Studying relationships in project management through social network analysis

Successful project management depends upon forming and maintaining relationships between and among project team members and stakeholder groups. The nature of these relationships and the patterns that they form affect communication, collaboration and resource flows. Networks affect us directly, and we use them to influence people and processes. Social Network Analysis (SNA) can be an extremely valuable research tool to better understand how critical social networks develop and influence work processes, particularly as projects become larger and more complex. This chapter introduces foundational network concepts, helps you determine if SNA could help you answer your research questions, and explains how to design and implement a social network study. At the end of this chapter, the reader can: understand foundational concepts about social networks; decide if SNA is an appropriate research methodology to address particular questions or problems; design and implement a basic social network study.

A social licence to operate: Corporate social responsibility, local communities and the constitution of global production networks

This article contributes to the theorization of the role of informal regulation (undertaken by leading firms) in the ongoing organization of global production networks. It does so through a qualitative case study of BHP Billiton's Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation (RNO) in the rural Shire of Ravensthorpe in Western Australia. This less tangible, and to date under-researched, dimension of global production networks is foregrounded through a focus on the corporate social responsibility strategy implemented by RNO in the service of achieving and/or demonstrating a broader ‘social licence to operate’. This ‘licence’ functions – beyond the corporation – as a legitimated and legitimating multi-scalar mechanism through which to gain and maintain access to mineral resources and thus to establish viable and ongoing global production networks. Further, this informal regulation is shown to shape social relations and qualities of place conducive to competitive global mineral extraction and to facilitate the positioning of local communities and places in mineral global production networks.

Working the story : News curation in social media as a second save of citizen journalism

For the first decade of its existence, the concept of citizen journalism has described an approach which was seen as a broadening of the participant base in journalistic processes, but still involved only a comparatively small subset of overall society – for the most part, citizen journalists were news enthusiasts and “political junkies” (Coleman, 2006) who, as some exasperated professional journalists put it, “wouldn’t get a job at a real newspaper” (The Australian, 2007), but nonetheless followed many of the same journalistic principles. The investment – if not of money, then at least of time and effort – involved in setting up a blog or participating in a citizen journalism Website remained substantial enough to prevent the majority of Internet users from engaging in citizen journalist activities to any significant extent; what emerged in the form of news blogs and citizen journalism sites was a new online elite which for some time challenged the hegemony of the existing journalistic elite, but gradually also merged with it. The mass adoption of next-generation social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, however, has led to the emergence of a new wave of quasi-journalistic user activities which now much more closely resemble the “random acts of journalism” which JD Lasica envisaged in 2003. Social media are not exclusively or even predominantly used for citizen journalism; instead, citizen journalism is now simply a by-product of user communities engaging in exchanges about the topics which interest them, or tracking emerging stories and events as they happen. Such platforms – and especially Twitter with its system of ad hoc hashtags that enable the rapid exchange of information about issues of interest – provide spaces for users to come together to “work the story” through a process of collaborative gatewatching (Bruns, 2005), content curation, and information evaluation which takes place in real time and brings together everyday users, domain experts, journalists, and potentially even the subjects of the story themselves. Compared to the spaces of news blogs and citizen journalism sites, but also of conventional online news Websites, which are controlled by their respective operators and inherently position user engagement as a secondary activity to content publication, these social media spaces are centred around user interaction, providing a third-party space in which everyday as well as institutional users, laypeople as well as experts converge without being able to control the exchange. Drawing on a number of recent examples, this article will argue that this results in a new dynamic of interaction and enables the emergence of a more broadly-based, decentralised, second wave of citizen engagement in journalistic processes.

Can biophilic urbanism deliver strong economic and social benefits in cities? An economic and policy invetigations into the increased use of natural elements in urban design

Biophilic urbanism, or urban design that reflects humanity’s innate need for nature, stands to make significant contributions to a range of national, state and local government policies related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, by investigating ways in which nature can be integrated into, around and on top of buildings. Potential benefits of such design include reducing the heat island effect, reducing energy consumption for thermal control, enhancing urban biodiversity, improving well being and productivity, improving water cycle management, and assisting in the response to growing needs for densification and revitalisation of cities. This report will give an overview of the concept of biophilia and consider enablers and disablers to its application to urban planning and design. The paper will present findings from stakeholder engagement and a series of detailed case studies, related to a consideration of the economics of the use of biophilic elements (direct and indirect).

