature and reflection on the DR ‘case study’ experience. The paper introduces a generic, detailed and pragmatic DS ‘Research Roadmap’ or methodology, deriving at this stage primarily from synthesis and harmonization of relevant concepts identified through systematic archival analysis of related literature. The scope of the Roadmap too has been influenced by the parallel study aim to undertake DR applying and further evolving the Roadmap. The Roadmap is presented in attention to the dearth of detailed guidance available to novice Researchers in Design Science Research (DSR), and though preliminary, is expected to evolve and gradually be substantiated through experience of its application. A key distinction of the Roadmap from other DSR methods is its breadth of coverage of published DSR concepts and activities; its detail and scope. It represents a useful synthesis and integration of otherwise highly disparate DSR-related concepts.

From Deep North to international governance exemplar : Fitzgerald's impact on the international anti-corruption movement

In pre-Fitzgerald Queensland, the existence of corruption was widely known but its extent and modes of operation were not fully evident. The Fitzgerald Report identified the need for reform of the structure, procedures and efficiency in public administration in Queensland. What was most striking in the Queensland reform process was that a new model for combatting corruption had been developed. Rather than rely upon a single law and a single institution, existing institutions were strengthened and new institutions were introduced to create a set of mutually supporting and mutually checking institutions, agencies and laws that jointly sought to improve governmental standards and combat corruption. Some of the reforms were either unique to Queensland or very rare. One of the strengths of this approach was that it avoided creating a single over-arching institution to fight corruption. There are many powerful opponents of reform. Influential institutions and individuals resist any interference with their privileges. In order to cause a mass exodus from an entrenched corruption system, a seminal event or defining process is needed to alter expectations and incentives that are sufficient to encourage significant numbers of individuals to desert the corruption system and assist the integrity system in exposing and destroying it. The Fitzgerald Inquiry was such an event. This article also briefly addresses methods for destroying national corruption systems where they emerge and exist.

The psychological impact of industrial strikes: Does involvement in union activity during strikes make a difference?

The current study investigated the psychological impact of a United Steelworkers of America strike on the steelworkers involved, and the relationship between psychological well-being and individuals' levels of involvement in union activity during the strike. Three hundred and fifty-one steelworkers (302 `strikers' and 49 `non-strikers') completed surveys measuring a range of demographic and psychological well-being variables. Strikers, compared to non-strikers, reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, and irritation, and lower levels of mental health. For strikers, engaging in higher levels of union activity during the strike was associated with better psychological well-being. Jahoda's theory of deprivation during unemployment is used as the lens through which to explain some of the results, supporting the view that latent benefits associated with work are important for psychological well-being. A range of practical implications are offered for unions and their members.

Air quality and its impact on health: focus on particulate matter

Inadequate air quality and the inhalation of airborne pollutants pose many risks to human health and wellbeing, and are listed among the top environmental risks worldwide. The importance of outdoor air quality was recognised in the 1950s and indoor air quality emerged as an issue some time later and was soon recognised as having an equal, if not greater importance than outdoor air quality. Identification of ambient air pollution as a health hazard was followed by steps, undertaken by a broad range of national and international professional and government organisations, aimed at reduction or elimination of the hazard. However, the process of achieving better air quality is still in progress. The last 10 years or so have seen an unprecedented increase in the interest in, and attention to, airborne particles, with a special focus on their finer size fractions, including ultrafine (< 0.1 m) and their subset, nano particles (< 0.05 m). This paper discusses the current status of scientific knowledge on the links between air quality and health, with a particular focus on airborne particulate matter, and the directions taken by national and international bodies to improve air quality.

Collaborative destination branding : planning for tourism development through design in the Waterfall Way, NSW, Australia

This thesis develops, applies and analyses a collaborative design methodology for branding a tourism destination. The area between the Northern Tablelands and the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, was used as a case study for this research. The study applies theoretical concepts of systems thinking and complexity to the real world, and tests the use of design as a social tool to engage multiple stakeholders in planning. In this research I acknowledge that places (and destinations) are socially constructed through people's interactions with their physical and social environments. This study explores a methodology that is explicit about the uncertainties of the destination’s system, and that helps to elicit knowledge and system trends. The collective design process used the creation of brand concepts, elements and strategies as instruments to directly engage stakeholders in the process of reflecting about their places and the issues related to tourism activity in the region. The methods applied included individual conversations and collaborative design sessions to elicit knowledge from local stakeholders. Concept maps were used to register and interpret information released throughout the process. An important aspect of the methodology was to bring together different stakeholder groups and translate the information into a common language that was understandable by all participants. This work helped release significant information as to what kind of tourism activity local stakeholders are prepared to receive and support. It also helped the emergence of a more unified regional identity. The outcomes delivered by the project (brand, communication material and strategies) were of high quality and in line with the desires and expectation of the local hosts. The process also reinforced local sense of pride, belonging and conservation. Furthermore, interaction between participants from different parts of the region triggered some self organising activity around the brand they created together. A major contribution of the present work is the articulation of an inclusive methodology to facilitate the involvement of locals into the decision-making process related to tourism planning. Of particular significance is the focus on the social construction of meaning in and through design, showing that design exercises can have significant social impact – not only on the final product, but also on the realities of the people involved in the creative process.

