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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.

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.)

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.

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]

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.

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.)

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.)