How religiosity influences consumption: The impact of consumer religiosity on perceptions of psychological and social risk

For some people, religion is an important influence in decision-making. This thesis investigates the relationship between the religiosity of consumers and their perceived risk in adopting new products. Two studies gathered data from religious consumers living in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. The results confirm the significant impact of religion on perceived risk, and suggest why this may lead to delays in adoption. Theoretically, these studies provide a better explanation of how religion influences consumption decisions, and offer brand managers options to improve the adoption of new products in religious markets.

The development and refinement of the practice domain framework as a conceptual tool for understanding and guiding social care practice

This study identified the common factors that influence social care practice across disciplines (such as social work and psychology), practice fields, and geographical contexts and further developed the Practice Domain Framework as an empirically-based conceptual framework to assist practitioners in understanding practice complexities. The framework has application in critical reflection, professional supervision, interdisciplinary understanding, teamwork, management, teaching and research. A mixed-methods design was used to identify the components and structure of the refined framework. Eighteen influential factors were identified and organised into eight domains: the Societal, Structural, Organisational, Practice Field, Professional Practice, Accountable Practice, Community of Place, and Personal.

Designing a mobile social tool that moderates drinking

A novel mobile social networking tool uses peer support to facilitate responsible drinking among young women. Focus group reports indicate that the tool’s design is easy to use and its functionalities would help peers reduce risk during drinking sessions.

Keep It Tame: Promoting respect online Safe And Well Online Pilot Study: Evaluating the design, engagement and impact of a social marketing approach aimed at 12 to 18 year olds

This report describes the Year One Pilot Study processes, and articulates findings from the major project components designed to address these challenges noted above (See Figure 1). Specifically, the pilot study tested the campaign research and development process involving participatory design with young people and sector partners, and the efficacy and practicality of conducting a longitudinal, randomised control trial online with minors, including ways oflinking survey data to campaign data. Each sub-study comprehensively considered the ethical requirements of conducting online research with minors in school settings. The theoretical and methodological framework for measuring campaign engagement and efficacy (Sub-studies 3, 4 and 5) drew on the Model of Goal-Directed Behaviour (MGB) (Perugini & Bagozzi 2001) and Nudge Theory (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008).

‘Appreciate A Mate’ Helping others to feel good about themselves. Safe and Well Online: A report on the development and evaluation of a positive messaging social marketing campaign for young people.

This report describes the Year Two/Campaign Two processes, and articulates findings from the major project components designed to address the challenges noted above (see Figure 1). Three major components comprise the Safe and Well Online project: 1) A participatory design (PD) process involving young people and sector partners (UWS) for; 2) campaign development (Zuni & Digital Arts Network); and 3) a cohort study (University of South Australia) to evaluate campaign effectiveness and attitude and behaviour change. Each sub-study comprehensively considered the ethical requirements of conducting online research with minors. The theoretical and methodological framework for measuring campaign engagement and efficacy (Sub-studies 3, 4 and 5) drew on the Model of Goal Directed Behaviour (MGB) (Perugini & Bagozzi 2001) and Nudge Theory (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008). This report extends the findings and conclusions of the Year One Pilot Study ‘‘Keep it Tame’’ (Spears et.al, 2015), and details the development and evaluation of the second of four Safe and Well Online Campaigns—‘‘Appreciate A Mate’: Helping others feel good about themselves’.

Evaluation of social externalities of rapid economic development associated with major resource projects in regional communities

This thesis developed a thematic structure for evaluating social externalities of major resource projects using a mixed methods approach and structural equation modelling. The implications offer important insights into the extent quality of life is being influenced by coal seam gas projects in regional communities in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Findings show that unresolved concerns of community residents about environmental and social impacts contribute to lower life-satisfaction, inhibit the community to plan for the future, and lead to a weaker local economy.

