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Risk is everywhere and part of every operation. Therefore, today, risk management is becoming critical part of the organizations' long term goals. Capabilities to managing diverse risks are considered important attributes that differentiate a successful business from others. To acquire such capabilities, firms are increasingly pursuing multiple risk management strategies. Although significant work has been done in the area of supply chain risk management, the research lacks a unified framework exploring relationship between risk perception, risk management, collaboration and firm performance. We further highlight that the agri-food industry plays a critical role in many countries through the provision of employment, income and contribution to economic development. However, this industry is largely untapped in the extant literature of supply chain risk management. The current paper attempts to bridge these gaps in the existing literature. The analysis is based on a pilot test comprising five semi-structured interviews with the managers of firms at different nodes within the Australian citrus supply chain. The findings suggest that the firms are highly vulnerable to various risks due to perishable nature of products, uncertain weather conditions, changing consumer preferences and stringent and rapidly changing food safety regulations. Based on the results of study and insights from the existing literature, we propose a conceptual framework to examine the relationship between perceived risks, risk management and firm performance. Our framework also examines the moderating role of collaboration in managing risks and improving firm performance in a supply chain. The framework is underpinned by the key assumptions of contingency theory and relational view. This paper provides theoretical contributions by integrating and extending contingency theory and relational view from organizational studies into supply chain network perspective. The findings of the paper also enhance managers' understanding of divergent risks and appropriate risk management measures to mitigate them. Specifically, this paper emphasizes for a strong vertical and horizontal collaboration among the firms within the supply chain. This paper contributes to the extant literature in the field of supply chain risk management as well as agri-food supply chains by investigating the risks faced in supply chains and how they determine the risk management strategies undertaken by firms to maintain or enhance performance. The paper adopts holistic approach, as opposed to the many past studies which focus on either supply side risks or demand side risks. In doing so, this paper extends the unit of analysis from dyadic to a network perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper undertakes an analysis of bilateral trade linkages between Australia and Thailand over 1990 to 2011, analysing changes in trade competitiveness, and possible role played by the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) that came into force in 2005. Trade competitiveness changes are measured by the revealed comparative advantage index (RCAI) at an aggregate and value-added level, as well as a constant market share analysis (CMS) analysis. An export-demand model utilizing interaction effects in presence of the TAFTA is then estimated, hitherto not attempted earlier in the empirical literature on Australia-Thailand trade. The findings of the paper suggest that the Thailand-Australian trade relationship has undergone further adjustment since the establishment of the TAFTA. However, the changes in trade patterns are not necessarily due to TAFTA but more of a long term trend. CMS analysis suggest that Thailand's export competitiveness significantly contributed to the remarkable growth of exports to Australia experienced over the period, and the strongest trade link between the two countries has been the export of automotive vehicles from Thailand to Australia. However, value-added RCAI reveals that Thailand's domestic industry have been contributing to its exports to a much lesser extent than as actually observed in its gross exports, and this reflects the increasing role of foreign firms and imported inputs in Thailand's machinery and transport equipment sector. The export demand model therefore finds a significant positive impact of the TAFTA only on Australian exports to Thailand, but not vice-versa. The observed statistically insignificant impact of the TAFTA on Thai exports to Australia could be due to the limited impact of the TAFTA on trade barriers in Australia, as Thai exporters already enjoyed low tariffs prior to implementation of the TAFTA. The insignificant income effect observed in presence of TAFTA confirms that the TAFTA agreement had no impact on Thailand's demand for Australian exports even while the Australian economy was growing. The results imply that Australia and Thailand's membership with the same country in three different FTAs (bilateral, regional and cross-regional) could throw up additional challenges of utilization of these agreements for actual business purposes in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The whole food system which involves agricultural production, food processing and packaging, distribution and retail as well as consumption requires inputs such as land, water, fertiliser, pesticides, herbicides and energy, which are responsible for environmental degradation. The main aim of this paper is to determine the size of the ecological footprint of grains consumption in Australia for evaluating the level of environmental sustainability. The ecological footprint methodology permits the monitoring of dominant threats to sustainability. One of the benefits of ecological footprint methodology is its capacity to distinguish between resources consumed and resources available and then reveal how ecologically sustainable those consumption patterns are. The study begins with an analysis of the ecological footprint of grain crops consumption, then analyses the biocapacity. The study concludes by making a comparison between ecological footprint and biocapacity and then assessing its sustainability of grain crops consumption. The paper uses both local and global yield data in terms of global hectare and local hectare respectively with inter-temporal