Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Collaboration And Resistance In Indigenous Life Writing, Michael Jacklin

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Collaboration is marked by indeterminacy. It is, by nature, intermediary, interposing, intervening. In Australia, collaboration between Aboriginal and invader/settler subjects in the unfolding of colonial engagement is a topic that has received limited scholarly attention. Some studies have dealt with native police and Black trackers; others have examined local negotiations of power and discourse; but the only broad survey of collaboration is Henry Reynolds's With the White People (1990). In this work Reynolds traces the varied modes of collaboration existing between the Aborigines and the European colonists of Australia from first contact and early settlement through ro the First World …

India: The Role Of Small-Scale Industries In An Emerging Economy, Shyam Bhati

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The role of small-scale industries in the economic development of India in recent years is critically analysed in this paper. Various factors affecting the growth and development of small-scale industries and the problem faced by this vital sector of Indian economy is examined. The contribution of small-scale industries in employment growth, production, export promotion and other economic indicators are discussed. Conclusions drawn from the analysis of the data suggest that the various policy initiatives taken by the Government of India since independence have helped this sector to grow considerably. Some of the policies of the Government of India may, however, …

Identifying The Corporate Leaders, Simon Ville

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In chapter two we used a range of aggregated time series and pooled cross-sectional data on the economy and firms to present a broad picture of the growth of big business in the Australian economy, and drew parallels with the experience of other nations. We were able to identify in which sectors our largest firms have been located, how this changed over the course of the twentieth century, and who these firms were. This provides the basis for a closer investigation of some of these firms in this and the subsequent chapters. Thus, in the current chapter, we develop the …

Applying Critical Ethnographic Methodology And Method In Accounting Research, Kathy Rudkin

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper provides a perspective on the methodological integrity of doing critical ethnographies. Critical ethnography investigates context specific social and cultural uses of accounting in an organization. This paper describes the nature and genealogy of ethnographic research. While this methodology satisfies calls for context specific and ideologically aware research, researchers need to be cognizant of their constitutive role in the ethnographic research they produce. Key limitations in ethnographic research identified are the limiting factors of language, the morphing effects of context, imperfections of the researcher, and ethical considerations surrounding the verification and ownership of data. Despite these limitations, strengths in …

An Appraisal Of Socially Responsible Investments And Implications For Trustees And Other Investment Fiduciaries, Paul U. Ali, Martin Gold

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines the suitability for trustees and other investment fiduciaries of the class of investments known variously as "socially responsible", "ethical", "screened", "social" or "sustainable" investments, in the context of the legal duties imposed on fiduciaries to invest the fund entrusted to them in a prudent manner. The paper is intended to provide trustees and investment fiduciaries with the legal tools for appraising socially responsible investments, a task fraught with difficulties given the political sensitivities and controversies associated with such investments. An estimated $1.9 billion has been invested according to socially responsible investment r'SRI") strategies by Australian managed investment …

An Overview Of Export Processing Zones: Selected Asian Countries, Kankesu Jayanthakumaran

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper surveys the literature on the perfonnance of Export processing Zones (EPZs) that have used a benefit-cost analytical framework. The survey reveals that as industrial development proceeds, the gap between market and opportunity cost of labour narrows and the interest on EPZs tends to disspear. Interest on EPZs may hold only if the zones generate private profit to domestic shareholders. Recent policy measures of World Trade Organisation may eventually result in lower rates ofprivate returns and may become a threat to existing and new EPZs.

Structural Change And The Older Male Worker In Australia, Martin J. O'Brien

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Unfavourable changes in the industry composition of employment overt he last two decades has been suggested as a reason for structural unemployment and declining labour force participation of older males in Australia. In this paper, the author explores this proposition by analysing employment data for older males over the 1984 to 1999 period. Standard shift-share analysis findings suggest that, although older males are over-represented in stagnant or declining industries and under-represented in growth sectors, the net aggregate effects of structural change for older males' employment trends are minimal. However, alternative methodologies presented reveal a number of interesting insights into the …

Trust, Choice And Online Shopping, Lawrence Ang, Chris Dubelaar, Boon-Chye Lee

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Trust is a major issue in Internet transactions. This paper presents a model of trust on the Internet that focuses on three dimensions of trust. It investigates the perceived value a consumer places on these dimensions when set in the context of different product categories, price discounts, and delivery time. It is argued that the more willing an Internet merchant is to heed these three dimension of trusts, the greater the probability of transaction on the Internet.

