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This paper discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic can shift the conversation of paid and unpaid placements from an economic to a pedagogical and goodwill perspective. During the pandemic lockdown many placements were cancelled or postponed. Some continued as agreed but with students working from home, while other placements became unpaid. We build on the pertinent literature that raises legal, ethical, economic and pedagogical implications of paid versus unpaid placement models and what motivates placement organizations to offer placements. Four interdisciplinary trans-Tasman case studies are discussed to better understand the complex situations for placement organizations and universities to sustain WIL placements during this pandemic. Conclusions include recommendations to be vigilant and ensure goodwill is not used to mask the exploitation of students, but rather, positively influence the motivation behind offering placements during these trying times and beyond.

Due to the popularity of sport, the need to have sport management programs that properly train practitioners is justified (Pedersen & Thibault, 2014). However, with 505 sport management bachelors programs worldwide ("Degrees in Sports," n.d.) housed in various academic units, there is little consistency within the field of study. This paper strives to explore the field of sport management and to better understand sport management faculty members' perceptions of the discipline. Grounded in Foucault's (1971) theory of discourse, total of 154 sport management faculty members worldwide participated in the study. The data revealed there is a lack of consistency within the field regarding faculty members' perceptions of sport management. This study offers a vital, first step in an empirical examination of a critical phenomenon in the sport management academy.

Introduction: With a definition that is evolving, a serious component of the contract cheating issue involves individuals paying a third-party to complete assessment items for them and then submitting this work as if it were their own. The issue of contract cheating poses a significant problem for tertiary institutions. The research literature conducted to date has addressed contract cheating, yet few papers discuss theory-based prevention strategies, and even fewer still evaluate the impact of theory-based prevention strategies. Case description: This paper discusses a case study of contract cheating that was identified in a business simulation operating in a capstone unit at a large Australian university. The problem is outlined, the theory-based intervention is explained, and the impact on the contract cheating problem is quantified. Discussion and evaluation: Building on a platform provided by criminological theory and crime prevention practice, the Unit Coordinator systematically adjusted a large number of assessment elements to ensure contract cheating was less likely. Importantly, this intervention was effective but also did not disadvantage students who were not engaging in contract cheating. Conclusions: Overall, this paper connects criminological theory and crime/problem prevention practice with academic misconduct issues with the intent of demonstrating there is potential to minimise the opportunity for contract cheating by altering the opportunity structures for assessment items. Crucially, this can be done without impeding genuine student efforts and does not depend on apprehension and conviction.

Purpose: This matched-pairs study of undergraduates at an Australian University investigates whether business ethics education has a positive effect on student ethical behaviour. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a matched-pairs design to look at responses before and after students have taken a semester-long unit in business ethics. The authors used ethical scenarios and analysed both the starting position and changes in responses for the total student group, and by gender and citizenship. Findings: The results from this matched-pairs study show ethics education has a limited impact on students' responses to ethical dilemmas. Practical implications: Ethics subjects are now ubiquitous in business schools, but it may be time to consider alternatives to the philosophical normative teaching approach. Originality/value: This paper is significant in that it uses 142 matched pairs to look at responses before and after students have taken a semester-long unit in business ethics. This study provides qualified support for the proposition that business ethics education has an impact on students' ethical decision making.

This paper adds to the body of evidence demonstrating the efficacy of action learning to achieve measurable progress toward sustainability goals. It supports prior assertions that action and reflection develop the conditions of "awareness," "agency" and "association" required to develop the circular economy. The early outcomes of a Business Resource Efficiency Program delivered in Tasmania, Australia, are presented and prompt us to revisit the true place of Questioning in Revans' Learning Equation. The findings add new insights to observations on the capabilities required for radical innovation to meet the challenges of disruptive times, and compel us to question the legitimacy of higher education as the solution to the really big problems of our age.