time-series yield factors. This paper also uses production and consumption data on various grain crops. The refined method of determining the ecological footprint has provided a new assessment tool to gain insights into the environmental impacts of grain crops consumption. This method in this study had also highlighted the contribution of the EF as an indicator of environmental sustainability. Results indicate that the ecological footprint of grain consumption in Australia only exceeds biocapacity when the energy requirements of these crops are included in the evaluation. This study also reveals that that Australia's grain consumption is unsustainable at the national scale, and still below the world-average ecological appropriation level. The size of the revealed ecological footprint are responsible for the amount of the grain consumption, energy inputs, the size of the population, the degree of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) gas emissions, and the amount of other farm inputs. This paper highlights the environmental significance of the ecological footprint of grain crops consumption in Australia. This paper also reinforces how intensely a sustainable future depends on the reshaping of the Australian grain industry. Finally, this paper discusses some of the implications of the method presented here for future footprint calculations and environmental sustainability. If Australia wants to shift to a smarter, more sustainable agricultural future; it must strive to shift to lower impact products and services, to increase the efficiency of the production through reducing energy inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life cycle hypothesis suggests that when the Baby Boomers retire, many are likely to sell their assets to finance their retirement, exerting downward pressure on house prices. This paper examines whether demographic transitions, particularly the increasing proportion of the population in the old age cohort due to the retirement of Baby Boomers, will precipitate a dramatic decline in real house prices in Australia. The study uses a structural vector autoregressive framework. This is an important improvement over the reduced-form regression strategies usually employed in the literature. Both the demographic and non-demographic variables used in the empirical analysis are treated as endogenous and reverse causality between the variables is taken into account. The population ageing dynamics are modelled using impulse response functions and, thus, an insight into the potential magnitude of demographic shocks, particularly retirement shocks, is obtained. A much longer time series from 1950 to 2014 is used in the empirical analysis. The findings reject the predictions that population ageing, or more specifically, changes in age structure particularly due to retiring Baby Boomers, will lead to pronounced downward pressure on real house price in Australia. The results suggest that macroeconomic shocks and house price specific shocks explain more of the variation in house prices than the shifts in the population age structure, suggesting that such factors could outweigh any effects of future demographic shifts on house prices. At present the principal residence is excluded in the means test calculation for the age pension. The rapidly increasing size of the retired population will impose an increasing fiscal burden due to age pension expenditure. The way in which housing is treated for age pension eligibility will affect choices on whether older households remain in current residence or face pressure on selling their houses to finance the retirement consumption. This will have an impact on releasing housing stock into the market, which is an important policy implication from this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the existence of a non-linear relationship between oil price volatility and equity market uncertainty. The study specifically analyses the pattern of effects of oil price volatility on the broader equity market as well as the sectoral equity returns volatility within Australian Economy. We use a logistic transition based autoregressive model (LSTR) developed by Teräsvirta and Anderson (1992) and Teräsvirta, (1994). We find that the hypothesis of linearity between oil price volatility and equity market uncertainty is rejected for six out of 10 sectors of the Australian economy. The retention of LSTR model suggests that the oil return volatility has high and low regimes that affect equity markets differently across the sectors. The transition functions suggest that switching of oil price volatility from low to high regime is abrupt for consumer discretion, financial and material sectors while such transition is smooth for consumer staple, energy, and industrial sectors. The results also show that some sectors are quicker in responding to heightened volatility. From the VAR framework, the impulse response functions show that a one period increase or a shock in oil price volatility raises volatility of equity in consumer discretion, consumer staple, finance, industry, telecom and consumer staple sectors. Of these, equity volatility in industries and financial sectors seem to exhibit a prolonged positive response following the oil price volatility shock. Also, equity volatility of industries seems to rise by much larger proportion compared to the equity volatility response of other sectors. These findings are helpful as a guide for sectoral rotation strategies. In view of the increased volatility of oil prices due to a negative impact of oil price shock and the resultant surge of uncertainty, Australian firms could formulate their short and long run investment plans based on volatility threshold level. Firms in consumer discretion, financial and industrial sector could consider postponement of investment if the volatility in oil price exceeds certain threshold. Also, firms in the consumer staple, energy and materials industry need to make prudent business decisions in situations where oil price volatility falls within the threshold range as identified by the LSTR2 models. Based on the findings, there is a need for public policy formulation to reduce the adverse impacts of increased oil price uncertainties on the Australian economy during periods of unforeseen random events including depressions and crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF) constitute the largest superannuation sector in Australia with the highest total superannuation assets. As at June 2015, SMSF assets approximate AUD600 billion, or equivalent to 37% of Australia's GDP. SMSFs are managed by fund trustees who are also fund members. The investment risk is fully borne by members. Despite its importance, the sector has not been subjected to as much research interest as other types of institutional superannuation funds. Furthermore, little is known about the individual trustees' experiences on impact on regulation, risk protection against fraud. In this paper, we investigate the gap between the expectations and satisfactions of SMSF trustees in managing their superannuation assets. Online Survey method is used to gather data on a Likert scale. The survey comprised three sections. The first section of the survey covered demographic information of respondents. The second section aimed at collecting information on the trustees' expectations. The third section was intended to collect information on trustees' satisfaction through rating questions covering the cost, control, quality of financial advice, and investment performance when managing their own funds. The ratings of expectations in second section were compared with the ratings of experiences in the third section. The strength of association between ranked variables related to expectations and experiences was tested by Spearman correlation. Wilcoxon tests were also used to provide supporting results in comparing the expectations and experiences. Female or older respondents are more satisfied with fund performance. The satisfaction is correlated positively with fund size, due to the economics of scale in controlling fund costs. Respondents with a higher education level showed increased satisfaction. This may be due to their greater ability to process complex information and make better investment decisions. The difference between trustee expectations and experiences in major areas including the control of investment, cost, investment performance and service quality were not significant. There was a moderately positive correlation between expectations and experiences in regards to cost and control. There was a weakly positive correlation between expectations and experiences in investment performance. The positive correlation between trustees' expectations and experiences is lowest in financial services. There is no significant misalignment between SMSF trustees' expectations and experiences in major areas including control, cost, investment performance, and financial service quality. Although the regulation level is high, the protection against frauds and risks are low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents empirical evidence of the governance challenges faced by not-for-profit (NFP) organisations. Drawing on interviews and survey data, the paper explores perceptions of NFP leaders concerning governance challenges, drawing implications for theory and practice. The research shows that NFPs face internal and external contingencies that determine effectiveness of governance systems. The study finds that considerable variation in the roles of boards exists. This has theoretical consequences, as the usefulness of stewardship, agency, resource-dependence and stakeholder theory varies according to the directives of NFP boards, and provides empirical evidence in favour of taking a contingency approach towards theories concerning NFP boards. The study further shows that director recruitment is challenging, particularly for NFPs with membership-based board models, as the constitution often determines a pool from which must be sourced. This often leads to directors not being recruited based on skills, which in turn increases the importance of skills development. While many respondents state they provide training, interviewees indicate that lack of time and resources pose practical obstacles. We contend that this lack of resources represents a contingency that can negatively impact board functioning. The findings furthermore suggest that funding dynamics can negatively impact accountability and governance. Specifically the fact that government is the largest donor in the sample, while the recipients of services are the most important stakeholders. While donor and stakeholder representation on boards may help to mitigate donor dependency and asymmetric accountability, the study finds that NFPs are often unable to recruit directors with appropriate skills. As it is also challenging to facilitate training due to the lack of resources, the result is a conflicting dynamic between the demand for skills and stakeholder representation on governance bodies. Respondents decribed the Australian charities regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission (ACNC), as a potential advisory and 'go-to' body that can help establish basic regulation and increase public confidence in the sector. The study suggests a role for the ACNC in assisting NFPs to reflect on contingencies and establish optimal governance configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership is increasingly becoming a major research focus in both the corporate and higher education sector (HES). Previous studies have shown that different leadership styles play a significant role in promoting both employee wellbeing and organizational outcomes. However, at present there is a lack of clear understanding of how leadership style, employee wellbeing and organizational outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention concurrently interact in the HES context, particularly within Australian regional university settings. A review of leadership studies literature also suggests that researchers have either focused on the relationship between a specific leadership style and wellbeing; leadership styles and organizational outcomes, or the relationship between wellbeing and organizational outcomes. However, rarely do empirical studies examine all three concurrently. More expansive and pluralist research approaches are needed if we are to better understand the contextual complexities of leadership in the current HES. For a complex organization such as a university, an effective way of examining leadership may be by applying leadership theories that examine a diverse range of leadership