Enhancing Technological Practice: An Assessment Framework for Technology Education in New Zealand

The stated aim of technology education in New Zealand is to develop students' level of technological literacy. This paper introduces the Technology Assessment Framework (TAF) as an organisational tool for the development and delivery of technology programmes that focus on increasing students' technological literacy through the enhancement of their technological practice across technological areas and contexts. The TAF was developed and refined in 1999 and 2000 as part of a two year New Zealand Ministry of Education funded research project, and integrated within a national professional development programme in 2000 designed for preservice and inservice teacher educators in New Zealand.This paper backgrounds the sociocultural theoretical position of the TAF and explains how it reflects and furthers the aim of technology education in New Zealand. The TAF is then presented and explained with the aid of illustrative examples from classroom practice.     

New Zealand Teachers' Experiences in Implementing the Technology Curriculum

This paper describes the results of a national study to investigate teachers' experiences in the implementation of the technology curriculum in New Zealand schools from years 1–13. This investigation of the implementation of the technology curriculum is part of a larger study being undertaken nationally in all curriculum areas (National Schools Sampling Study) to explore how effective the curriculum is in practice and how the results can inform future developments. National focus groups, questionnaires and case studies are used to explore how the curriculum is being implemented. The questionnaires were distributed to over 10% of New Zealand schools. The key findings indicate that most primary school teachers are aiming for curriculum coverage, have moderate levels of confidence but are concerned about curriculum overcrowding. Years 7 and 8 teachers are mainly concerned about assessment, whereas secondary school teachers are constrained by existing structures in schools. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Place of Authenticity in Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum

In 1999 Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum became mandatory. It was developed over a period of approximately four years from conception to publication, with wide consultation. It was first published in October 1995. During the three years between publication and gazetting many teachers were involved in professional development. During this time it became obvious that there was confusion amongst teachers about the meaning of `authenticity' in relation to technology programmes. Do technological problems need to be authentic to the students themselves or to the nature of technological practice? Many learning theories have informed the development of this document. Those selected here indicate quite clearly the meaning and context of authenticity with regard to technology education. By involving our students in activity that is authentic to technological practice or real world technology, teachers are able to provide stimulating and relevant learning for students. This was also the indication in recent communication from the Ministry of Education in New Zealand during the 1999 Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ) conference. By giving academic value to technology and developing our teachers in the fields of technological practice we hope our students will influence the economic status of our country in the future.     

Telecommunications policy-making in New Zealand during the last two decades

During the last two decades the traditional roles of the major providers of telecommunications services have changed due to internal and external economic, political, social and technological pressures. This paper, using case-study research, describes the ‘change agents’ and formal structures involved in telecommunications policy-making processes, taking note of a move towards, and need for, a coherent national communications policy. It illustrates how decisions have been made and lays the groundwork for a more detailed study of the evolutionary changes in telecommunications policy-making in New Zealand in subsequent years.     

新西兰天然气行业的发展与改革

新西兰政府于1993年启动了对天然气行业的全面改革,以引入市场竞争,改善企业经营的政策环境和市场环境,促进天然气行业的健康发展.改革完成后,配送和零售领域的市场参与者数量增加,各类用户获得了自由选择各自天然气供应商的权力,行业参与者的经营效率和服务质量大大提高.为了缓解天然气储量下降引起的供应减少和价格上涨,新西兰政府从2002年起出台了一系列鼓励天然气勘探开发的政策,包括：投融资优惠政策、适当的资金补贴政策、新的税收和矿区使用费优惠政策,以及加快勘探区块转让的政策等.目前,这些政策产生的推动作用已经显现.新西兰的经验说明：建立健全天然气行业法律框架,引入独立监管机制,是确保行业健康发展的关键;采取政策鼓励措施,促进上游勘探开发和实现气源多元化,是应对天然气资源短缺挑战的基本途径;发挥企业和燃气协会等行业中介组织的作用,是提高行业安全、健康、环保等技术管理水平,降低各类事故风险的有效措施.     

An investigation into CAPM anomalies in New Zealand: The small firm and price-earnings ratio effects

This study reports the results of an investigation into the price-earnings (P/E) ratio and small firm effects on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZSE). While the small firm effect has been documentated in the New Zealand setting, there appears to be no knowledge of the P/E effect. The results of this study suggest that no P/E effect exists. However, the evidence of a small firm effect is consistent with prior findings.Acknowledgement is made to Cleve Patterson for his assistance with the early development of this paper. Any omissions or oversights are the sole responsibility of the author.     

