The challenges of police-community collaboration: identity manoeuvres and power struggles in a neighbourhood based meeting

The turn to collaborative governance is a key feature of the New Public Governance environment in many Western economies. Within the UK, successive governments have mandated policing organizations to engage in public service partnerships and collaborate with communities. This paper examines one such collaborative arrangement, namely, neighbourhood public meetings. Drawing on a theoretical framing of the dynamic relationship between identities, agency and power, we critically explore how individuals seek to persuade, defend and legitimate their values, beliefs and practices in collaborative situations. The paper provides a nuanced exploration of the challenges of collaboration for both public servants and community members.     

The Interface between Internal and External Audit in the Australian Public Sector

This study seeks to answer the research question ‘using reliance as the pivotal consideration, what factors determine the efficient and effective interrelationship between internal and external audit?’, within the context of the Australian public sector. A qualitative approach, framed within agency theory, was adopted using a case study and structured interviews. Findings included factors supporting prior literature as well as some unique to the research described here. As a result, this article makes a contribution to the literature examining public sector internal and external audit interrelationships as well as the literature on police audit and performance. It also has practical implications for both the case study site and similar organisations throughout the world.     

NETWORK ANALYSIS OF TOURISM EVENTS: AN APPROACH TO IMPROVE MARKETING PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Farmers' markets have recently emerged as a new tourism event around the globe. Yet, little information is known about them. This article explores the network of stakeholders associated with farmers' markets through a qualitative analysis over a period of time of an Australian farmers' market. Multiple methods of data collection were used to build a case study of the farmers' market. The findings highlight the acute need for this farmers' market, and potentially many others that are similar, to strategically establish an appropriate and effective network of stakeholders for both organizational longevity and tourism sustainability.     

Trade and technological explanations for changes in sectoral labour demand in OECD economies

This paper sets out to establish the main determinants of variations in the demand for aggregate labour in manufacturing and service sectors (22) for a cross-section of OECD countries (14). A relatively new panel data set is employed in the analysis, the OECD's International Sectoral Data Base. Preliminary analysis revealed that the ‘within’ sector variation in the wage share dominated overall variation for most countries and time periods. A separate dynamic model was thus generated to explain the ‘within’ sector variation in the wage share. This model contained real wages, output, the capital stock, technological change (total factor productivity) and trade (the imports to value-added ratio) as independent variables. In addition the wage level was also interacted with these explanatory variables on the presumption that skill is positively correlated with the level of wages. Because of the potential for simultaneity bias, estimation was conducted by IV and OLS. The main findings were that the capital stock and technological change were the main determinants of shifts in labour demand. While some countries reported the trade variable as significant its influence was only of slight importance in most cases. The interaction terms proved to be significant in a large number of countries. Some evidence was found that capital and technological were complementary with skill. Overall it was found that broad agreement existed across countries in the factors which influence labour demand despite considerable differences in the cross-country nature of labour market institutions.     

The Government Service Delivery Project: A Case Study of the Push and Pull of Central Government Coordination

Fragmentation and the lack of appropriately coordinated government services are widely considered to be costly problems impeding effective and efficient government service provision. Moreover, there is a growing realization that many modern social issues have developed into meta-problems that cannot be resolved by the traditional single agency approach. Coordination of services through more cooperative and collaborative networks of relationships between government agencies has become a preferred strategy for many public administrators. This article gives an account of a public sector initiative aimed at enhancing service provision through the formation and management of interdepartmental networks of coordinative and cooperative action. It concludes that although networks are a useful mechanism of social coordination, their inherent benefits may be jeopardized when network management issues make them vulnerable to pressures from the centre.     

Reframing resistance to organizational change

We examine the literature on resistance to organizational change and identify two dominant yet contrasting approaches: the demonizing versus the celebrating of resistance to change. We show that both of these approaches fail to address power relations adequately and, in so doing, raise practical, ethical and theoretical problems in understanding and managing change. We propose an alternative, more critical approach, which shows how both power and resistance constitute organizational change. We highlight how power-resistance relations lie at the heart of organizational change.     

The Importance of Understanding Student Learning Styles in Accounting Degree Programs

Improvements in the tertiary education of accounting students benefit the profession. Analysis of the interaction of learning styles and teaching methodologies in accounting degree programs revealed that when learning styles matched teaching methods used, usefulness was assessed as high. When they differed, usefulness deteriorated. To maximise educational benefit this interaction should be considered, but this has resource implications. Accounting education is critical and any improvements in the tertiary education of accounting students should result in better prepared graduates entering the profession. This study evaluates accounting students’ learning styles and the interaction of learning styles and teaching methodologies in degree programs. Nine classes of accounting students (648 students) spread across four years and two degree programs were evaluated. Students self‐evaluated their learning styles, pre‐instruction. They were then subject to two separate teaching techniques (one active and one passive) in each course. Learning styles were then re‐assessed and teaching techniques evaluated. Accounting students displayed a preference for passive learning, even those far advanced in their degrees. Furthermore, when learning styles matched teaching methods used, usefulness was assessed as high but when learning styles and teaching methods differed, usefulness deteriorated. Overall, active learners rather than passive learners deemed the teaching methods to be more effective. The implications are significant. To maximise educational benefit for the accounting profession, student learning styles should be assessed before designing appropriate teaching methodologies. This has resource implications, which would have to be considered.     

AN OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT MODEL FOR INTENSIVE AQUACULTURE — AN APPLICATION IN ATLANTIC SALMON*

In this paper the optimal management strategy for intensive aquaculture is viewed in terms of a combined strategy of releasing the optimal number of recruits and harvesting those recruits at the optimal harvesting time. A model which can be used to determine the optimal management strategy is developed. In the model the optimal harvesting model documented by Bjorndahl (1988, 1990) in which harvesting and feed costs are considered, is extended by including release costs and how they influence the optimal number of recruits. The model forms the basis for an empirical analysis in which the optimal management strategy for a yearclass of Atlantic salmon farmed in Australia during 1989-91 is considered.