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Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there exist significant benefits from diversification into frontier markets for an Australian investor in comparison to a US investor. Design/methodology/approach -- The study uses the computationally efficient ADCC GARCH model to estimate time-varying correlations of returns. The authors also compare the results to DCC GARCH correlations in order to test whether the results are model-specific. Optimal portfolios with several restrictions were constructed and the results from Australian and US investors were compared. The study also uses a holding out period that is rebalanced at the end of each quarter using new portfolio weights. Findings -- The study finds that there are significant benefits for the Australian investor from diversifying into frontier markets. However, the benefits to the US investor are much higher than that of an Australian investor. The results from the holding out period also present significantly higher benefits to the US investor compared to the Australian investor. Originality/value -- This study examines the diversification benefits to the Australian investor from frontier markets and compares the benefits of the Australian and the US investors. The results emphasise the potential benefits from including frontier markets in the portfolio. The paper also presents a holding out period analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose As libraries are required to become more accountable and demonstrate that they are meeting performance metrics, an assessment website can be a means for providing data for evidence-based decision making and an important indicator of how a library interacts with its constituents. The purpose of this paper is to share the results of a review of websites of academic libraries from four countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia and the USA.Design/methodology/approach The academic library websites included in the sample were selected from the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Research Libraries of the United Kingdom, Council of Australian University Libraries, Historically Black College & Universities Library Alliance, Association of Research Libraries and American Indian Higher Education Consortium. The websites were evaluated according to the absence or presence of nine predetermined characteristics related to assessment.Findings It was discovered that “one size does not fit all” and found several innovative ways institutions are listening to their constituents and making improvements to help users succeed in their academic studies, research and creative endeavors.Research limitations/implications Only a sample of academic libraries from each of the four countries were analyzed. Additionally, some of the academic libraries were using password protected intranets unavailable for public access. The influences of institutional history and country-specific practices also became compelling factors during the analysis.Originality/value This paper seeks to broaden the factors for what is thought of as academic library assessment with the addition of qualitative and contextual considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — Union-community collaboration is an increasingly common practice in industrialised nations where union power and density have declined. This paper proposes a framework for defining and evaluating community unionism, through a definition of the term "community." Design/methodology/approach — The author explores this framework drawing on campaigns in Sydney and Chicago. Findings — It defines the term community in three discrete but mutually reinforcing ways, as (community) organisation; common interest identity, and local neighbourhood or place. The term is used to then define community unionism as three discrete union strategies, and finally to examine one type of community unionism — coalition unionism. Successful coalition practice is defined by partner organisational relationships (coalition structure, bridge brokers, and coalition offices); common concern (common interest operates as mutual direct interest of organisation and members), and the element of scale (where success increases as coalitions operate at multiple scales such as the local, as well as the scale of government and/or business decision makers). Originality/value — The paper identifies three elements of coalition unionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to bring together the history of war, the universities and the professions. It examines the case of dentistry in New South Wales, detailing its divided pre-war politics, the role of the university, the formation and work of the Dental Corps during the First World War, and the process of professionalization in the 1920s.Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on documentary and archival sources including those of the University of Sydney, contemporary newspapers, annual reports and publication of various dental associations, and on secondary sources.Findings The paper argues that both the war and the university were central to the professionalization of dentistry in New South Wales. The war transformed the expertise of dentists, shifted their social status and cemented their relationship with the university.Originality/value This study is the first to examine dentistry in the context of the histories of war, universities and professionalization. It highlights the need to re-evaluate the changing place of the professions in interwar Australia in the light both of the First World War and of the university’s involvement in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine if high versus low ethnocentric consumers differ in their attitudes toward buying domestic and foreign brands of underwear that are made domestically or in foreign countries. Design/methodology/approach – Australian residents recruited through a mall intercept participated in this study through a self-completed questionnaire. Fishbein's Multi-Attribute model was used as the measure, along with repeated-measures ANOVA and t-tests, to examine whether the groups differed in their attitudes toward buying underwear with "Made in Australia", "Made in the USA", and "Made in China" labels. Findings – The findings generally indicated that there is no significant difference between high and low ethnocentric consumers in attitude towards underwear that are made in Australia and the USA. On the other hand, high ethnocentric consumers viewed domestically made and branded underwear as more durable, easier to care for, better priced, more colourful, more attractive, more fashionable, of stronger brand name, more appropriate for occasions, and more choices of styles. Domestically-made but foreign-branded underwear is viewed as easier to care for and better priced. Practical implications – The study suggests that China should improve its country image as compared to such developed nations as Australia and the USA in terms of production and manufacturing standards. The study also purports that American underwear brands with strong