Examining the impact of marketing communications on brand image, brand equity and behaviour outcomes. The results would help charities in brand building activities through improved marketing communications. For example, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) can understand how to improve their brand equity (e.g. improving loyalty, enhancing brand awareness levels, achieving higher perception of quality as well as enhancing brand image) in their donor markets. Increased commitment from th ....Examining the impact of marketing communications on brand image, brand equity and behaviour outcomes. The results would help charities in brand building activities through improved marketing communications. For example, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) can understand how to improve their brand equity (e.g. improving loyalty, enhancing brand awareness levels, achieving higher perception of quality as well as enhancing brand image) in their donor markets. Increased commitment from the donors is likely to result in benefits such as more blood donations for this charity organisation. This would mean better services provided by ARCBS which would mean promoting and maintaining good health among the Australian public.Read moreRead less
Effectiveness of Leadership Development in Driving Organisational Change. Queensland Rail faces challenges in managing changes brought about by deregulation, pressures for better customer service, changing technologies, and decentralised systems of industrial relations and human resource (HR) management. According to organisational development notions, leadership training and improved management practices can help achieve such changes. However, which training and related HR approaches are most ....Effectiveness of Leadership Development in Driving Organisational Change. Queensland Rail faces challenges in managing changes brought about by deregulation, pressures for better customer service, changing technologies, and decentralised systems of industrial relations and human resource (HR) management. According to organisational development notions, leadership training and improved management practices can help achieve such changes. However, which training and related HR approaches are most effective and how effectiveness can be measured and benchmarked have not been fully explored. The study will evaluate links between leadership training and organisational-change goals in QR; develop key performance indicators for the change process and its outcomes; and undertake comparisons with another enterprise (Telstra).Read moreRead less
Ethics as Practice - A Study of Organisational Learning and Management Power in Australian Society. The research will ask how:
- Organizations learn their ethics in and through management practice?
- Learning relates to community expectations of organizations?
- Organizational ethical practices relate to the public image that organizations portray?
Using ethnographic methods we will research how concrete organizational practice is informed by ethics and foregrounded through organizational l ....Ethics as Practice - A Study of Organisational Learning and Management Power in Australian Society. The research will ask how:
- Organizations learn their ethics in and through management practice?
- Learning relates to community expectations of organizations?
- Organizational ethical practices relate to the public image that organizations portray?
Using ethnographic methods we will research how concrete organizational practice is informed by ethics and foregrounded through organizational learning. Managerial practice will be compared with broader concerns embedded in community expectations. Comparisons will be drawn between espoused portrayals of public images by organizations with the power practices that inform everyday managerial behaviour. We will produce a model for organizational learning and ethical management practice.
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New Trends in Foundation Formation. The encouragement of philanthropic giving is a current priority of governments globally. The creation of foundations is one strategy for expanding philanthropic activity, with profound implications for public policy and existing foundations. Working with Philanthropy Australia, this study will explore the concept of charitable foundations and recent trends in foundation formation such as the development of 'community owned? enterprises and pressures on busin ....New Trends in Foundation Formation. The encouragement of philanthropic giving is a current priority of governments globally. The creation of foundations is one strategy for expanding philanthropic activity, with profound implications for public policy and existing foundations. Working with Philanthropy Australia, this study will explore the concept of charitable foundations and recent trends in foundation formation such as the development of 'community owned? enterprises and pressures on business to become more 'socially responsible'. The study will produce data of vital importance to informed policy making and to the effectiveness of philanthropic foundations.Read moreRead less
The role of organisational events and emotions in strategic decision-making. Australia's international competitiveness depends to a large extent on the effectiveness of its business organisations. This effectiveness depends, in turn, on the quality of top managers' decision-making. Thus, understanding the way that managers make decisions is of critical importance if we are to develop programs to improve the competitiveness of Australian business organisations. The Australian researchers involve ....The role of organisational events and emotions in strategic decision-making. Australia's international competitiveness depends to a large extent on the effectiveness of its business organisations. This effectiveness depends, in turn, on the quality of top managers' decision-making. Thus, understanding the way that managers make decisions is of critical importance if we are to develop programs to improve the competitiveness of Australian business organisations. The Australian researchers involved in this grant application have been at the forefront of the international movement to include the study of emotions in organisational research. In a series of four projects, they combine with a noted US scholar, who specialises in the study of organisational justice, to study the decision-making patterns of top managers.Read moreRead less
