Experience of overseas-trained health professionals in rural and remote areas of destination countries: A literature review

This study aimed to review and synthesise existing literature that investigated the experience of overseastrained health professionals (OTHPs) in rural and remote areas of destination countries. A systematic literature review was conducted using electronic databases and manual search of studies published from January 2004 to February 2011. Data were analysed from the final 17 original report articles that met the inclusion criteria. The reviewed research studies were conducted in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. Overseas-trained medical practitioners were the most frequently researched (n = 14); two studies involved nurses and one study included several health professionals. Three main themes emerged from the review and these were: (i) expectations; (ii) cultural diversity; and (iii) orientation and integration to rural and remote health work environment. The OTHPs were expected to possess the appropriate professional and cultural skills while they themselves expected recognition of their previous experiences and adequate organisational orientation and support. A welcoming and accepting community coupled with a relaxed rural lifestyle and the joy of continued patient care resulted in successful integration and contributed to increased staff retention rates. Recognition of expectations and cultural diversity by all parties and comprehensive orientation with sufficient organisational support are important elements in the integration of OTHPs and subsequent delivery of quality health care to people living in rural and remote areas.

Destination branding performance measurement : a non-technical discussion for practitioners

While academic interest in destination branding has been gathering momentum since the field commenced in the late 1990s, one important gap in this literature that has received relatively little attention to date is the measurement of destination brand performance. This paper sets out one method for assessing the performance of a destination brand over time. The intent is to present an approach that will appeal to marketing practitioners, and which is also conceptually sound. The method is underpinned by Decision Set Theory and the concept of Consumer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE), while the key variables mirror the branding objectives used by many destination marketing organisations (DMO). The approach is demonstrated in this paper to measure brand performance for Australia in the New Zealand market. It is suggested the findings provide indicators of both i) the success of previous marketing communications, and ii) future performance, which can be easily communicated to a DMO’s stakeholders.

The smart skies project : enabling technologies for future airspace environments

This paper summarises the achievements of the Smart Skies Project, a three-year, multi-award winning international project that researched, developed and extensively flight tested four enabling aviation technologies: an electrooptical mid-air collision avoidance system, a static obstacle avoidance system, a mobile ground-based air traffic surveillance system, and a global automated airspace separation management system. The project included the development of manned and unmanned flight test aircraft, which were used to characterise the performance of the prototype systems for a range of realistic scenarios under a variety of environmental conditions. In addition to the collection of invaluable flight data, the project achieved world-firsts in the demonstration of future automated collision avoidance and separation management concepts. This paper summarises these outcomes, the overall objectives of the project, the research and the development of the prototype systems, the engineering of the flight test systems, and the results obtained from flight-testing.

Destination know-where : a road map of a PhD journey in theatre for young people

Within contemporary performance arenas young people are fast becoming part of the vanguard of contemporary performance. Performativity, convergence and openness of form are key animating concepts in the landscape of Theatre for Young People (TYP). To ignore what is taking place in the making of performance for and by young people is to ignore the new possibilities in meaning-making and theatrical form. This thesis investigates the contemporary practice within the field of Theatre for Young People. Pivotal to the study are three hallmarks of contemporary performance – shifting notions of performativity; convergence articulated in the use of technology and theatrical genres; and Umberto Eco’s realisation of openness in form and authorship. The thesis draws from theatre and performance studies, globalisation theory and youth studies. Using interviews of Theatre for Young People practitioners and observation of thirty-nine performances, this thesis argues that young people and Theatre for Young People companies are among the leaders of a paradigm shift in developing and delivering performance works. In this period of rapid technological change young people are embracing and manipulating technology (sound, image, music) to represent whom they are and what they want to say. Positioned as ‘cultural catalysts’ (McRobbie, 1999), ‘the new pioneers’ (Mackay, 1993) and ‘first navigators’ (Rushkoff, 1996) young people are using mediatised culture and digital technologies with ease, placing them at the forefront of a shift in cultural production. The processes of deterritorialisation allows for the synthesis of new cultural and performance genres by fragmenting and hybridising traditional cultural categories and forms including the use of new media technologies. Almost half of all TYP performances now incorporate the technologies of reproduction. The relationship between live and mediatised forms, the visceral and the virtual is allowing young people to navigate and make meaning of cultural codes and cultural forms as well as to engage in an open dialogue with their audiences. This thesis examines the way young people are using elements of deterritorialisation to become producers of new performance genres. The thesis considers the contemporary situation in relation to issues of performance making and performance delivery within a global, networked and technology-driven society.

