Predictors of management development effectiveness: an Australian perspective

Management development is increasingly adopted by organizations seeking to attract and retain talented employees. This research project assessed the current state of management development in Australia. Specifically, this paper sought to identify variables associated with management development effectiveness. A model of management development effectiveness was developed and tested in this study through path analysis using the Analysis of Moment Structures Program. Data were collected from 206 managers in 153 organizations in Australia. Eighteen different industries are represented in the sample. The observed model had a good fit with the predicted model and all the predicted paths were significant and in the expected direction. Link to corporate strategy and opportunities for skill utilization were the two variables most closely associated with management development effectiveness. The implications of these findings for improving management development effectiveness are discussed.     

Professionalising gender and development expertise: innovations in capacity‐building and credentialing

Gender training does not adequately prepare gender and development professionals (GDPs) to undertake robust gender integration of development and humanitarian assistance (D&H) policies and programmes and limits their ability to impact gender equity and equality and development overall. In particular, GDPs lack sector‐specific and applied technical skills in gender analysis and integration. These limitations undermine GDPs’ own performance and their credibility with employers and colleagues who rely on them for professional guidance in gender integration. To address these shortcomings and advance the field of gender and D&H, this note describes a new model of gender capacity‐building that introduces three innovations: (1) sector‐specific, job‐related and outcome‐based gender analysis and integration competencies, (2) a professional development capacity‐building short course based on the competencies and applications to D&H policies and programmes and (3) a professional credential that recognizes possession of these critical competencies.     

Financial deregulation and integration: an Australian perspective

Many countries in recent years have progressively removed economic and financial barriers and this process has provided easier access to their capital markets. Further, such liberalization measures can impact upon the risk-return relationship between assets. This paper investigates whether the Australian stock market is segmented from or integrated into the world equity market. The aim is to ascertain if the liberalization undertaken in the Australian economy, in the form of financial deregulation in the early 1980s, has resulted in its integration with the world equity market. Consistent with expectations, we find evidence that the stock market was segmented in the pre-deregulation period but integrated following financial deregulation. The hypothesis that industry factors may impact upon integration could not be supported.Keywords: Australia; Deregulation; IntegrationJEL classification: F36; G12; G15     

Spatial divisions of expertise: Knowledge intensive business service firms and regional development in Norway

This article explores the regional geography of professional, information and intellectual services in Norway. Norway is used as one way of critiquing the global cities literature by exploring the multiple ways in which knowledge intensive services are created and consumed outside global cities. Norway's regional geography of knowledge services is one of concentration and dispersal; both processes are explained by the ways in which clients access external expertise. An evolving spatial division of expertise is identified based on the ways in which service suppliers and consumers access and combine expertise that is available in different locations. Part of this evolving spatial division of expertise is illustrated in the ways in which large European providers of consultancy expertise have displaced American providers from Norway's top ten ranking of consultancy providers. The paper identifies a series of fundamental changes that are taking place in the consultancy industry that affect the ways in which consultancy is provided to the Norwegian market.     

Personal bank account access and awareness: an analysis of the technological and informational constraints of Australian consumers

Logit models are used to predict access and awareness of personal bank accounts. Access is defined as the ability and willingness to use automated teller machines, electronic funds transfer point of sale, telephone and internet banking. Awareness relates to the understanding of bank statements, fee and charges, account shopping around and internet calculators. Newer ways of accessing bank accounts are confined to young, urban, well educated, white‐collar occupations. Awareness is lower for respondents with less education, non‐workers, farm workers, unskilled and renting households, and higher for white‐collar occupations, couples and those with higher incomes and savings.     

Organisational influences upon the development of occupational expertise throughout the career

The present study describes the relationship between four organisational predictor variables and the degree of occupational expertise of higher‐level employees in three different career stages. The factors in question are: social support from immediate supervisor, social support from near colleagues, organisational facilities and attention from immediate supervisor for a further career development. Hypotheses have been tested with original survey data from 420 higher‐level employees and 224 direct supervisors working in large organisations both in the profit and in the non‐profit sector. The results indicate that the focus of attention is, in general, restricted to the employee's present contribution and to the familiar job domain. Activities aimed at enlarging the outlook are virtually non‐existent. That is to say, management has a preoccupation with instrumental leadership, i.e. aimed at the here‐and‐now and less future‐oriented, instead of appropriate people management.     