presence in the global fashion world that have not already established operation in Australia can consider entering the market. Originality/value – The paper fills the gap in the ethnocentrism literature by validating the study in Australia and focusing on the attitudes of high ethnocentric (and low ethnocentric) consumers. It also examines underwear, which is a common product category in apparels but inherently deficient in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper, which is based on author's PhD study, is to assess the efficacy of Indonesia's credit card fraud prevention from a strategic point of view, using a model of payments fraud prevention practice developed by the author based on similar practices in the USA, the UK and Australia. Design/methodology/approach – Primary and secondary data, particularly from the payments system of the USA, the UK, Australia and Indonesia were used. Such data were collected by means of literature reviews and in-depth interviews with payments system professionals. Findings – The author establishes that credit card fraud prevention practice in Indonesia is still at a lower level of robustness than those in the USA, the UK and Australia. Deficiencies in the credit card fraud prevention practice in Indonesia are indicated, inter alia, by a lack of reliable fraud data collection, management and distribution mechanisms as well as a lack of effective and efficient identity management practice. Deficiencies and weaknesses in the system should be identified and action taken to make it more consistent with credit card fraud prevention practices of other countries. Originality/value – The paper sees credit card fraud prevention practice in Indonesia as a function of many factors which influence one another, based on which the analysis is built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper, which is based on author's PhD study, is to analyze the trends in credit card fraud prevention in the USA, the UK, Australia and Indonesia, particularly over the period 2003-2007, with special focus on the fraud prevention practices in the payments systems. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses primary and secondary data particularly from the payments systems of the USA, the UK, Australia and Indonesia to conduct historical and benchmarking analyses to highlight the trends in credit card fraud prevention in the four countries. Findings - The study establishes that a common approach in preventing credit card fraud is reducing offenders' opportunities to commit their offences, which often require significant amount of resources and thus sound strategy needs to be properly formulated and executed. Referring primarily to the practices in the USA, the UK, Australia and Indonesia, resources are mainly allocated to six key areas of fraud prevention: understanding of the real problems, fraud prevention policy, fraud awareness, technology-based protection, identity management and legal deterrence. These are supported in principle by four main groups in a payments system: user, institution, network and government and industry. Originality/value - The paper provides insights into the nature of credit card fraud, as well as a framework for designing a sound credit card fraud prevention strategy in a country's payments system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Despite rapid growth in organizational use of Twitter, there is little theoretical or empirical research examining how different organisations use Twitter. This paper aims to analyse and compare use of Twitter in 12 accounts held by six organisations in the USA and Australia, drawing on existing models of interactive communications. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on analysis of a random sample of tweets sent by each account. Findings – The results demonstrate different ways in which the interactive capabilities of Twitter can be used to communicate with customers. However by also demonstrating lack of consistency in Twitter practice within most organisations, the results reinforce the need for strategic consistency in developing Twitter practice. Research limitations/implications – The results are based on the Twitter practice of 12 organisational accounts in the USA and Australia from December 2009 to May 2010. As with any evolving medium, practices at the different organisations may have changed since that time. Originality/value – The paper is the first to compare Twitter use within and across organisations and geographic markets. It demonstrates a variety of potential Twitter practices, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different strategies, and thus provides a framework for analysis of Twitter practice, and strategic direction for organisations developing their use of Twitter. The paper identifies challenges in the use of Twitter as both a one-to-many, and also a one-to-one, communication medium, and suggests strategies for coping with this dual use of Twitter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to present findings from an experiment designed to test the impact of crowding perceptions (both human and spatial), emotions (positive and negative) and shopping values (utilitarian and hedonic) on shopper satisfaction. Culture is explored as a moderating variable with the expectation that it systematically affects perceptions and values, which, in turn, influence the shopper's experience with the store. Design/methodology/approach -- Data were collected via a 2 x 2 x 2 full factorial between subjects design with two variables, one manipulated and one measured. The two manipulated variables were spatial density (high versus low) and human density (high versus low). The measured variable was country of origin, where subjects were coded as either American or Australian. Findings -- Culture moderates the effects of perceived spatial crowding as well as both hedonic and utilitarian shopping values on shopper satisfaction. Specifically, the adverse effect of perceived spatial crowding on shopper satisfaction is less pronounced for Australians than is the case for Americans. With respect to both utilitarian and hedonic shopping values, the positive relationship between shopping values and shopper satisfaction is greater for Australians than for Americans. Originality/value -- Shopping has been generally described by Rintamaki et al. as "relativistic, because it involves preferences among objects, it varies among people, and it is specific to the context". This paper demonstrates that culture clearly affects shopper's perceptions and shopping values, which in turn affect shopper satisfaction. It is reasonable to speculate that these effects would be even more pronounced had countries with greater cultural distance been examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse job ads as relatively accessible indicators of the knowledge, skills and competencies required of librarians by employers. It then uses a framework provided by the literature on professional jurisdiction to examine what may be trends and shaping factors for the Library and Information Studies (US) profession with regard to jurisdiction