A new test for manufacturing industry efficiency: An analysis of the results of import licence tendering in New Zealand

One test of the relative productive inefficiency of the protected manufacturing industries found in many newly industrialising countries is the percentage by which domestic prices exceed world prices. It is suggested that these price differentials are reflected in the premiums paid for import licences under the public sealed bid tendering scheme currently operating in New Zealand. The premium results for 22 roughly compiled industries suggest that nearly three quarters (15) have estimated unit costs 40 percent or more above those of efficient overseas producers. Evidently the long-term policy of industrial diversification through protection has produced substantial resource misallocation in the economy.     

The international operations of New Zealand companies

Theoretical reasoning based on four principal features of the New Zealand economy — small size, late entry into world markets, legacy of protectionism and dependence on comparative advantage — is used to yield a series of hypotheses relating to the likely characteristics of New Zealand companies operating internationally. Testing of these hypotheses against data gathered in a large-scale survey of New Zealand companies offers considerable support to the theoretical analysis.     

Divergence in Part-Time Work in New Zealand, the Netherlands and Denmark

A comparison of developments in part‐time work in New Zealand, the Netherlands and Denmark shows three very different trends. The Dutch are moving towards a ‘part‐time economy’, the decline in Danish part‐time employment confounds the common expectation of rising atypical employment, while the New Zealand case illustrates some of the negative employment outcomes often associated with part‐time employment and provides a contrast to the negotiated, tripartite solutions found in the Netherlands and Denmark. Overall, the diversity in part‐time work patterns raises important theoretical and public policy questions, such as the interaction between institutional and preference changes, gender patterns and union strategies.     

A mixed-methods study of retail food waste in New Zealand

Little is known about the amount of food wasted in the retail sector. This study aimed to quantify retail food waste in New Zealand (NZ) and identify key drivers for food waste reduction, using a mixed-methods, observational study design that consisted of three parts: onsite food waste audits undertaken in 16 selected stores (complete data from 11 stores); semi-structured interviews with key retail staff from each store; and obtaining existing data from retailers. Retail food waste in NZ was estimated at 13 kg/capita/year for all food waste and diverted product (i.e. all food not sold or utilised at a retail level), which included 5 kg/capita/year designated as food waste (i.e. food directed to landfill, protein reprocessing and compost), with 3 kg/capita/year of this sent to landfill. Fresh vegetables (27%), bakery (23%), meat and fish (19%) and fresh fruit (17%) contributed the most to discarded product. The motivators for encouraging food waste reduction were: concern for the environment; making profit; caring for the community; and doing the ‘right’ thing. The barriers to food waste reduction were: training and educating staff; food safety concerns; quality standards; availability and capacity of waste diversion avenues; and lack of available resources. Audit data and food waste data recorded by retailers were similar. NZ has a number of policies and practices that successfully divert retail food waste away from landfill, in particular, retailers have established relationships with various groups that use their waste as a resource including protein reprocessors, local farmers, and food rescue charities.     

Choice of organizational form in the life insurance industry: New Zealand evidence

Two forms of ownership structure characterize the insurance industry—the stock company owned by shareholders and the mutual form which is owned by its policyholders. The academic literature suggests that ownership structure is dependent upon the efficiency of the endogenous contracting mechanisms and governance structures in firms. Mutuals are predicted to exist and successfully compete with stock companies in insurance markets because they merge the ownership-customer functions and introduceex-ante contracting mechanisms andex-post modes of governance which restrict managerial discretion. Drawing a framework from transaction cost theory, this study tests empirically the proposition that choice of ownership structure in the life insurance industry is related to contracting mechanisms and governance structures in the firm. Individual cross-sectional logistic regression models are estimated using 1991–1993 data gathered from New Zealand's life insurance industry. Consistent with expectations our results suggest that mutuals are more likely to have higher asset specificity than stock companies. By contrast, stocks appear to be more reinsured and incur higher governance expenditures than mutual companies. Furthermore, contrary to what was hypothesized, our findings indicate that mutuals may be bigger than stock companies. Therefore, overall the empirical evidence does not support the predictions drawn from transaction cost theory.The authors are lecturers, Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Glasgow, and Department of Accountancy, Massey University, New Zealand, respectively.The authors thank Lars Hassel, Leung Hing-Man, Bill Maughan, Mike Pickford, Kulwant Singh and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on original drafts of this paper. However, they are solely responsible for any errors or omissions that remain. They also appreciate the cooperation of members of New Zealand's life insurance industry for supplying information. Finally, the financial support of Price Waterhouse (Wellington, New Zealand) is gratefully acknowledged.     