Culture counts in making Chinese maths-smart

Chinese Australians consistently outperform their peers in mathematics and according to QUT researcher Michael Mu this is not only because of pushy parents or motivated students.

Smart demand side management of low-voltage distribution networks using multi-objective decision making

A novel intelligent online demand side management system is proposed for peak load management in low-voltage distribution networks. This method uses low-cost controllers with low-bandwidth two-way communication installed in custumers’ premises and at distribution transformers to manage the peak load while maximising customer satisfaction. A multi-objective decision making process is proposed to select the load(s) to be delayed or controlled. The efficacy of the proposed control system is verified by simulation of three different feeder types.

The development of a model to measure destination brand performance across travel contexts

The field of destination image has been widely discussed in the destination literature since the early 1970s (see Mayo, 1973). However the extent to which travel context impacts on an individual’s destination image evaluation, and therefore destination choice, has received scant attention (Hu & Ritchie, 1993). This study, utilising expectancy-value theory, sought to elicit salient destination attributes from consumers across two travel contexts: short-break holidays and longer getaways. Using the Repertory Test technique, attributes elicited as being salient for short-break holidays were consistent with those elicited for longer getaways. While this study was limited to Brisbane’s near-home destinations, the results will be of interest to destination marketers and researchers interested in the challenge of positioning a destination in diverse markets.

Perceptions of visitor relationship marketing opportunities by destination marketers : an importance-performance analysis

Customer relationship marketing (CRM) initiatives are increasingly being adopted by businesses in the attempt to enhance brand loyalty and stimulate repeat purchases. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which destination marketing organisations (DMOs) around the world have developed a visitor relationship marketing (VRM) orientation. The proposition underpinning the study is that maintaining meaningful dialogue with previous visitors in some markets would represent a more efficient use of resources than above the line advertising to attract new visitors. Importance-performance analysis was utilised to measure destination marketers’ perceptions of the efficacy of CRM initiatives, and then rate their own organisation’s performance across the same range of initiatives. A key finding was that mean importance was higher than perceived performance for every item. While the small sample limits generalisability, in general there are appears to be a lack of strategic intent by DMOs to invest in VRM.

Modeling destination brand equity in an emerging long haul market

The destination branding literature emerged as recently as 1998, and there remains a dearth of empirical data that tests the effectiveness of brand campaigns over time. This paper reports the results of an investigation into consumer-based brand equity for Australia as a long haul destination in an emerging South American market. In spite of the high level of academic interest in the measurement of perceptions of destinations since the 1970s, few previous studies have examined perceptions held by South American consumers. Findings suggest that destination brand awareness, brand image, and brand value are positively related to brand loyalty for a long-haul destination. The results also indicate that Australia is a more compelling destination brand for previous visitors compared to non-visitors.

In pursuit of tourism destination brand loyalty : visitor relationship management orientation of destination marketing organisations

The proposition underpinning this study is engaging in meaningful dialogue with previous visitors represents an efficient and effective use of resources for a destination marketing organization (DMO), compared to above the line advertising in broadcast media. However there has been a lack of attention in the tourism literature relating to destination switching, loyalty and customer relationship management (CRM) to test such a proposition. This paper reports an investigation of visitor relationship marketing (VRM) orientation among DMOs. A model of CRM orientation, which was developed from the wider marketing literature and a prior qualitative study, was used to develop a scale to operationalise DMO visitor relationship orientation. Due to a small sample, the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method of structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. Although the sample limits the ability to generalise, the results indicated the DMOs’ visitor orientation is generally responsive and reactive rather than proactive.