Paths Of Corporate Development: Directions And Methods Of Growth, Simon Ville

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In Scale and Scope Chandler explained the typical directions of growth followed by large scale American corporations who sustained their industry leadership. I This involved phases of horizontal and vertical integration to capture economies of scale and throughput, followed by product diversification in response to new scientific research, and internationalization to exploit their competitive advantages in foreign markets. This has not been a universal experience of all countries; successful British firms, for example, have been less vertically integrated and Japanese firms were for long reluctant to expand overseas. Typical methods of growth - internal expansion, mergers, and interfirm ventures - …

Competition And Innovation: Small And Medium Enterprises In The New Economy, Boon-Chye Lee

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The advent of the "New Economy" has important implications for how small and medium-sized enterprises will compete. This. paper proceeds by examining the key characteristics of the industries of the New Economy, and what they mean from the perspectIve of innovation and competition for SMEs.

Analysis Of Information Cost Incurred In Foreign Exchange Risk Management By Smes, Shyam S. Bhati

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In this study, the theory of Information Cost developed by Casson (1995) is used to explain the various intormatlOn cost associated with foreign exchange risk management by SMEs. From the application of Casson's theory, 1t 1S concluded that the SMEs incur maximum cost in collecting, communicating and synthesising information while managing foreign exchange risk. Also, the SMEs do not seem to have the potential to reduce these information costs because of ,their limited bargaining capacity in relation to service provIders. As such, SMEs would fit the description of "optimal" organisation as defined by Casson (1995) due to the trade-offmade by …

Evaluating The Knowledge Assets Of Innovative Companies, Helen M. Hasan, Maen Al-Hawari

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In the current post-industrial society, knowledge is recognised as a primary source of a company's wealth. However knowledge assets are much more difficult to identify and measure than are the physical assets with which we are much more familiar. (Boisot 1998) As a company's innovative capacity may be dependent upon its ability to take advantage of its knowledge assets, it is important to be able to identify and measure those assets. While large companies can afford extensive knowledge management projects, there is a acute need for a method by which managers in smaller organisations can easily and reliably locate and …

Metacapitalism And The Politics Of The New Academy, George M. Mickhail

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The salvationary promise of immortality is equally seductive let alone dominant in our personal and professional lives alike. The promise of an institution's global successful salvation is no different to the promise of humans' salvation. It has been the most revered ideal over the ages and religions promise to deliver such salvation. Consulting firms are no different, as they represent the modem religious experience to institutions, private and public alike. The prophets of consulting have been invoking such feelings of 'awe' with their 'symbols', like: Business Process Reengineering, Best Practice and so on, in rituals, such as: MetaCapitalim, engaged in …

Strengthening The Knowledge Economy, Samuel Garrett-Jones

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

What is knowledge ecomony? The knowledge economy could be defined as one where "comparative advantage [is] much less a function of natural resource endowments and capital-labour ratios and much more a function of technology and skills". ¹³ Its development is the product of two forces: a rise in the knowledge intensity of economic activities and an increasing globalization of economic affairs. It is driven by the revolution in information and communications technology, the increasing pace of technological change and by national and international deregulation. ¹⁴

Racialized Gendering Of The Accountancy Profession: Toward An Understanding Of Chinese Women's Experiences In Accountancy In New Zealand, Soon Nam Kim

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In the last two decades or so there has been lively academic and political debate about the continued gendering process ofthe accountancy profession. Less attention, however, has been given to the impact of racialization of the accountancy profession on the lives of ethnic minorities and even less attention to ethnic minority women. Yet a growing body of evidence has forced critical researchers to clarify the additional barriers to success ethnic minority women face in the accountancy profession due to a confluence ofrace/ethnicity and gender/sex discrimination. This study of Chinese women accountants' experiences in New Zealand demonstrates that because of their …

Learning Kernel Parameters By Using Class Separability Measure, Lei Wang, Kap Luk Chan