Purpose: Skills development for business students is increasingly becoming more important in business education and the workplace. In this paper, students' research skills are examined. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the issues and challenges students face in developing research skills and how these can be addressed. Design/methodology/approach: The study combines external marker evaluation and content analysis to evaluate one hundred 2,000-word essays and identify issues and challenges associated with students' development of research skills. Findings: Results show that the essays rate well in collecting and using sources and summarising key topics but miss on integrating sources in writing and inconsistency in citations and referencing. Research limitations/implications: One of the paper's limitations is using a sample from a single course in a business school in Australia. Nonetheless, the sampled essays represent similar writing tasks elsewhere that require students to display research skills. Practical implications: Some implications for business and higher education are offered, including suggestions to address the issues and challenges raised in business education. For example, academics are encouraged to communicate clear expectations for writing tasks, provide support and show exemplars of business writing that incorporates practical research skills. Social implications: Business students who develop effective research skills contribute to society by developing skills in effectively searching and evaluating information. This ensures business graduates in industry workplaces reach considered conclusions before making recommendations that could impact people's lives. Originality/value: The study is original in its approach to investigating the nuances of research skills deficiencies by using external expert examination combined with content analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are several common trends and challenges in the higher education (HE) system around the world, like expansion and diversification of HE, fiscal pressure and orientation to markets, demand for greater accountability and great quality and efficiency (e.g. The financing and management of higher education: a status report on worldwide reforms, 1998; Internationalisation of higher education and global mobility 43-58, 2014; Global policy and policy-making in education, 2014; Higher Education Policy 21:5-27, 2008). These trends and changes have reshaped university governance as well. Public universities are the main institutions to carry out HE in Australia and China. The engagement between Australia and China in HE sector has become closer and closer in recent years. To conduct better and further cooperation and collaboration between Australian and Chinese universities, it is critical to understand and acknowledge the differences in two nations' university governance. Moreover, by conducting this comparative study of two nations, it also helps us to figure out the changes in university governance over times under the global trends and the interactions between global and local factors. This comparative study focuses on the university level and attempts to identify the differences of university governance in Australian and Chinese public universities in three dimensions, state-university relation, university internal governance and university finance. This paper sketches the university governance in Australia and China and finds that the relationship between government and university is looser in Australia than that in China and Australian universities enjoy more autonomy and power than Chinese universities; as to university internal governance, Australian universities use a more business-oriented management mechanism; funding associated with full-fee paying international students has become very important for Australian HE while Chinese government funding has been decreasing as well but funds from international students play a minimal financial role.

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to undertake a survey of the external and internal forces changing the nature of business schools and business education. It aims to investigate how management education responds to increasing productivity, innovation and capability challenges, examine how MBA programs currently meet these demands, and how these courses might redefine their identity and delivery and finally explore how to deepen engagement between business schools and business stakeholders, and to balance the imperatives of relevance and quality. Design/methodology/approach -- This is a survey of business schools and business education in the context of evolving educational and industry policy in Australia in response to an increasingly international and competitive economy. The different potential roles and strategies of business schools are examined, and future strategies identified. Findings -- The paper finds that management education is facing insistent pressure to change internationally, and that business schools need to become more dynamic, innovative and responsive to succeed. Research limitations/implications -- This survey considers the implications of recent policy on business education and relates this to emerging practice. Further research is required on how innovative pedagogical approaches will deliver more integrated and relevant business education. Practical implications -- The paper defines key business school strategies, and outlines significant new approaches to making business education more innovative, responsive, integrated and engaged. Social implications -- The paper considers means to more active stakeholder engagement for business schools. Originality/value -- The paper highlights the weaknesses of traditional business education strategy, and reveals the potential for significant change. (Contains 4 figures.)

