The neglect of spatial mobility in contemporary studies of work: the case of telework

Whilst many teleworkers are increasingly working beyond home and office, these mobile teleworkers are neglected in the telework literature. This neglect is addressed through reviewing relevant literature, developing a conceptual locational framework that accounts for mobile teleworkers and the presentation of an illustrative example which links to the theme of work–life balance in the telework literature.     

Beyond flexibility: reallocation of responsibilities in the case of telework

Based on eight in‐depth case studies, this paper argues that telework transfers bigger (and legally unbinding) responsibility to employees whereas both employees and employers accept it. This is likely due to the fact that adoption of telework alters some aspects of psychological contract between employees and employers.     

The possibilities and limits of telework in a bureaucratic environment: lessons from the public sector

By modifying the spatial and temporal framework of work, telework involves a reorganisation of the conduct of work that affects the employment relationship in different ways. In this paper, we focus on control issues. Based on the empirical study of two experiences led in the public sector, we illustrate the necessity to redefine the rules of control and to recast managerial practices and role.     

The character of telework and the characteristics of teleworkers

A flexible definition of teleworking suggests that it is more widespread than is generally believed. However, is telework technologically driven? This is tested with data from six countries. As the categories of the definition have distinctive social characteristics, telework seems to reflect traditional occupational practices rather than a major technological shift.     

Telecommunications as ecosystem: An Australian case study

In describing methods of analysing and evaluating alternative policy options of large systems, like the Australian Telecommunications Commission, this article proposes a set of criteria to test the policy options of Telecom Australia. The criteria are developed through three levels of enquiry. The rational enquiry describes the objective characteristics of the system; the mythological enquiry describes that set of beliefs which justifies the system's organization; and the ecological enquiry evaluates the adaptability of the system. This article concludes that re-evaluation at the mythological level is necessary for the successful continuation of Telecom Australia.     

Clerical workers, clerical skills: case studies from credit management

This article examines job knowledge and skill in clerical work drawing on five case studies from the area of credit management. The cognitive, social and 'tacit' skills necessary for clerical effectiveness in this sector are identified and examined. Feminist approaches to skills analysis are used to examine how and why this type of work is under-valued.     

Telecommunications development in Asia-Pacific : The case for a new Australian role

This article describes the role of Australia in economic cooperation and telecommunications development in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly Asia. Australia's economic imperative focuses on north-east Asia while targeting markets for telecommunications in the relatively poorer nations of south-east Asia. A new role is advocated for Australia to take the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum it instigated beyond the purpose of economic cooperation directly into the cultural and human realm. Australia is challenged to use the new communications technologies to facilitate an active, shared learning process which could move Asia-Pacific into a new global order. A case is put for research on the use and impacts of the new telecommunications technologies in the service of humankind.     

The process of change in relationships between public research and industry: two case studies from France

This paper deals with the process through which relationships between public research laboratories and firms develop over time. Two case studies in France illustrate the lengthy and interactive process needed by laboratories and firms in learning to work together. Laboratories and firms need also to think about new R&D strategies and especially a new balance in their activities between research and development.     

Group Profit,Market Share and Efficiency: Evidence from Australian Manufacturing

This paper explains the intra-industry variations of profit in Australian manufacturing. Considering three groups of firms, viz leading, secondary and follower groups, a profit model is developed for each group. Indicators of ``strategic behavior' and ``efficiency' are considered along with other control variables. Both equilibrium and dynamic versions of the model are tested using unpublished data at the enterprise level between 1977/78 and 1992/93. The findings support the importance of both strategic behavior and efficiency in determining group profits.     

The Structure of the Wage Gap for Temporary Workers: Evidence from Australian Panel Data

This study uses panel data for Australia to estimate the wage differential between workers in temporary jobs and workers in permanent jobs. It is the first study to use unconditional quantile regression methods in combination with fixed effects to examine how this gap varies over the entire wage distribution. While the wages of fixed‐term contract workers are found to be similar to those of permanent workers, low‐paid casual workers experience a wage penalty and high‐paid casual workers a wage premium compared to their permanent counterparts. Temporary agency workers also usually receive a wage premium, which is particularly large for the most well paid.     

Estimating the benefits from collaboration: The case of SEMATECH

SEMATECH (SEmiconductor MAnufacturing TECHnology) was established in 1987 as a not-for-profit research consortium with an original mission to provide a pilot manufacturing facility where member companies could improve their semiconductor manufacturing process technology. Since its inception, SEMATECH's mission has become more general. This paper presents the findings from a quantitative case-based analysis of the returns to member companies from their investments in SEMATECH. The findings suggest that SEMATECH has provided an organizational structure in which important processes and technologies have been advanced which could not have been justified on economic grounds outside of a collaborative research arrangement.     