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Learning kernel parameters is important for kernel based methods because these parameters have significant impact on the generalization abilities of these methods. Besides the methods of Cross-Validation and Leave-One-Out, minimizing some upper bounds on the generalization error, such as the radius-margin bound, was also proposed to more efficiently learn the optimal kernel parameters. In this paper, a class separability criterion is proposed for learning kernel parameters. The optimal kernel parameters are regarded as those that can maximize the class separability in the induced feature space. With this criterion, learning the kernel parameters in SVM can avoid solving the quadratic programming …

Explaining Union Mobilisation In The 1880s And Early 1900s, R. Markey

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The two great upsurges in Australian union mobilisation occurred in the 1880s and the first decade of the twentieth century. In both cases membership increased in scope and intensity: an expansion of the number of union organisations across a wider range of industries and occupations, as well as an increase of union density in industries and occupations where unions already existed. However, a major environmental difference between the two upsurges in mass unionism was the existence of a system of compulsory state arbitration, from 1901 in NSW and from 1904 in the Commonwealth. It has commonly been observed that the …

Minimising Attainment Deficit: A Leadership Process Theory, George K. Kriflik, Robert Jones

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Leadership as a process was found by RTA workers to fulfill their need for attaining their potential in their jobs. This article presents an overview of this substantive theory which emerged during a Grounded Theory study. Minimising Attainment Deficit, the process, comprises a number of Leader Strategies which aim to modify workplace conditions and so alter workers’ behaviours. The fundamental premise of this theory is the workers’ perceptions of their own potential and their perception of what they are currently achieving, and that any shortfall in achievement results in an Attainment Deficit. Minimising Attainment Deficit Unleashes workers to achieve higher …

Keeping Our Academics On The Cutting Edge: The Academic Outreach Program At The University Of Wollongong Library, Suzanne M. Lipu, Elizabeth H. Peisley

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

In the higher education sector, developing students' information literacy skills has been a hot issue in policy making and program development for almost a decade. But how do academic staff develop and maintain their information literacy skills? How do they cope in an increasingly electronic environment? In 1999 the University of Wollongong Library introduced an ambitious program coined Academic Outreach which targeted 100% of academics campus-wide. Identified as a strategic initiative of the Reference Services team, the program was designed to keep our academics on the cutting edge of information sources in their field. The aim was to help them …

Impact Evaluation Of A Folate Education Campaign With And Without The Use Of A Health Claim, P. G. Williams, J. Mchenery, Anne Mcmahon, H. Anderson

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective To measure the impact of a Kellogg/Northcott Society multimedia folate education campaign, run nationally from July 1998 to June 1999, with and without the use of health claims.

Method Three national telephone surveys of over 500 Australian women aged 18-44 in July and November 1998 and May 1999.

Results Awareness of the role of folate in the prevention of birth defects rose by 8% in the first 6 months of the campaign (without health claims) and by 15% in the second half (when health claims were incorporated). Awareness of the recommendation to take folate before pregnancy rose from 21% …

Nonviolent Futures, Brian Martin

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Nonviolent action - including methods such as rallies, strikes, boycotts and sit-ins - has become increasingly important in the past century as a method for waging conflict and promoting social change. Nonviolent action has been adopted by many social movements, yet its potential impact has only begun to be realised. Some areas for future expansion of the role of nonviolent action include replacing military defence, technological design, challenging capitalism, bureaucratic politics, information struggles and interpersonal behaviour.

Using Olap And Multidimensional Data For Decision Making, Helen M. Hasan, P. Hyland

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Managers see information as a critical resource and require systems that let them exploit it for competitive advantage. One way to better use organizational information is via online analytical processing and multidimensional databases (MDDBs). OLAP and MDDBs present summarized information from company databases. They use multidimensional structures that let managers slice and dice views of company performance data and drill down into trouble spots. For over a decade, proponents have touted these tools as the ultimate executive information system, but most of the hype comes from product vendors themselves. Based on our experience with several OLAP tools, we have developed …

Cognitive Considerations For Effective Methods Of Learning Kanji For Non-Native Learners Of Japanese, H. Kaiho, G. Haththotuwa Gamage