Background: Integrating 3D virtual world technologies into educational subjects continues to draw the attention of educators and researchers alike. The focus of this study is the use of a virtual world, Second Life, in higher education teaching. In particular, it explores the potential of using a virtual world experience as a learning component situated within a curriculum delivered predominantly through face-to-face teaching methods. Purpose: This paper reports on a research study into the development of a virtual world learning experience designed for marketing students taking a Digital Promotions course. The experience was a field trip into Second Life to allow students to investigate how business branding practices were used for product promotion in this virtual world environment. The paper discusses the issues involved in developing and refining the virtual course component over four semesters. Methods: The study used a pedagogical action research approach, with iterative cycles of development, intervention and evaluation over four semesters. The data analysed were quantitative and qualitative student feedback collected after each field trip as well as lecturer reflections on each cycle. Sample: Small-scale convenience samples of second- and third-year students studying in a Bachelor of Business degree, majoring in marketing, taking the Digital Promotions subject at a metropolitan university in Queensland, Australia participated in the study. The samples included students who had and had not experienced the field trip. The numbers of students taking part in the field trip ranged from 22 to 48 across the four semesters. Findings and Implications: The findings from the four iterations of the action research plan helped identify key considerations for incorporating technologies into learning environments. Feedback and reflections from the students and lecturer suggested that an innovative learning opportunity had been developed. However, pedagogical potential was limited, in part, by technological difficulties and by student perceptions of relevance. (Contains 4 tables and 1 note.)

In their quest for resources to support children's early literacy learning and development, parents encounter and traverse different spaces in which discourses and artifacts are produced and circulated. This paper uses conceptual tools from the field of geosemiotics to examine some commercial spaces designed for parents and children that foreground preschool learning and development. Drawing on data generated in a wider study, I discuss some of the ways in which the material and virtual commercial spaces of a transnational shopping mall company and an educational toy company operate as sites of encounter between discourses and artifacts about children's early learning and parents of preschoolers. I consider how companies connect with and "situate" people as parents and customers, and then offer pathways designed for parents to follow as they attempt to meet their very young children's learning and development needs. I argue that these pathways are both material and ideological, and that they are increasingly tending to lead parents to the online commercial spaces of the World Wide Web. I show how companies are using the online environment and hybrid offline and online spaces and flows to reinforce an image of themselves as authoritative brokers of childhood resources for parents, which is highly valuable in a policy climate that foregrounds lifelong learning and school readiness. (Contains 2 notes and 5 figures.)

Whilst professional development (PD) is an activity required by many regulatory authorities, the value that enterprises obtain from PD is often unknown, particularly when it involves development of knowledge. This paper discusses measurement techniques and processes and provides a review of established evaluation techniques, highlighting deficiencies in these methods for evaluating the ongoing long-term impact of PD. Enterprises need to understand the risks associated with PD as well as the impact of policies, processes and practices. The paper sets out the factors that affect the value added to the enterprise by PD and provides details of how this may be measured by developing an Enterprise PD profile. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

Students often bemoan the fact that they can't see the relevance of the report they are asked to write or the case study they have to analyze. This paper introduces the use of attending an industry tradeshow as a means of making assessment more interesting and meaningful. Much has been written about the need to bring reality back to management education and many institutions worldwide have attempted to do this through fieldtrips, simulations and case studies. This paper explains how relevance and reality can be achieved in a simple and cost effective way. Essentially postgraduate marketing students are given an assessment task which requires them to attend an industry tradeshow. Following the tradeshow they write a marketing plan and make a presentation for a company in a business-to-business marketing context. The implementation of this approach and its effect on assessment and learning outcomes is presented in this paper. Feedback from students on their experiences of the assessment task and its impact on their learning is also presented. (Contains 1 figure.)

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to examine the ways in which Australian companies can achieve high quality apprenticeship and traineeship systems in a time of labour shortage through close attention to the recruitment and development of apprentices and trainees. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on six qualitative case studies in a range of industries and occupational areas, carried out as part of an international project on apprenticeship. Findings: The paper finds that there are significant differences among companies in the skills and experience that they bring to the processes of recruiting and developing apprentice and trainees. Poor skills appear to lead to poor outcomes in terms of quality of apprentices and trainees while investment of skills and time leads to high quality outcomes that may significantly add value to the company. The effects of shortcomings in this area may be exacerbated in a tight labour market. Research limitations: The research in this paper is limited by the depth of the case studies which primarily rest on in-depth interviews with senior managers. The research could be extended by further case studies that include interviews with apprentices and trainees. Practical implications: The paper shows that companies employing apprentices and trainees need to be very clear about why they are employing them and the development strategies that will be put in place. The inclusion of off-the-job training at a training provider adds a safety net that is particularly important for inexperienced companies. Originality/value: The value of the paper lies in its use of detailed empirical examples to illustrate successful and less successful ways of managing apprentices and trainees. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)