An investigation of the relationship between buildings, building users and organisational effectiveness in the hospital sector. Significant changes in the Australian health-care environment are creating a mismatch between health-care priorities and building facilities. Many hospital buildings do not meet user needs by providing the flexible spaces needed for changing operating models and technologies. This is threatening the quality and cost effectiveness of health-care provision. This research ....An investigation of the relationship between buildings, building users and organisational effectiveness in the hospital sector. Significant changes in the Australian health-care environment are creating a mismatch between health-care priorities and building facilities. Many hospital buildings do not meet user needs by providing the flexible spaces needed for changing operating models and technologies. This is threatening the quality and cost effectiveness of health-care provision. This research will investigate the relationship between buildings, building users and organisational performance in hospitals. A model will be produced to explain these relationships and thereby, help managers more effectively manage building facilities. It will also redress a deficiency in management theory, which has ignored buildings as a factor of production.Read moreRead less
Identifying better practice for volunteer management in community sport organisations. This project will: (i) research the approaches of community sport organisations (CSOs) to volunteer management and retention; (ii) investigate how volunteers' motivations, commitment, and behaviour influence their intention to continue involvement in CSOs; and, (iii) generate innovative solutions for the problem of volunteer retention in CSOs. The study will both contribute to research knowledge as well as und ....Identifying better practice for volunteer management in community sport organisations. This project will: (i) research the approaches of community sport organisations (CSOs) to volunteer management and retention; (ii) investigate how volunteers' motivations, commitment, and behaviour influence their intention to continue involvement in CSOs; and, (iii) generate innovative solutions for the problem of volunteer retention in CSOs. The study will both contribute to research knowledge as well as understanding of the association between organisational practices and volunteer requirements. It will assist CSOs and policy makers to identify how best to increase volunteer retention levels and contribute substantially to developing a theory of volunteer retention that will enhance the sustainability of Australian sport organisations.Read moreRead less
Development of a predictive model for the retention of sports officials. The Australian sport system is facing a critical shortage of sports officials. Over five years the number of officials has declined by 120,000 (26%). Research has not examined the efficacy of organisational support strategies to arrest this decline. Based on commitment, stress and the mediating effect of organisational support this project addresses the retention issue by developing a predictive model of the factors that in ....Development of a predictive model for the retention of sports officials. The Australian sport system is facing a critical shortage of sports officials. Over five years the number of officials has declined by 120,000 (26%). Research has not examined the efficacy of organisational support strategies to arrest this decline. Based on commitment, stress and the mediating effect of organisational support this project addresses the retention issue by developing a predictive model of the factors that influence stay/leave behaviour of officials. The outcomes will contribute to a range of evidence-based strategies that will help maximise retention of officials. The project will enhance the sustainability of the Australian sport system and advance retention behaviour research in the emerging field of sport management.Read moreRead less
The Balanced Scorecard: A Strategic Management Accounting Tool for Scenario Thinking and Strategic Decision Making. This project examines the use of models based on the balanced scorecard in scenario thinking and strategic decision making. The Balanced Scorecard is a set of financial and non-financial performance measures. Managers can refine their model about the critical cause-effect relations in the firm by scanning balanced scorecard reports. They can use this model for generating scenario ....The Balanced Scorecard: A Strategic Management Accounting Tool for Scenario Thinking and Strategic Decision Making. This project examines the use of models based on the balanced scorecard in scenario thinking and strategic decision making. The Balanced Scorecard is a set of financial and non-financial performance measures. Managers can refine their model about the critical cause-effect relations in the firm by scanning balanced scorecard reports. They can use this model for generating scenarios and making strategic decisions. This proposal responds to calls for focussed research on systems like the Balanced Scorecard that have "the potential to provide planners with a way of expressing and testing a sophisticated model of cause-effect in the organisation." Read moreRead less
Learning Mechanisms and the Development of Dynamic Capabilities within Firms. The project has the following national/community benefits: (1) a more comprehensive study of the specific and unique features of the structure and innovative process operating within a major Australian producer of commodities, (2) a greater understanding of how knowledge can be created and captured in the form of firm-level dynamic capabilities, contributing towards the creation of an effective knowledge and innovation ....Learning Mechanisms and the Development of Dynamic Capabilities within Firms. The project has the following national/community benefits: (1) a more comprehensive study of the specific and unique features of the structure and innovative process operating within a major Australian producer of commodities, (2) a greater understanding of how knowledge can be created and captured in the form of firm-level dynamic capabilities, contributing towards the creation of an effective knowledge and innovation economy, and (3) assisting regional communities by providing specific recommendations for generating learning mechanisms and more importantly, capturing value from learning in terms of process improvement and innovation.Read moreRead less