styles that may have both positive and negative outcomes. The Full Range of Leadership Theory (FRLT) examines transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles within a single continuum that may provide a way to concurrently examine how these differing leadership styles may impact on leadership effectiveness in the HES context. In this review paper, drawn from a current PhD study, contexts for leadership practice in HES today will be explored, then leadership studies literature more generally will be reviewed to locate amenable leadership approaches for this work. Lastly, possibilities for leadership approaches that concurrently address issues of wellbeing and outcomes will be discussed. Specifically, the FRLT will be used as a frame to examine transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership approaches within a single continuum as to identify how FRLT may differ from or concur with leadership theories and approaches understood more generally to fit within post-heroic leadership studies standpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst educational managers and entrepreneurs are expanding online education opportunities, at least some academics are becoming less enthusiastic about the initiative. As a result, a complex and in many ways contested working environment for academics is emerging in tertiary institutions. Some academics are showing dissatisfaction with their workload. Scholars argue that academics' job satisfaction is highly correlated with students' learning outcomes. While economists advocate the expansion of online education in the context of rising costs of university education in economics literature, the psychological states of teaching academics are overlooked in economics literature. Attitudes to academic (over-)workload are a psychological issue in tertiary education, particularly in universities globally where online education has a strong presence. This paper deals with teachers' attitude at an Australia university. This study explains the variations in academics' attitudes to (over-)workload at an Australian university. For this study we have used primary data collected from a single Australian university - University of Southern Queensland (USQ) - during the period of February-March 2014. The total population size for this study is approximately 400 (four hundred), who are distributed across the then five faculties of the university. The data are collected online. In response to our online survey invitation, 83 (eighty-three) participating academics has taken part in the survey. We have used Likert-type data, where the scale of measurement is represented by ordinal numbers. Research methods used in this study are descriptive analysis of data and inferential statistics based on probit regression. The estimated coefficients of the regression analysis show that three variables are statistically significant at the 5 per cent level. These variables are: the use of the Internet per week, the native language (English) status and the academic qualification status. However, the estimates of the marginal effect show that because of a change of native English status from zero to one, an academic is 23 per cent more likely to be strongly agreed with the statement - online teaching increases academic workload. This implies that attitudes to academic (over-)workload vary among the academics. The policy implication is that education administrators will have to give attention to the working conditions of the academics in order to expand online education successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been very little international research on Arab entrepreneurs from the Middle East, who began to land on American shores during the late 1880s and on other parts of the world for decades. Little attention has also been given to Arab entrepreneurs from the Middle East, who began to land on Australian shores during the late 1860s, and who have been greatly contributing to the Australian economy and cultural diversity for almost 150 years. Thus, in an attempt to fill the gap, this paper investigates barriers to small business success, using a sample of Middle Eastern communities in Melbourne, Australia, specifically the Lebanese, Egyptian and Iraqi communities, the three largest in the state of Victoria with developed community infrastructures. Unfortunately, a list of the total target population did not conveniently exist for sampling purposes; and it was impractical to compile such a list, therefore, cluster sampling was utilized, particularly, area sampling, as geographic areas were identified. For pragmatic reasons, and to enhance representativeness of the sample, PPS technique was used to identify the proportion of each sample for each community for interviews. Thus, around ten per cent (n=16) in proportion to the total number of working population (N=165) were subsequently interviewed. Individual in-depth, semi-structured and audiotaped interviews were conducted using a list of open-ended questions relating to the barriers to business success. Interviews were manually content-analyzed using conventional content analysis and constant comparative methods. Thus, the analysis of participants' comments reflected the following barriers to business success: (i) dealing with difficult people; (ii) loss of support sources; (iii) personal idiosyncrasies of the owner/managers; (iv) financial barriers; (v) lack of specific business experience; and (vi) others. The analysis of participants' comments also indicated that dealing with difficult people as a barrier to business success was further analysed into (A) extended family, friends and people from own community, (B) employees and (C) customers, the other five barriers could not be analysed further. Quotations and excerpts from interviews were used to facilitate understanding interviewees' points of view, as well as to illustrate and support each the first and the second levels of analysis for each of the barriers. This study lies in its contribution to academic literature, and its results should improve understanding of entrepreneurial behavioral patterns through the development of teaching and training programs, which can assist government and relevant bodies in introducing public policy that helps improve entrepreneurs' success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]