A major issue in Information Systems (IS) research is how to combine relevance and rigor (Benbasat & Zmud, 1999) and reduce the widening gap between research results and adoption (Dunn, 1994). Qualitative researchers make use of interpretivist methods to add richness and depth to their understanding of user problems. Interpretivist methods applied to IS implementations can thus result in research which communicates those findings more effectively. However standard interpretivist data-collection and analysis methods can be time-consuming and expensive. Findings based on these methods may be irrelevant to practitioners by the time they reach publication stage. A potential solution to this problem lies in Rapid Appraisal or RA, a qualitative appraisal methodology derived from rural development-related research. It offers IS researchers an additional technique for learning and acquiring relevant information in a limited period of time that supplements current data collection and analysis techniques. RA adds value to the traditional approach for studying diffusion of innovation, supporting and extending the IS researchers qualitative tool-kit. In this paper we review an electronic gateway designed to facilitate the diffusion of an Australian government to business [G2B] export documentation system, EXDOC, which was first implemented with meat producers. RA techniques were used to collect and analyse data regarding the implementation of the first regional Electronic Trade Facilitation Center [ETFC] successfully established for Australian exporters in the horticulture sector. The findings from the original EXDOC implementation in the meat sector were confirmed and extended through this study. These include the importance of developing a governance structure that ensures all community members share the benefits of an implementation and the fact that virtual trading communities are attractive to users only if they add value to their business and extend standard ways of operating. Interactive interviews, part of the RA approach; also enabled us to expand our understanding of the way in which procedures developed in the course of implementing an electronic market represent value-adding opportunities for virtual trading communities. The paper has special relevance for researchers investigating adoption and diffusion issues experienced by small-scale producers with low exposure to technology in remote and rural settings. (Contains 1 table.)

Mobile learning is variously viewed as a fad, a threat, and an answer to the learning needs of time-poor mobile workers, so does it have a place in delivering mainstream learning? Based on a 2005 comparative research project, commissioned by the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, the paper reports on research into Web-based information about the use of mobile technologies for commerce and learning, which was then tested through 29 interviews with manufacturers of mobile devices, businesses and education providers. The research found that mobile technologies were in common use in some commercial sectors, but their use purely for learning was rare. m-Learning lends itself to new methods of delivery, however, that are highly suited to the "just enough, just in time, and just for me" demands of 21st Century learners. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

This case study examines the life journey of a self-directed adult learner who has made remarkable achievements in overcoming a difficult educational beginning in early childhood, as well as personal trauma in adulthood. The subject has shown determination in seeking out his own opportunities to learn in spite of major drawbacks, chief of which was a vehicle accident in which he acquired both physical and brain injury. The paper compares accepted adult educational models and theories with the learning styles of this person, and concludes that he has used informal learning to his advantage in a manner in which institutional education would have failed for him. The discussion of the learner's choice of educational methods demonstrates the way he has progressed from a position as a farmer with low literacy skills to that of a successful businessman through his own determination.

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the introduction, implementation, evolution, hybridization, and initial research into the constructivist instructional models deployed within a secondary (high) school in Australia. A concomitant aim is to relate some of the consequences of whole school pedagogical change, which have included the implementation of project- and problem-based learning, the flipped classroom, and a derivative hybridized form, referred to here as "flipped PBL." Moreover, after a decade of using constructivist approaches, we initiated educational research to better understand some of the effects of these changes and to explore the reasons behind the successful implementation of the models. While still in its infancy, the nature of this research and some of the preliminary findings are detailed here.