Equity in the twenty-first century

Issues of equity and inequity have always been part of employment relations and are a fundamental part of the industrial landscape. For example, in most countries in the nineteenth century and a large part of the twentieth century women and members of ethnic groups (often a minority in the workforce) were barred from certain occupations, industries or work locations, and received less pay than the dominant male ethnic group for the same work. In recent decades attention has been focused on issues of equity between groups, predominantly women and different ethnic groups in the workforce. This has been embodied in industrial legislation, for example in equal pay for women and men, and frequently in specific equity legislation. In this way a whole new area of law and associated workplace practice has developed in many countries. Historically, employment relations and industrial relations research has not examined employment issues disaggregated by gender or ethnic group. Born out of concern with conflict and regulation at the workplace, studies tended to concentrate on white, male, unionized workers in manufacturing and heavy industry (Ackers, 2002, p. 4). The influential systems model crafted by Dunlop (1958) gave rise to The discipline’s preoccupation with the ‘problem of order’ [which] ensures the invisibility of women, not only because women have generally been less successful in mobilizing around their own needs and discontents, but more profoundly because this approach identifies the employment relationship as the ultimate source of power and conflict at work (Forrest, 1993, p. 410). While ‘the system approach does not deliberately exclude gender . . . by reproducing a very narrow research approach and understanding of issues of relevance for the research, gender is in general excluded or looked on as something of peripheral interest’ (Hansen, 2002, p. 198). However, long-lived patterns of gender segregation in occupations and industries, together with discriminatory access to work and social views about women and ethnic groups in the paid workforce, mean that the employment experience of women and ethnic groups is frequently quite different to that of men in the dominant ethnic group. Since the 1980s, research into women and employment has figured in the employment relations literature, but it is often relegated to a separate category in specific articles or book chapters, with women implicitly or explicitly seen as the atypical or exceptional worker (Hansen, 2002; Wajcman, 2000). The same conclusion can be reached for other groups with different labour force patterns and employment outcomes. This chapter proposes that awareness of equity issues is central to employment relations. Like industrial relations legislation and approaches, each country will have a unique set of equity policies and legislation, reflecting their history and culture. Yet while most books on employment and industrial relations deal with issues of equity in a separate chapter (most commonly on equity for women or more recently on ‘diversity’), the reality in the workplace is that all types of legislation and policies which impact on the wages and working conditions interact, and their impact cannot be disentangled one from another. When discussing equity in workplaces in the twenty-first century we are now faced with a plethora of different terms in English. Terms used include discrimination, equity, equal opportunity, affirmative action and diversity with all its variants (workplace diversity, managing diversity, and so on). There is a lack of agreed definitions, particularly when the terms are used outside of a legislative context. This ‘shifting linguistic terrain’ (Kennedy-Dubourdieu, 2006b, p. 3) varies from country to country and changes over time even within the one country. There is frequently a division made between equity and its related concepts and the range of expressions using the term ‘diversity’ (Wilson and Iles, 1999; Thomas and Ely, 1996). These present dilemmas for practitioners and researchers due to the amount and range of ideas prevalent – and the breadth of issues that are covered when we say ‘equity and diversity in employment’. To add to these dilemmas, the literature on equity and diversity has become bifurcated: the literature on workplace diversity/management diversity appears largely in the business literature while that on equity in employment appears frequently in legal and industrial relations journals. Workplaces of the twenty-first century differ from those of the nineteenth and twentieth century not only in the way they deal with individual and group differences but also in the way they interpret what are fair and equitable outcomes for different individuals and groups. These variations are the result of a range of social conditions, legislation and workplace constraints that have influenced the development of employment equity and the management of diversity. Attempts to achieve employment equity have primarily been dealt with through legislative means, and in the last fifty years this legislation has included elements of anti-discrimination, affirmative action, and equal employment opportunity in virtually all OECD countries (Mor Barak, 2005, pp. 17–52). Established on human rights and social justice principles, this legislation is based on the premise that systemic discrimination has and/or continues to exist in the labour force and particular groups of citizens have less advantageous employment outcomes. It is based on group identity, and employment equity programmes in general apply across all workplaces and are mandatory. The more recent notions of diversity in the workplace are based on ideas coming principally from the USA in the 1980s which have spread widely in the Western world since the 1990s. Broadly speaking, diversity ideas focus on individual differences either on their own or in concert with the idea of group differences. The diversity literature is based on a business case: that is diversity is profitable in a variety of ways for business, and generally lacks a social justice or human rights justification (Burgess et al., 2009, pp. 81–2). Managing diversity is represented at the organizational level as a voluntary and local programme. This chapter discusses some major models and theories for equity and diversity. It begins by charting the history of ideas about equity in employment and then briefly discusses what is meant by equality and equity. The chapter then analyses the major debates about the ways in which equity can be achieved. The more recent ideas about diversity are then discussed, including the history of these ideas and the principles which guide this concept. The following section discusses both major frameworks of equity and diversity. The chapter then raises some ways in which insights from the equity and diversity literature can inform employment relations. Finally, the future of equity and diversity ideas is discussed.