An investigation into the mixed reported adoption rates for ABC: Evidence from Australia, New Zealand and the UK

An accumulated body of the literature confirms that the adoption of activity-based costing (ABC) can lead to a substantial improvement in organisational performance, productivity and profitability, and therefore encourages further adoption of the technique. However, studies investigating the diffusion of ABC have reported inconsistent and mixed results. This could cause uncertainty for many potential adopters of ABC (especially for those who follow the fashion and fads approaches) and influence their tendencies towards the adoption of ABC in the future. Addressing the diffusion process as a contextual factor, this study simultaneously investigates the adoption of ABC from the perspectives of different diffusion processes. Using two commonly adopted diffusion processes (the stages of adoption and the levels of adoption), this study examines the relationship between the reported adoption rates for ABC and the diffusion process approaches chosen to measure its adoption rates in three western countries: Australia, New Zealand and the UK. A similar questionnaire was used and more than 2000 qualified CIMA members (via a survey study and follow-up interviews) were targeted. The findings suggest a significant association between the reported adoption rates for ABC and the diffusion process approaches chosen to measure the adoption rates. The findings further suggest that the lack of a common understanding of ABC systems may have also contributed to the mixed reported adoption rates for ABC, as many ABC adopters have considered themselves adopters of traditional accounting systems by mistake (especially when they are dealing with ‘facility costs’ as one of the main cost hierarchies under ABC systems).     

The Development of a National Curriculum in Technology for New Zealand

New Zealand under went major curriculum reforms in the early 1990's. These reforms were determined by the New Zealand Curriculum Framework which provides an overarching framework for the development of curricula in New Zealand and which defines seven broad essential learning areas rather than subject areas. Technology is important and should be part of the education of all students. Six grounds for developing technology education were given, namely: economic, pedagogic, motivational, cultural, environmental, and personal. This paper reports on the development of a technology curriculum in schools. The philosophy of the curriculum will be discussed, particularly crucial aspects such as inclusiveness. The way in which the technology curriculum has attempted to meet the needs of a New Zealand technological society will be examined. The general aims of technology education in Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum are to develop: technological knowledge and understanding; an understanding and awareness of the interrelationship between technology and society; technological capability. The development of seven technological areas for all students will be highlighted. This paper will discuss in detail the development of the national technology education policy and the way in which the curriculum was developed. The last section of the paper will consider issues related to teacher development programmes and areas of future research.     

澳大利亚新西兰农产品环境贸易措施初探

澳大利亚、新西兰两国近年来与中国的贸易关系不断升温,本文关注的是两国在农产品贸易领域的环境措施。首先明确农产品环境贸易措施的概念,并与"绿色贸易壁垒"这一概念进行区别。接着从管理机构、法律法规、技术标准和进口程序方面介绍两国的环境贸易措施,最后指出中国的对策。     

Telecommunications regulation in New Zealand: Light-handed regulation and the Privy Council's judgment

This article reviews the Privy Council's appeal judgment between Clear Communications and the Telecom Corporation over the price of access for local loop telecommunications interconnection. The judgment reflects four years of negotiation and two years of court proceedings between the two parties. The Council's decision that use of the Bamoul-Willig pricing model did not have an anticompetitive purpose in terms of New Zealand law has a number of important ramifications for New Zealand's light-handed regulatory environment. This article provides background to the case, examines the judgment and draws implications from and consequences for regulatory policy in New Zealand.     

A multistage stochastic programming model for the New Zealand dairy industry

This paper presents an application of multistage stochastic programming to a production planning problem for Fonterra, a leading company in the New Zealand dairy industry, taking into account uncertain milk supply, price–demand curves and contracting. We describe a model for Fonterra's supply chain, and a model for uncertain milk supply. We then present a multistage stochastic quadratic programming model and a decomposition algorithm to compute an optimal sales policy, which is tested in simulation against a deterministic policy.     

后规制时期石油产业的市场结构分析--以新西兰成品油市场为例

由于石油对国家而言具有重要的战略意义,并且石油产业与其他产业特点不同,一般来讲,政府对石油产业会实施高度规制。随着工业化进程的加快,特别是由于公众对政府规制所强加的经济负担的不满以及石油工业自身发展的需要,一些国家开始将竞争机制逐渐引入本国石油市场。新西兰就是一个典型的国家。本文从石油产业的产品性质、市场集中度、纵向一体化和进入壁垒等四个方面考察新西兰在放松石油规制之后石油市场结构的深层次变化,客观地反映了放松规制对新西兰石油产业带来的重大影响。     

The Merger Clearance Decision Process in New Zealand: Application of a New Two-Stage Probit Model

This paper analyses empirically the factors that influence the merger decision-making process of the New Zealand Commerce Commission using discrete-choice econometric modelling. Previous studies in various countries have typically modelled this process as involving a single step, even when a formal two-step process is actually used. We apply a new approach that treats merger decision-making as a two-step process, and compare the results with those from applications of the conventional one-step and ordered probit models. We expect the new approach to avoid biases inherent in the previous models, and therefore to produce statistically superior results.