Climate change and associated processes can increase the occurrence of some natural hazards and threaten business operations. Therefore, it is widely recommended businesses respond to climate change and implement climate change adaptation. Worldwide, businesses make efforts towards climate change adaptation, but investigation on such efforts is still required. To partially fill this research gap, the paper explores businesses adaptation efforts in the Hunter Valley, Australia. The paper collects primary data from open-ended interviews to 10 representatives of local businesses and supporting organizations. The paper reveals that businesses interpret climate change in different ways. While some businesses are sceptical about climate change, others are aware of it and its impacts on everyday operations. Businesses therefore implement adaptation by integrating climate change into everyday operations and continuity planning. The paper also shows diverse interactions occurring between businesses and other local stakeholders such as governments and communities. Usually, higher government levels offer vague and limited support to businesses and inhibit their adaptive efforts. Meanwhile, interactions between businesses and City Councils can be both collaborative and fragmented. Some businesses also interact with local communities by disclosing information about their operations and response to climate change. The paper discusses these findings and provides conclusions under the form of recommendations for policy and research on Australian businesses and climate change adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: While the global education debate remains focused on graduate skills and employability, the absence of a shared language between student, academic and industry stakeholder groups means that defining industry skills requirements is both essential and difficult. The purpose of this paper is to assess graduate skills requirements in a knowledge-intensive industry from a demand perspective as distinct from a curriculum (supply) viewpoint. Design/methodology/approach: Skills items were derived from a breadth of disciplines across academic, policy and industry literature. CEOs and senior managers in the innovation and commercialisation industry were surveyed regarding perceptions of skills in graduates and skills in demand by the firm. Two rounds of exploratory factor analyses were undertaken to examine employers' perceptions of the skills gap. Findings: First-order analysis resolved ten broad constructs that represent cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills domains as applied in this industry. Knowledge, leadership and interprofessional collaboration feature as prominent skills. Second-order analysis revealed employers' perceptions of graduate skills specifically centre on organisational fit and organisational success. An over-arching theme relates to performance of the individual in organisations. Research limitations/implications: The findings suggest that the discourse on employability and the design of curriculum need to shift from instilling lists of skills towards enabling graduates to perform in a diversity of workplace contexts and expectations centred on organisational purpose. Originality/value: In contrast to the heterogeneous nature of industry surveys, the authors targeted a homogenous sector that is representative of knowledge-intensive industries. This study contributes to the broader stakeholder dialogue of the value and application of graduate skills in this and other industry sectors.

This article considers recent public debates about massive open online courses (MOOCs) and their potential to transform higher education. Drawing on reports and media commentary, it probes the claims and counterclaims of MOOC proponents and MOOC sceptics. It considers the implications for students, governments, institutions and scholars themselves. The paper concludes that mass-scale online courses have the potential to reshape the sector significantly over time.

Industry placements are popular means to provide students with an opportunity to apply their skills, knowledge and experience in a "real world" setting. Within this context, supervisor feedback allows educators to measure students' performance beyond academic objectives, by benchmarking it against industry expectations. However, industry assessments appear to be frequently clouded and overwhelmingly positive by nature, which questions the reliability and validity of supervisors' judgement of competencies. Supervisor bias has been paid much attention within the context of clinical placements, as well as within the domain of social work. However, the concept has been largely ignored within business education, despite the increasing emphasis on--and deep integration of--work-integrated learning in the business curriculum. This paper sets out to address this gap by examining variances in mark distribution and apparent leniency in the context of a final-year, compulsory placement unit, based on observations and data collected over nine semesters (n?=?546). The focus of this study is on gaining an understanding of the reasons behind assessment bias and the pressures placed on industry assessors. The data indicate that different types of placement locations apply dissimilar standards when assessing student performance. The author identifies three statistically different placement types (small business, not-for-profit and professional), which influence the strength and risk of grader bias, hence ultimately the assessment outcome.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between CEO business education and firm financial performance. Design/methodology/approach: An analysis of the relationship between three-year and five-year shareholder return as measured by dividend and change in share price and CEO educational qualification was performed. Findings: No relationship was found between CEO MBA, business, or other qualification and firm financial performance. Research limitations/implications: More research, particularly in the form of multinational longitudinal studies, should be undertaken on the relationship between CEO business and other qualifications and objective outcomes. A limitation of this study is that it was undertaken in one country and measured only firm financial performance. Practical implications: It is possible that business education has been over-emphasized as a prerequisite to successful management practice. It is also possible that the kind of management education that students have received is no longer appropriate to leadership at CEO level. Originality/value: Although many have blamed the GFC on business schools, there has been no examination of the relationship between CEO qualifications and firm financial performance in Australia, and little elsewhere. This study therefore fills a research gap. (Contains 2 tables.)