From deep North to global governance exemplar : Fitzgerald's impact on the International Anti-corruption Movement

In pre-Fitzgerald Queensland, the existence of corruption was widely known but its extent and modes of operation were not fully evident. The Fitzgerald Report identified the need for reform of the structure, procedures and efficiency in public administration in Queensland. What was most striking in the Queensland reform process was that a new model for combating corruption had been developed. Rather than rely upon a single law and a single institution, existing institutions were strengthened and new institutions were instituted to create a set of mutually supporting and mutually checking institutions, agencies and laws that jointly sought to improve governmental standards and combat corruption. Some of the reforms were either unique to Queensland or very rare. One of the strengths of this approach was that it avoided creating a single overarching institution to fight corruption. There are many powerful opponents of reform. Influential institutions and individuals resist any interference with their privileges. In order to cause a mass exodus from an entrenched corruption system, a seminal event or defining process is needed to alter expectations and incentives that are sufficient to encourage significant numbers of individuals to desert the corruption system and assist the integrity system in exposing and destroying it. The Fitzgerald Inquiry was such an event. The article also briefly addresses methods for destroying national corruption system where they emerge and exist.

Dangers of the after-dark wonderlands : Part A - A review of the impact of physical environment design on nightclub violence

Nightclubs are businesses. Their business is pleasure; however pleasure has its price. People have become increasingly concerned about the problems of violence in society but why do higher levels of violence occur in nightclubs despite the established patterns of behaviour that dictates how we socialise and act? In response, researchers have focused on identifying social and situational factors that may contribute to violence from a government perspective, focusing on a variety of specific issues ranging from financial standpoints with effective target marketing strategies to legal obligations of supplying alcohol and abiding regulatory conditions. There is little research into specific design properties that can determine design standards to ensure/improve the physical design of nightclub environments to reduce patron violence. To address this gap, this current article aims to understand how people experience and respond to the physical environment of nightclubs and how these spaces influence their behaviour. The first section of this paper examines the background on nightclubs and theories concerning the influence of pleasure. The second section of this paper details the findings of existing studies that have examined the nightlife context and the various factors that influence patron violence. The main finding of this paper is that although alcohol likely plays a contributing role in aggressive patron behaviour, there is evidence that the relationship is moderated by a number of significant factors relating to the characteristics of the drinking environment such as: physical comfort; the degree of overall 'permissiveness‘ in the establishment; crowding; and physical environmental elements most influenced by day to-day management practices such as lighting, ventilation, cleanliness and seating arrangements. The findings from this paper have been used to develop a framework to guide exploratory research on how specific elements of the physical environment of nightclubs have an impact on elevated patron aggression and assault (Koleczko & Garcia Hansen, 2011).

Dangers of the after-dark wonderlands : Part B - A review of the impact of the physical environment design on nightclub violence

Violence in nightclubs is a serious problem that has the Australian government launching multimillion dollar drinking campaigns. Research on nightclub violence has focused on identifying contributing social and environmental factors, with many concentrating on a variety of specific issues ranging from financial standpoints with effective target marketing strategies to legal obligations of supplying alcohol and abiding regulatory conditions. Moreover, existing research suggests that there is no single factor that directly affects the rate violence in licensed venues. As detailed in the review paper of Koleczko and Garcia Hansen (2011), there is little research about the physical environment of nightclubs and which specific design properties can be used to determine design standards to ensure/improve the physical design of nightclub environments to reduce patron violence. This current study seeks to address this omission by reporting on a series of interviews with participants from management and design domains. Featured case studies are both located in Fortitude Valley, a Mecca for party-goers and the busiest nightclub district in Queensland. The results and analysis support the conclusions that a number of elements of the physical environment influence elevated patron aggression and assault.

IS-impact utility and intuitiveness : a rigorous approach to relevance

The study proposes to test the ‘IS-Impact’ index as Analytic Theory (AT). To (a) methodically evaluate the ‘relevance’ qualities of IS-Impact; namely, Utility & Intuitiveness. In so doing, to (b) document an exemplar of ‘a rigorous approach to relevance’, while (c) treating the overarching study as a higher-order case study having AT as the unit-of-analysis, and assessing adequacy of the 6 AT qualities, both for IS-Impact and for similar taxonomies. Also to (d) look beyond IS-Impact to other forms of Design Science, considering the generality of the AT qualities; and (e) further validating IS-Impact in new system organisation contexts taking account of contemporary understandings of construct theorisation, operationalization and validation.