Individual career initiatives and their influence upon professional expertise development throughout the career

The present study describes the relationship between three individual predictor variables and the degree of professional expertise of higher level employees in three different career stages. Professional expertise is operationalised by means of five dimensions, i.e. knowledge, meta‐cognitive knowledge, skills, social recognition and growth and flexibility. The factors in question are: the degree of participation in social networks, the degree of participation in training and development programmes and the degree of initiatives that are taken by the individual employee to further career growth. Hypotheses have been tested with original survey data from 420 higher level employees and 224 direct supervisors. The results indicate that the focus of attention is, in general, restricted to the employee’s present contribution and to the familiar job domain. Activities aimed at enlarging the outlook are virtually non‐existent. That is to say, management is preoccupied with instrumental leadership, i.e. aimed at the here‐and‐now and less future‐oriented, instead of appropriate people management.     

Country-of-origion effects:an Australian experiment in shelf labelling

The influence of country-of-origin (COO) on consumers' preferences and purchase choices has been extensively discussed in the marketing literature yet most studies dedicated to this issue have relied on durables purchases. Questionnaire-based surveys have most often aimed to identify the degree to which the COO factor influences purchase intentions, but have in general presented this factor in isolation from other product attributes. The present study attempts to address these limitations by relying on ‘real world’ conditions and exploring COO effects for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). For two categories of grocery product, ‘Australian-made’ labels were displayed according to an experimental design over a period of several weeks. No significant effect was found, suggesting that the ‘patriotic’positioning strategy followed by many Australian marketers and retailers is somewhat misguided. These findings also suggest that previous research with durable goods, which supported the existence of COO effects, may not be applicable to the FMCG category where COO effects may be less significant.     

Learning to talk like an urban woodsman: an artistic intervention

This paper is an artist's statement about the Re Made project, an artwork that parodies the urban woodsman aesthetic of Best Made Co., which markets designer axes through the rhetoric of authenticity, the appropriation of working-class identities and the revitalization of traditional male roles. Re Made Co. replace Best Made Co.’s $300 urban axe with a $300 toilet plunger and satirizes their marketing campaign through social media, graphic design, video and photography. This project uses critical design to pose pivotal questions, such as: What are the implications of transforming a useful tool into a symbolic object? How is working-class labor sold as white-collar fantasy? What are the contradictory references that promise “authentic” experiences? This paper analyzes the Best Made Co. brand's cultural references to masculinity, outdoorsmen and the frontier, their photographic language of snapshot images and designed aesthetic, reveals the consequences of these expressions, and proposes strategies for reassigning value.     

基于深度学习的少样本研究综述

基于大数据的深度学习算法越来越完善,然而如何解决训练样本数非常少的情况,是目前神经网络研究领域中一个非常重要且极具挑战的问题。首先,介绍了少样本问题的定义;接着将现有的少样本学习方法分为数据增强、度量学习和元学习三类,分别从方法所用模型、数据集以及相应的实验结果进行分析;最后,总结了现有方法的不足,探讨了未来少样本研究的方向。     

Business Ethics Teaching: Using Conversational Learning to Build an Effective Classroom Learning Environment

Building an effective classroom learningenvironment requires that business ethicsteachers pay particular attention to creating aclassroom environment that values the ideasothers have to offer. This article discussesthe importance of conversational learning tobusiness ethics teaching for effectivelearning. The paper also considers thebusiness ethics teacher's role in using aconversational learning approach to teachingbusiness ethics and some learning processesused to create a classroom climate conducive tothis approach for those interested in creatingnew kinds of conversation in their businessethics teaching efforts.     