Recent surveys of information technology management professionals show that understanding business domains in terms of business productivity and cost reduction potential, knowledge of different vertical industry segments and their information requirements, understanding of business processes and client-facing skills are more critical for Information Systems personnel than ever before. In an attempt to restructure the information systems curriculum accordingly, our view is that information systems students need to develop an appreciation for organizational work systems in order to understand the operation and significance of information systems within such work systems. Work systems are systems in which human participants and/or machines perform work to produce products and/or services for internal or external customers. This view stresses that systems in organizations involve more than an IT system (such as a data warehouse or an accounting application). The work system method has been designed to assist in developing an understanding of work systems in organizations. The method describes an adaptable set of steps that an analyst can use to identify a work system, clarify problems, issues, and opportunities related to that work system, identify possible directions for change, and produce and justify a recommendation. To date, the use of the work system method in information systems curricula has demonstrated that postgraduate students can benefit from this approach when examining a business situation involving an information system. To contrast the experiences of post-graduate students with work experiences, in this paper we report on use of a simplified version of the Work System Method in a freshman Information Systems course and study how students without work or technical knowledge performed when analyzing IT-reliant work systems in business settings. We reflect on an introductory information systems course that included a work system analysis assignment, and we examine the reports produced by students as well as the learning outcomes and challenges. Our analysis reveals that undergraduates can benefit from analyzing IT-reliant work systems through the work system method. Their analyses tend to reflect their lack of business background, but doing these analyses can help as a first step toward appreciating the business situations in which information systems are used. We present a series of implications for improving the class experience related to teaching work system ideas and including IT-reliant work systems as an essential part of an introductory information systems course. These implications relate to clarifying the scope of a work system analysis, providing examples of successful as well as unsuccessful analyses for guidance, providing relevant analysis templates, succinctly defining terminology and assisting in emphasizing the differences between technologies, work systems, and organizations. Perusing these recommendations, our work demonstrates how information systems students can start developing a holistic understanding of information technology in use in corporate organizations at a very early stage of their learning process. (Contains 1 figure and 7 tables.)

Research indicates that for many multinational companies, the global skills shortage has made it difficult to attract competent workers to some international locations. In developing economies, business leaders often cite poor business acumen and little real-world experience as serious shortcomings in the domestic pool of applicants. In addition to the skills shortage, businesses are currently confronting a global economic crisis, which has seen many economies slump into recession. Despite this economic downturn, Australia has continued to thrive as a destination of choice for international students. As the reputation of Australia's work-integrated learning (WIL) expertise grows, so too does its international following. Offering some of the more robust project-based learning experiences, Australian universities have become the first choice for many international students seeking to enhance their workplace readiness. Two Australian institutions attracting attention for their approaches to WIL are Griffith University, with its flagship Industrial Affiliates Program (IAP), and Queensland University of Technology (QUT), which has funded an in-depth learning and teaching project designed to facilitate the embedding of authentic real-world learning experiences across the entire curriculum. This paper uses a case study approach to highlight the experiences of Griffith University's IAP students and considers QUT's current research projects. It also explores the implications for Australian tertiary institutions seeking to work with organisations to produce graduates who can respond to the changing economic circumstances and who can add value to global organisations in periods of uncertainty. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The environment for scientific research in public organisations is undergoing radical change, particularly with commercialisation pressures and blurring of the distinction between public and private research. The commercialisation pressures are reflected in government policy frameworks and institutional contexts for scientific work which are reconfiguring the context within which scientists work and raising questions about their identities, values, roles, motivations and careers. The changes represent a challenge to the traditional public good role of science and accompanying values. Based on an empirical study of a sample of research scientists from two public sector research organisations in Australia, this paper explores the interpretations and reactions of scientists to this changing environment. It shows that the changes have generated significant tensions between a set of norms entrenched in a traditional ethos of science and the emerging commercialisation imperatives that the scientists struggle to come to terms with or reconcile. (Contains 6 notes.)