Service procurement in manufacturing companies: Results of three embedded case studies

An increasing part of companies' purchasing expenditures is being spent on (business) services. At the same time, the interactive character of business services has so far largely been neglected in purchasing and supply management studies. The success of a service purchase is however established during the ongoing production and consumption of that service, which takes place in continuous interaction between buyer and seller.This paper investigates these ongoing interactive processes between buyer and seller after the purchase decision has been made. The specific focus is on services buying by manufacturers, since manufacturers' services spend increasingly encompasses services that eventually become part of the final offering to customers. This is expected to pose specific challenges for manufacturing companies, who have traditionally been involved with purchasing goods.Case studies into ongoing buyer-seller interaction are conducted at three manufacturing companies. Starting from a usage-based classification which contains four types of business services, four services are studied at each manufacturing company. The results show that indeed the different types of services can be associated with distinct patterns of ongoing interaction. Furthermore, the results provide initial support for the idea that having differentiated patterns of interaction contributes to successful ongoing service exchange.     

Designing effective service operations: comparative case research from the Netherlands

This article examines the introduction of centralized processing. It looks at the multiple objectives underlying the initiative and how these were managed in implementation. Drawing on empirical data gathered at three similar sites a comparative analysis of the outcomes of centralization is presented and the variances are explained.     

Insights into the intrinsic and extrinsic challenges for implementing technology education: case studies of Queensland teachers

This study, embedded within the Researching School Change in Technology Education (RSCTE) project in Queensland, Australia, aimed to gain insights into the intrinsic and extrinsic challenges experienced by teachers during the implementation of technology education within primary school settings. The official publication and launch of the Technology years 1–10 syllabus and associated curriculum materials by the Queensland Studies Authority during 2003 saw the first formal Technology curriculum for primary schools in Queensland. The Queensland Government announced that all Queensland schools were to aim for full implementation of this new Key Learning Area (KLA) by 2007. This presented a challenge for Queensland teachers as they began to understand this new KLA and subsequently, were required to implement technology education for the first time. Education Queensland released a number of different strategies that were designed to assist this implementation, including research partnerships with universities. Thus, the RSCTE project, a partnership project between Education Queensland and Griffith University included implementation research within schools. Through the identification of insights into intrinsic and extrinsic challenges, this study, while recognising the limitations of transferability beyond the case studies presented, provides suggestions to assist the implementation of technology education.     

人力资本视角下的农村反贫困问题研究

贫困问题既是经济问题,也是社会、文化和精神现象,而农村反贫困问题既是我国经济发展中的重点问题,也是难点问题,是关系到我国社会和谐度和新农村建设成败的关键。文章从人力资本的视角分析了贫困的本质,论述了人力资本在反贫困中的作用机理,阐释了我国农村人力资本投资的现状,进而提出了基于人力资本视角的农村反贫困政策。     

Threshold tests for the control of mergers: The Australian experience

Merger policy in Australia has been formulated for a small open economy. Tight merger control has been avoided in order not to impede rationalisation and improved international competitiveness. From 1977 to early 1993 a merger or acquisition was only prohibited if it would lead to a firm gaining a dominant position in a substantial market. As a result, few mergers were stopped and some which would probably have substantially lessened competition were allowed to proceed without detailed investigation. Since January 1993 a threshold test of substantial lessening of competition has applied — a reversion to the test included in the original 1974 Trade Practices Act. This is likely to mean that more proposed mergers will come under scrutiny and the trade-offs between efficiency gains and anti-competitive detriments will need to be evaluated in a greater number of individual cases. New draft merger guidelines released in November 1992 generally reflect contemporary thinking in industrial economics.     

Interaction processes in long-term relationships in the metal mining industry: Longitudinal case studies of capital equipment buying

This study investigates the development of the relationships between customers and suppliers of capital equipment in the mining industry. The interorganizational relationships were characterized along three sets of variables: context, task characteristics, and interaction processes. Longitudinal case study research was conducted, and four long-term relationships in the Portuguese metal mining industry were investigated. The domesticated nature of the market, compatibility of partners' objectives and strategies, and the choice of a direct channel are significant driving forces for the establishment and development of these relationships. Well-driven interaction processes were found determinant to relationship development and outcomes. Particularly, the extent of supplier-based adaptations and scope of after-sales agreements are core to relationship development and continuity.     

International human resource management: An Australian perspective

International human resource management (IHRM) is slowly emerging as a field of academic enquiry. There is, however, a dearth of case study material which documents IHRM strategies and experiences of companies-particularly companies which do not have their home base in the United States. This paper reviews current IHRM literature and reports the results of a recent study of four companies operating internationally from Australia: two are Australian-owned; one is an Australian subsidiary of a multinational oil company and the fourth is a regional division of a multinational automobile manufacturer. For the collection of data, a case study approach was used, with structured interviews of each company's personnel director, expatriate line managers (including returned managers and foreign nationals currently in Australia) and spouses. These case studies are analysed and the extent to which they contribute to the international human resource management literature is examined.The authors would like to thank the companies which participated in the study, and Mary Anderson, Hugh Davies, and Helen De Cieri for comments on earlier versions of the paper.     

Gender Discrimination in Training: An Australian Perspective

Analysis of the Australian How Workers Get Their Training survey indicates considerable male-female differentials in the incidence and duration of training. For external training, which women can undertake without the sanction of the firm, the gender effect is that women undertake more training than men, other things being the same. However, for in-house training, which requires the sanction of the firm, the gender effect is that women undertake less training than men, other things being the same. One interpretation of this is that the gender effect reflects both the discriminatory attitudes held by firms and the greater propensity to train among women, with the relative weights varying across types of training according to the discretion that women have in determining the training outcome.