Perceptions and preference for fresh seafood in an Australian context

Seafood as a whole food is highly nutritious. It is an important dietary source of protein, omega‐3 fatty acids and a wide array of highly bioavailable micronutrients. Despite the established health benefits associated with fish and seafood consumption, in Australia consumption levels still remain below those recommended for health. Although considerable research has been carried out on enablers and barriers to seafood consumption, the reasons Australian consumers do not consume recommended amounts of seafood while stating they would like to consume more seafood are complex and have not been fully illuminated. This paper reports on the development and results of a self‐administered questionnaire that aimed to identify consumer perceptions and preferences for fresh and frozen seafood. Data were collected through intercept surveys at an Australian university and 239 valid responses were received. Results confirmed respondent preference for fresh fish and seafood. There was significant confusion among respondents about what constitutes fresh seafood, with the term ‘fresh’ having different meanings to different respondents. Over half of respondents understood the term fresh to relate to seafood having been caught that same day. In comparison, approximately 15% understood fresh to reflect the accepted definition of having never been frozen. Additionally, results indicated respondents find it difficult to recognize if seafood is fresh, particularly in comparison with other meats. There is significant potential for the development of regulations for labelling of unpackaged seafood in order to allow consumers to make informed decisions about their purchases.     

Financial analysis and planning: an overview

The main purpose of this article is to review and synthesize important literature pertaining to financial analysis and planning. This article will also show readers how financial data and theory can be integrated with alternative management methodologies in useful financial analysis and planning. Some potential research topics in these areas are also indicated.     

Financial development and growth: A clustering and causality analysis

This article examines the relationship between financial development and economic growth in a sample of 69 countries. A regime switching panel vector autoregression model is specified to detect directional changes in finance-growth causality and potential time variation of such causality patterns. In addition, a clustering analysis is performed to identify the presence of convergence clubs based on data properties. The findings show that most countries have switching between two states: one way causality from growth to financial development but not the other way round, and coexistence of bi-directional causality. Poorer countries are represented by a system with stable steady state while the clusters of advanced economies tend to exhibit multiple steady states. The clustering results map closely the degree of financial openness, and the cultural and geographical proximities of member countries.     

韩国经济发展模式探悉

一个国家要想取得经济发展的成功，必须有符合本国国情的经济发展模式。韩国在短期内取得辉煌的经济成就，就是因为有符合国情的经济发展模式，即韩国模式。作为“东亚奇迹”的典型代表，韩国采用的是政府积极干预经济的发展模式。政府主导是韩国经济发展模式的重要特点，即首先由政府全面参与经济规划，制定宏观经济发展战略和产业政策，或采用间     

Indigenous Human Resource Practices in Australian Mining Companies: Towards an Ethical Model

Mining companies in Australia are increasingly required to interact with Indigenous groups as stakeholders following Native Title legislation in the early 1990s. A study of five mining companies in Australia reveals that they now undertake a range of programs involving Indigenous communities, to assist with access to land, and to enhance their public profile. However, most of these initiatives emanate from carefully quarantined sections of mining companies. Drawing upon cross-cultural and diversity research in particular, this paper contends that only initiatives that strive towards power sharing with Indigenous groups and strategies for broadening the organizational interface with Indigenous groups, will contribute to more ethical practices in mining and other companies.     

Learning from Project Failure: Globalization Lessons for an MNC

We study a multinational corporation's (MNC) failure in implementing a firm‐wide information technology system (ITS) project. To counter heightened competitive pressures, the MNC sought to improve its supply chain responsiveness by implementing the ITS project. However, since the headquarters (HQ) personnel lacked nuanced understanding of the micro issues in the subsidiaries, their design efforts turned out to be inadequate. Organizational practices that restrict member behavior to recipes from past knowledge served to amplify the problem—by disfavoring cooperation. Our study suggests a need to rethink the notion of the HQ as the design place. Further, there is a case for subsidiary personnel being afforded a greater say in design of changes to their work processes, given their higher exposure to process variety. This may offset the HQ‐subsidiary power imbalance noted in prior literature. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.