Review: Let's talk kinship: Innovating Australian social work education, theory, research and practice through Aboriginal knowledge

Review(s) of: Let's talk kinship: Innovating Australian social work education, theory, research and practice through Aboriginal knowledge, by Christine Fejo-King, published by Christine Fejo-King Consulting, ISBN: 978-0-9922814-0-3.

Making sense of society through social media

All media are social—they are after all media, in between, intermediating between producers and consumers of content, information, conversation, between the actors in the media and the audiences who read, listen, and watch. And the sociality of the media does not stop there: the processes of media production are social processes just as much as the activities of media audiencing. So strictly speaking, all media are social media. But only a particular subset of all media are fundamentally defined by their sociality, and thus distinguished from the mainstream media of print, radio, and television. It is the actual uses which are made of any medium which determine whether it is indeed a social medium—so let us investigate their roles in and interplay with the societies in which they operate.

Second language social networks and communication-related acculturative stress: The role of interconnectedness

Although a substantial amount of cross-cultural psychology research has investigated acculturative stress in general, little attention has been devoted specifically to communication-related acculturative stress (CRAS). In line with the view that cross-cultural adaptation and second language (L2) learning are social and interpersonal phenomena, the present study examines the hypothesis that migrants’ L2 social network size and interconnectedness predict CRAS. The main idea underlying this hypothesis is that L2 social networks play an important role in fostering social and cultural aspects of communicative competence. Specifically, higher interconnectedness may reflect greater access to unmodified natural cultural representations and L2 communication practices, thus fostering communicative competence through observational learning. As such, structural aspects of migrants’ L2 social networks may be protective against acculturative stress arising from chronic communication difficulties. Results from a study of first generation migrant students (N = 100) support this idea by showing that both inclusiveness and density of the participants’ L2 network account for unique variance in CRAS but not in general acculturative stress. These results support the idea that research on cross-cultural adaptation would benefit from disentangling the various facets of acculturative stress and that the structure of migrants’ L2 network matters for language related outcomes. Finally, this study contributes to an emerging body of work that attempts to integrate cultural/cross-cultural research on acculturation and research on intercultural communication and second language learning.

The Pirate Bazaar: The Social Life of Copyright Law

This thesis provides a cultural history of Australian copyright law and related artistic controversies. It examines a number of disputes over authorship, collaboration, and appropriation across a variety of cultural fields. It considers legal controversies over the plagiarism of texts, the defacing of paintings, the sampling of musical works, the ownership of plays, the co-operation between film-makers, the sharing of MP3 files on the Internet, and the appropriation of Indigenous culture. Such narratives and stories relate to a broad range of works and subject matter that are protected by copyright law. This study offers an archive of oral histories and narratives of artistic creators about copyright law. It is founded upon interviews with creative artists and activists who have been involved in copyright litigation and policy disputes. This dialogical research provides an insight into the material and social effects of copyright law. This thesis concludes that copyright law is not just a ‘creature of statute’, but it is also a social and imaginative construct. In the lived experience of the law, questions of aesthetics and ethics are extremely important. Industry agreements are quite influential. Contracts play an important part in the operation of copyright law. The media profile of personalities involved in litigation and policy debates is pertinent. This thesis claims that copyright law can be explained by a mix of social factors such as ethical standards, legal regulations, market forces, and computer code. It can also be understood in terms of the personal stories and narratives that people tell about litigation and copyright law reform. Table of Contents Prologue 1 Introduction A Creature of Statute: Copyright Law and Legal Formalism 6 Chapter One The Demidenko Affair: Copyright Law and Literary Works 33 Chapter Two Daubism: Copyright Law and Artistic Works 67 Chapter Three The ABCs of Anarchism: Copyright Law and Musical Works 105 Chapter Four Heretic: Copyright Law and Dramatic Works 146 Chapter Five Shine: Copyright Law and Film 186 Chapter Six Napster: Infinite Digital Jukebox or Pirate Bazaar? Copyright Law and Digital Works 232 Chapter Seven Bangarra Dance Theatre: Copyright Law and Indigenous Culture 275 Chapter Eight The Cathedral and the Bazaar: The Future of Copyright Law 319