Avoiding uninformed responses in destination image questionnaires

Since the first destination image studies were published in the early 1970s, the field has become one of the most popular in the tourism literature. While reviews of the destination image literature show no commonly agreed conceptualisation of the construct, researchers have predominantly used structured questionnaires for measurement. There has been criticism that the way some of these scales have been selected means a greater likelihood of attributes being irrelevant to participants. This opens up the risk of stimulating uninformed responses. The issue of uninformed response was first raised as a source of error 60 years ago. However, there has been little, if any, discussion in relation to destination image measurement, studies of which often require participants to provide opinion-driven rather than fact-based responses. This paper reports the trial of a ‘don’t know’ (DK) non-response option for participants in two destination image questionnaires. It is suggested the use of a DK option provides participants with an alternative to i) skipping the question, ii) using the scale midpoint to denote neutrality, or iii) providing an uninformed response. High levels of DK usage by participants can then alert the marketer of the need to improve awareness of destination performance for potential salient attributes.

Dimensions of short break destination attractiveness : a comparison of cognitive, affective and conative perceptions

Although there has been exponential growth in the number of studies of destination image appearing in the tourism literature, few have addressed the role of affective perceptions. This paper analyses the market positions held by a competitive set of destinations, through a comparison of cognitive, affective and conative perceptions. Cognitive perceptions were measured by trialling a factor analytic adaptation of importance-performance analysis. Affective perceptions were measured using an affective response grid. The alignment of the results from these techniques identified leadership positions held by two quite different destinations on two quite different dimensions of short break destination attractiveness.

A simulation framework for smart meter security evaluation

The evolution of classic power grids to smart grids creates chances for most participants in the energy sector. Customers can save money by reducing energy consumption, energy providers can better predict energy demand and environment benefits since lower energy consumption implies lower energy production including a decrease of emissions from plants. But information and communication systems supporting smart grids can also be subject to classical or new network attacks. Attacks can result in serious damage such as harming privacy of customers, creating economical loss and even disturb the power supply/demand balance of large regions and countries. In this paper, we give an overview about the German smart measuring architecture, protocols and security. Afterwards, we present a simulation framework which enables researchers to analyze security aspects of smart measuring scenarios.

Overvoltage prevention in LV smart grid using customer resources coordination

Voltage rise is one of the main factors which limits the capacity of Low Voltage (LV) network to accommodate more Renewable Energy (RE) sources. This paper proposes a robust and effective approach to coordinate customers’ resources and manage voltage rise in residential LV networks. PV is considered as the customer RE source. The suggested coordination approach in this paper includes both localized control strategy, based on local measurement, and distributed control strategy based on consensus algorithm. This approach can completely avoid maximum permissible voltage limit violation. A typical residential LV network is used as the case study where the simulated results are shown to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Destination brand equity for Australia : testing a model of CBBE in short haul and long haul markets

The study of destination brand performance measurement has only emerged in earnest as a field in the tourism literature since 2007. The concept of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) is gaining favour from services marketing researchers as an alternative to the traditional ‘net-present-value of future earnings’ method of measuring brand equity. The perceptions-based CBBE model also appears suitable for examining destination brand performance, where a financial brand equity valuation on a destination marketing organisation’s (DMO) balance sheet is largely irrelevant. This is the first study to test and compare the model in both short and long haul markets. The paper reports the results of tests of a CBBE model for Australia in a traditional short haul market (New Zealand) and an emerging long haul market (Chile). The data from both samples indicated destination brand salience, brand image, and brand value are positively related to purchase intent for Australia in these two disparate markets.