This paper investigates how Australian universities are being disciplined to behave as commercial enterprises by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). The manual produced by AUQA, for the purpose of conducting audits of Australian universities, is analysed. I use an analytical framework that provides a means by which a text from the "manual" genre can be analysed with respect to social and political contexts, using Critical Discourse Analysis. I analyse changes in the language used in subsequent editions of the manual, drawing inferences about how the AUQA manual constructs universities to behave as particular kinds of business entities. Depictions of the globalised and virtualised university are silenced in the texts. Contrary to the rhetoric of the university being a flexible, globalised enterprise, I find that universities are constructed as localised businesses appearing to be independent of direct government control but nevertheless constrained in the scope of their operation. (Contains 1 figure.)

There are still many questions remain unanswered about the relationship between Organisational Learning (OL) and Continuous Improvement (CI). For example, how do OL and CI contribute to business performance? Are OL and CI equal? Do OL and CI support each other? Should OL and CI be implemented separately or together? If together, how to integrate OL and CI? This paper records the research on the empirical relationship among CI, OL and Performance Improvement (PI). The research is based on the survey data from about 500 manufacturing companies from seven European countries and Australia. Data analysis is based on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). It is found out that OL and CI do support or enhance each other. However, only CI directly contributes to PI. The research does not find direct relationship between OL and PI. The results suggest that OL should not be treated as the end, but a means to enhance CI. The research triggers the discussions on what are the real differences and commonalities between OL and CI and how to integrate OL and CI in order to achieve benefits from both. The discussions proposed the concept and Learning for Organisation. The main managerial and research implication is: OL should not be implemented alone! OL should be implemented or studied in a functional context such as CI, Six Sigma, new product develop, innovation and market orientation. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

Australian higher education has undergone radical change aimed transforming universities into commercial enterprises less dependent on public funding. Despite some significant successes, including dramatic increases in the numbers of domestic and international students, decreased Commonwealth subsidies, and more private sector finance, there are ominous indications that institutional failure is endemic, especially financial accountability. Drawing on various theories of institutional failure, this paper attempts to examine the causes of the current crisis. A four-fold taxonomy of Australian university failure is developed that identifies governance. failure, accountability failure, quality failure, and information failure as the primary sources of tertiary education institutional breakdown.

Accelerating global flows of people and information have formed new communities and networks across social and political borders. Higher education is one such globalised knowledge community in which new patterns of knowledge, accreditation, research alliances, and social and professional relationships are emerging. In this paper I outline the push-pull dynamics of globalisation in higher education: the co-constitutive nature of local and global interests and educational formations; disjunctive flows of capital, information, people, and knowledge; and the new politics of knowledge capital as they affect academic research and the public archive of scholarly publishing and university libraries. I close with reflections on the differential consequences of globalisation on: the role of the nation state in higher education provision and reform; the role of education in nation building and national identity politics; and the governability of a global eduscape. (Contains 3 notes.)