in a changing information landscape. Design/methodology/approach – Job ads were examined in two separate studies; one comparing job ads in Australia and the USA over eight weeks in 2004, and the other looking at one month snapshots of Australian job ads in 1974, 1984, 1994 and 2004. The text from the job ads was analysed using a content analysis software package. The literature on professional jurisdiction provided an interpretive framework. Findings – The Australian snapshots over time showed that there is an increasing lack of clarity about the skills and competencies required of librarians. The American job ads seemed to rank jurisdictional knowledge and professional qualifications more highly than their Australian counterparts. Interpersonal skills, behavioural characteristics and technical services skills are in demand in both countries. Originality/value – In addition to reporting on the knowledge, skills and competencies required of librarians, by applying an interpretive framework from the literature on professional jurisdiction the paper exposes some of the challenges ahead for the LIS profession. Research limitations/implications – The research used a small number of sources and a relatively small number of ads. It is acknowledged that job ads are only one source of information about knowledge, skills and competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The last decade has seen increasing advocacy for, and interest in the use of white space in the broadcasting bands by providers of wireless broadband services. This paper aims to discuss the scope in Australia for "symbiotic" and "invasive" white space devices to operate in the UHF band after digital switchover and speculate about longer term trends.Design/methodology/approach – The authors draw from their analysis of recent regulatory decisions to explain how the parameters established for channel planning naturally conduce to the development of large white spaces. They then identify emerging opportunities for white space usage in the reduced UHF band allocated to digital television services as well as in nearby guard bands.Findings – The article's analysis suggests that there is considerable scope for white space devices to operate in Australia – even in the context of a reduced UHF band following analog switch off. Furthermore, the authors argue that the development of complementary business models could see off any perceived conflict between intensive white space usage and the long-term benefit of both broadcasters and telecommunications operators.Practical implications – It is timely for proponents of white space usage to establish regulatory arrangements that will allow intensive use of those white spaces. Current FCC proposals to base the regulatory framework on spectrum co-sharing between broadcasters and white space broadband providers may lead to similar, yet distinct, opportunities in the USA as well.Originality/value – There is a surprising paucity of published information worldwide regarding white space regulation. This article provides an in-depth discussion of the main parameters driving white space opportunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to reflect on the sources of the technical inefficiency of health care foodservice operations, using a sample of Australian and American hospitals. Design/methodology/approach - The paper applies the stochastic frontier model to reflect on the technical inefficiency and its sources. The advantage of the model is that it allows the simultaneous parameters estimation of technical efficiency as well as the factors that explain variations in technical efficiency. A set of hypotheses are tested to ensure the applicability and suitability of the suggested model. Then the model parameters are estimated, discussed and checked against the theoretical requirements and the literature. Findings - Results show that all the variable coefficients are correctly signed and that the average technical efficiency is around 83 percent for Australia and 80 percent for the USA. Practical implications - The technical efficiency results, according to the introduced model, suggest that health care foodservice operations in both countries are not operating at a full efficient level. The results also reveal that factors such as manager's education, manager's experience, and size have a direct impact on reducing the level of technical inefficiency of these operations. Originality/value - This paper overcomes the limitations of the existing efficiency techniques in the area of health care foodservice and also provides policy implications by emphasizing on the sources of technical inefficiency of health care foodservice operations for Australia and USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores various asset cloaking techniques following the placement stage of money laundering. The author discusses various typologies and methods, ranging from simple nominee arrangements to complex financial transactions, employed by money launderers to hide their assets and cloak ownership using several cases from Canada, Australia and U.S. as well as reference materials on asset protection. He concludes that there are many asset cloaking techniques which can be used by money launderers to hide their assets, but there is no existing treaty process that addresses this kind of civil forfeiture practice.

Purpose - Historical studies of the expert management of childhood in Australia often make passing reference to the establishment of child guidance clinics. Yet beyond acknowledgement of their founding during the interwar years, there has been little explication of the dynamics of their institutional development. The purpose of this article is to examine the introduction of child guidance in Australia against the backdrop of the international influences that shaped local developments. Design/methodology/approach - The article investigates the establishment of child guidance clinics in Melbourne and Sydney in the 1930s. In doing so, it explores the influence of American philanthropy, the promise of prevention that inspired the mental hygiene movement, and some of the difficulties faced in putting its child guidance ideals into practice in Australia. Findings - American philanthropy played an important role in the transnational carriage of ideas about mental hygiene and child guidance into Australia. However, it was state support of child guidance activities that proved critical to its establishment. In addition to institutional developments, what also emerges as important in the 1930s is the traction gained in the broader realm of ideas about "adjustment" and mental health, particularly in relation to the efficacy of early intervention and multidisciplinary approaches to treating problems of childhood. Originality/value - In tracing its early development, the article argues for the importance of understanding child guidance not only in terms of its administrative successes and failures, but also more broadly in terms of how early intervention as an influential mode of thought and practice took root internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]