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

The learning of Chinese characters (Kanji) is one of the most difficult problems for learners from non-Kanji backgrounds．In this study, the difficulties are examined from a cognitive perspective and several promising proposals for learning Kanji are offered with respect to (1) problems originating in the Kanji characters themselves, and　(2) problems associated with learning environments．

Are Popular Management Techniques A Waste Of Time?, Mario Fernando

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Management by objectives, zero-based budgeting, T groups, Theory Y, Theory Z, diversification, participative management, management by walking around, total quality management, teams, and empowerment. We've seen such popular approaches to management come and go with great regularity. Organizations often appear eager to embrace the newest managerial fads and just as eager to let go of those that lose popularity. Do these popular management techniques really improve an organization's performance, or are they just passing fads?

Challenges For Tomorrows Tourism Education – The Case Of Austria, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Austria is a highly developed country in terms of tourism industry. Nevertheless the educational system within the field of tourism increasingly fails to provide the industry with the workforce needed. The main reasons for this negative development is that, on the demand side, tourists have increasing travel experience and expect perfect service during their leisure time and, on the supply side, young Austrians strive for higher education, as apprenticeships have an image problem in general and especially within the field of tourism, where the association is “hard work, high need for mobility and modest wages”. The result: a lack of …

Gay Men And Lesbians In The University Community, H. W. Collier

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

[Extract] There is little doubt that there are gay and lesbian students, faculty, staff, and administrators in our universities. You may not see all of us unless we want you to, but we are there. Whether you choose to acknowledge our presence is another issue. Historical prejudices against minority groups and those who are 'different' still exist in many parts of the world and in many of our universities. There are significant cultural, religious, national and regional differences in how minority 'tribes' or 'groups' are identified and treated. There is a significant body of research discussing issues of homosexuality and …

Seagrass Species - Are They Spectrally Distinct?, S. K. Fyfe, A. G. Dekker

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The spectral reflectance of 3 species of seagrass was measured in different habitats at 3 estuaries in southeastern Australia during each of the 4 seasons of 2000. Seagrass species were spectrally distinct regardless of whether the leaves were fouled by epibionts even though spatial and temporal variability in reflectance was observed within each species. The visible wavelengths that penetrate water fortunately coincide with the regions of maximum absorption by plant photosynthetic and accessory pigments. Mapping of benthic plants to species level is possible using a hyperspectral sensor that has narrow bands centred on pigment-related spectral features in the visible, e.g. …

Ecofeminism And Globalism: A Critical Appraisal, J. Sydee, Sharon Beder

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Ecofeminism offers a useful yet limited framework through which to critique globalisation. Ecofeminism claims that the domination of women and of nature are intrinsically linked. Material ecofeminists, in particular, focus on the material conditions of women’s lives locating the source of this twin domination in patriarchal capitalism. These ecofeminists provide insights into the impacts of globalisation on women but their analysis of the causes of globalisation are limited. They identify globalisation as an outgrowth of patriarchal capitalism, insisting on the primacy of gender as the determinant of social organisation and arguing that it is the dichotomy between production and reproduction …

How Financial Statements Enhance(D) The Long-Term Survival Of An International Religious/Charitable Organisation, H. J. Irvine

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The Salvation Army is a large international religious/charitable organisation with a high profile in Australia. In recent years, the profile of its financial reports has grown, particularly in the context of corporate fundraising. This is one manifestation of the importance for the Army, over its history, of a sound financial reputation. It has always relied heavily on external funds to continue its operations, and its financial statements are, and have been, a useful means by which its image has been enhanced, and it has established a legitimate claim for these funds. The Salvation Army's founding and early years, in the …

What The Big Picture Misses: How New Accounting Practices Were Institutionalised In An Australian Religious/Charitable Organisation, H. J. Irvine

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Neo-institutional sociology proposes that organisations in a particular field behave in essentially the same way. In taking for granted the prevalence of institutionalised activities, such as accounting, however, it offers little in the way of penetrating insights into how, and to what extent, those activities are actually introduced and embedded into individual organisations. Recent changes in the nonprofit environment in Australia have catapulted nonprofit organisations into a new corporate mode of operation, providing a unique opportunity not only to observe the introduction of new accounting practices, but also to critique the usefulness of neo-institutionalism as a complete explanation of organisational …