Purpose: This paper aims to critically analyse the Criminal Code Amendment (Bribery of Foreign Public Officials) Act 1999 and Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combating Corporate Crime) Bill 2017 with special focus on the facilitation payment (FP) defence by referring to the UK Bribery Act 2010. The study will showcase how FP promotes disrespect for a good corporate culture inevitable for responsible and sustained business and as to why FP must be abolished to make the Australian regulation consistent with the international standards. Design/methodology/approach: This research is based on primary and secondary sources including the Senate Committee Reports and recent legislative developments in Australia, and the relevant law of the UK. Findings: Australia is lagging far behind comparative jurisdictions including the UK, and the FP defence must be abolished to make the Australian regulation consistent with the international standards and to foster international business backed up by globalisation, competition and interconnectedness of national economies. Originality/value: This paper is the original work of the author and has not been submitted elsewhere for publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effects of economic and political uncertainties on tourism demand using the 'World Uncertainty Index' (WUI). This index is more a sophisticated and reliable measure of global uncertainty than previous indices used by the literature. The findings show that uncertainty shocks affect travels for business, holidays, and visiting friends/relatives purposes negatively. It is statistically significant for duration of stay of 1 week to less than one month in Australia. This effect dissipates for longer stays. This study provides insightful information to destinations on how consumers adjust their behaviour during period of political and economic uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies, the role of an organization's accounting control system (ACS) as part of an interrelated control "package," in which other control Systems function either as substitutes or complements. Drawing on resource dependence and institutional theories, it argues that this control mix is not only contingent on the organization's technical environment but also on its institutional environment. In addition, the paper draws on empirical evidence to demonstrate how the design of the "package" is actively shaped by the strategic choices of its dominant coalition. The empirics are based on a longitudinal field study of one large, public teaching hospital in Australia that underwent material changes in its governance structure, culture, and accounting control system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia's welfare-to-work system has been subject to ongoing political contestation and policy reform since the 1990s. In this paper we take a big picture look at the Australian system over time, re-visiting our earlier analysis of the impact of marketisation on flexibility at the frontline over the first ten years of the Australian market in employment services. That analysis demonstrated that marketisation had failed to deliver the service flexibility intended through contracting-out, and had instead produced market herding around a common set of standardised frontline practices. In the interim, there have been two further major redesigns of the Australian system at considerable expense to taxpayers. Re-introducing greater flexibility and service tailoring into the market has been a key aim of these reforms. Calling on evidence from an original, longitudinal survey of frontline employment service staff run in 2008, 2012 and 2016, this paper considers how the Australian market has evolved over its second decade. We find remarkable consistency over time and, indeed, evidence of deepening organisational convergence. We conclude that, once in motion, isomorphic pressures towards standardisation quickly get locked into quasi-market regimes; at least when these pressures occur in low-trust contracting environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What motivates corporate political action? Are corporations motivated by their own narrow economic self-interest; are they committed to pursuing larger class interests; or are corporations instruments for status groups to pursue their own agendas? Sociologists have been divided over this question for much of the last century. This paper introduces a novel case - that of Australia - and an extensive dataset of over 1,500 corporations and 7,500 directors. The paper attempts to understand the motives of corporate political action by examining patterns of corporate political donations. Using statistical modelling, supported by qualitative evidence, the paper argues that, in the Australian case, corporate political action is largely motivated by the narrow economic self-interest of individual corporations. Firms' interests are, consistent with regulatory environment theory, defined by the nature of government regulation in their industry: those in highly regulated industries (such as banking) and those dependent on government support (such as defence) tend to adopt a strategy of hedging their political support, and make bipartisan donations (to both major parties). In contrast, firms facing hostile regulation (such as timber or mining), and those without strong dependence on state support (such as small companies) tend to adopt a strategy of conservative partisanship, and make conservative-only donations. This paper argues that regulatory environment theory needs to be modified to incorporate greater emphasis on the subjective political judgements of corporations facing hostile regulation: a corporation's adoption of conservative partisanship or hedging is not just a product of the objective regulation they face, but also whether corporate leaders judge such regulation as politically inevitable or something that can be resisted. Such a judgement is highly subjective, introducing a dynamic and unpredictable dimension to corporate political action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With recent advances in information technologies such as global position system and mobile internet, a huge volume of spatio-textual objects have been generated from location-based services, which enable a wide range of spatial keyword queries. Recently, researchers have proposed a novel query, called Spatial Pattern Matching (SPM), which uses a pattern to capture the user's intention. It has been demonstrated to be fundamental and useful for many real applications. Despite its usefulness, the SPM problem is computationally intractable. Existing algorithms suffer from the low efficiency issue, especially on large scale datasets. To enhance the performance of SPM, in this paper we propose a novel Efficient Spatial Pattern Matching (ESPM) algorithm, which exploits the inverted linear quadtree index and computes matched node pairs and object pairs level by level in a top-down manner. In particular, it focuses on pruning unpromising nodes and node pairs at the high levels, resulting in a large number of unpromising objects and object pairs to be pruned before accessing them from disk. We experimentally evaluate the performance of ESPM on real large datasets. Our results show that ESPM is over one order of magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art algorithm, and also uses much less I/O cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]