Recognising Uniqueness in the Technology Key Learning Area: The Search for Meaning

The purpose of this study was to investigate areas of significance which were related to the understanding of technology and technology education, identified by teachers introducing the key learning area, technology, into their primary school classrooms for the first time. Working from Australia's national document on technology education, A Statement on Technology for Australian Schools (Curriculum Corporation, 1994), two teachers wrestled with how to fit this new curriculum area into their current classroom programs, their understandings of technology as a phenomenon and with their beliefs about teaching and learning in general. The study showed that the teachers made sense of technology education as it related to, from their perspectives, ideas about and aspects of primary school classrooms with which they felt comfortable. Implications for professional development include the need to acknowledge and value the prior experiences and understandings of primary teachers. The challenge for teachers in implementing technology education is gaining a conceptualisation of the learning area, which in some respects, is very like other more familiar learning areas in the primary curriculum, but in many other respects, unique.     

CEO compensation: does it pay to be green?

The relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) compensation and various organizational variables (i.e., size, length of tenure of the CEO, board composition and firm performance) has been explored in academic research. However, the relationship between CEO compensation and the firm's reputation based on the firm's commitment to the community and the environment has been relatively unexamined in the academic research. This study's purpose is to empirically examine this relationship using the Fortune Reputation Index as revised by Brown and Perry (1995) . Using a sample of 186 firms in 1990 and 188 firms in 1991, the relationships between CEO compensation and organization size, financial performance and environmental reputation are examined. The results of the study demonstrate that there is a strong relationship between CEO compensation and firm environmental reputation, firm size and firm financial performance. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment     

Trade, empire, and the fiscal context of imperial business during decolonization

Recent studies have shown convincingly that no 'neocolonialist' conspiracies were hatched to perpetuate British commercial dominance in the former colonies after independence, and that relations between individual firms and policy-makers were frequently troubled. In acknowledging the force of this general proposition, however, there is a risk of neglecting the still significant place of commercial considerations in state policy making. By relocating the relationship of trade and empire in the 1950s in an examination of a hitherto neglected dimension of British taxation policy, this article demonstrates that the Conservative government sought to assist British business with colonial interests at a time when these firms faced new uncertainties.     

Highly qualified and highly ambitious: implications for workforce retention of realising the career expectations of graduate nurses in England

Although increasing numbers of graduates now enter the UK labour market, there has been little evaluation of the benefits that this component of the workforce is reported to bring to employing organisations. This study focused on nursing; a profession in which graduate entry is increasing but potential benefits of moving to all‐graduate entry are strongly contested. Career behaviour and expectations of graduate nurses were compared with those of diploma‐qualified nurses. Career behaviours were similar but differences were found in fulfilment of expectations that reflected findings reported for graduates in other employment contexts. Graduates entered nursing with higher expectations than diplomates but these were often unfulfilled. Graduates reported lower levels of satisfaction than diplomates over time and became less likely to intend remaining in nursing. Implications for increasing graduate entry are discussed, together with strategies to facilitate better synchronisation between graduate expectations and opportunities within the NHS and beyond.     

Reviews

DEPRIVATION IN THE OUTER CITY.

Barke, M. and Turnbull, G. 1992: Meadowell: The Biography of an “Estate with Problems”. Aldershot: Avebury, £32.00 cloth.

CHANGING BOUNDARIES OF RACE.

Jones, Trevor. 1993: Britain's Ethnic Minorities. PSI,

£15.

ENTERPRISE IN ARCADIA?

Curran, J. and Storey, D. (eds), 1993: Small Firms in Urban and Rural Locations, London and New York: Routledge, £40, hardback.

MAKING CONNECTIONS.

Turok, I. 1993: Loose connections? Foreign investment and local linkages in “Silicon Glen” Strathclyde Papers on Planning, 23. Centre for Planning, University of Strathclyde, 50 Richmond Street, Glasgow, G1 1XN. £4.00, paper.

COWLEY: THE END OF THE LINE?

Hayter, T. and Harvey, D. (eds) 1993: The Factory and the City: the Story of the Cowley Automobile Works in Oxford. London: Mansell, £40, hardback.

UPDATING SECTOR APPROACHES.

Geddes, M. and Benington, J. (eds) 1992: Restructuring the Local Economy. Harlow: Longman, £22.00, paper.

BORN AGAIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT?

Hodge, M. and Thompson, W. 1994: Beyond the Town Hall: Reinventing Local Government. Fabian Pamphlet, £3.90.     

China＇s Trade Acceleration and the Deepening of an East Asian Regional Production Network

China＇s recent surge in trade has been associated with its deepening but contrasting trade relations with its two groups of key trading partners. On the one hand, China＇ s trade surpluses with the USA and the EU have risen rapidly, reaching US$144bn and US$91bn in 2006, respectively. On the other hand, China is importing heavily from its Asian neighbors. This diverging pattern of trade relations between China and its main trading partners reflects the continuous expansion and intensification of a complex cross-border production network in Asia, particularly for consumer electronics. In the process of deepening manufacturing sharing, China serves as an essential export platform for firms headquartered in the more advanced economies. These firms export intermediate goods from the relatively more advanced Asian economies to their affiliates in China where these inputs are assembled and then shipped to key export markets, including primarily the USA and the EU. One apparent outcome of the growing processing and assembly trade is the increased interdependency among Asian economies, which are now more dependent on each other than ever. It has also led to substantial structural changes and technological upgrading in China＇ s traded goods.     

Price elasticity of water allocations demand in the Goulburn–Murray Irrigation District*

Bid prices for the demand and supply of water allocations between 2001 and 2007, and average monthly prices paid for water allocations from 1997 to 2007 in the Goulburn–Murray Irrigation District are analysed to estimate price elasticities. Based on bid prices, the price elasticity of demand for water allocations appears highly elastic, with elasticities strongly influenced by the season and drought. The price elasticity of supply for water allocations is also elastic, albeit less elastic than demand. Using actual prices paid, water demand is negatively related to price and is inelastic, and appears to be most influenced by demand the previous month, drought and seasonality factors.     

How did a network of marine protected areas impact adjacent fisheries? Evidence from Australia

Marine‐protected areas (MPAs) are an effective means of improving habitat quality and biodiversity in the world’s oceans. While the advantages of MPAs as a mechanism for conservation and biodiversity are well established, the potential improvements to fishery performance resulting from a network of MPAs are still being established. Countries around the world have committed to establishing networks of MPAs within their waters by 2020, in response to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. This, coupled with the increasing global demand for seafood and heavy reliance on fishery resources as a source of economic development for many coastal communities, means that an understanding of how these networks can be expected to impact fishery performance is extremely important. We use a difference‐in‐difference modelling approach to isolate the change in the fishery performance associated with the south‐east marine reserve network in Australia. We find no evidence that the economic performance of adjacent fisheries was negatively impacted by the network. This lack of impact is likely due to a network design explicitly intended to avoid effort displacement in key fisheries, along with fishery management changes intended to remove excess fishing capacity.