Managing Productive and Collaborative Relations in Australian Workplaces. Concerns over workplace productivity are high on the agenda of policymakers. Evidence suggests that collaboration in the workplace and high involvement approaches have a productivity premium of up to 20 per cent over those without the commitment to collaborative approaches. However, collective relations do not necessarily mean union relations nor necessarily collaborative relations. This research will benefit Australia's s ....Managing Productive and Collaborative Relations in Australian Workplaces. Concerns over workplace productivity are high on the agenda of policymakers. Evidence suggests that collaboration in the workplace and high involvement approaches have a productivity premium of up to 20 per cent over those without the commitment to collaborative approaches. However, collective relations do not necessarily mean union relations nor necessarily collaborative relations. This research will benefit Australia's social and economic fabric through understanding alternative means by which collaborative workplace relations lead to productivity gains. This is consistent with the current policy approach of government in promoting productive and harmonious workplace level industrial relations.Read moreRead less
Voice, Representation and Recognition in the Information Economy. Workers in new information industries are not highly unionised. This research explores why this is the case in call centre employment. Union densities may reflect workforce demographics or preferences. They may also parallel the use of new managerial tools including recruitment, training and cultural programs, or new work designs. This project will test these propositions. Providing employees wish to have some say over the determ ....Voice, Representation and Recognition in the Information Economy. Workers in new information industries are not highly unionised. This research explores why this is the case in call centre employment. Union densities may reflect workforce demographics or preferences. They may also parallel the use of new managerial tools including recruitment, training and cultural programs, or new work designs. This project will test these propositions. Providing employees wish to have some say over the determination of employment conditions, this project examines possible scenarios for voice, representation and recognition in a rapidly growing industry. This has important implications for the smart use of new technologies in the workplace.Read moreRead less
Customising work through manager-employee exchange. This project will explore how managers and employees customise the terms and conditions of standardised employment arrangements. The results will inform legislation such as right to request provisions and organisational strategies such as manager training which support effective, mutually beneficial manager-employee exchanges.
Promoting Knowledge Economy Organisations and Innovative Work: Regional influences on Knowledge-based Small and Medium-sized Enterprise clusters in Australia and Germany. In both Australia and Germany many regional areas have experienced economic and social decline. Clusters offer a means of fostering local economic development thereby arresting regional social and economic deterioration. The research focuses on those clusters that rely on knowledge transfer between organisations. Through identi ....Promoting Knowledge Economy Organisations and Innovative Work: Regional influences on Knowledge-based Small and Medium-sized Enterprise clusters in Australia and Germany. In both Australia and Germany many regional areas have experienced economic and social decline. Clusters offer a means of fostering local economic development thereby arresting regional social and economic deterioration. The research focuses on those clusters that rely on knowledge transfer between organisations. Through identifying the drivers and impediments to the formation of knowledge based clusters, the research aims to provide practical guidance to regionally-based organizations to assist in the successful formation and maintenance of clusters. In doing so, the research will identify how clusters that rely on the sharing of organizational knowledge may promote greater regional employment possibilities.Read moreRead less
Employee voice in Australia: the impact of employee participation arrangements on organisational performance and employee well-being. Given the extent of union decline in Australia, there is a need to update policy to reflect the new reality of low unionisation. This project will examine what alternative arrangements exist and their economic and social consequences. It focuses on the employee impacts and employer impacts of these arrangements and will inform current policy debates.
Examining the effectiveness of co-creation practices on health outcomes. This projects aims to examine how patients interact collaboratively with multiple stakeholders in a health system (co-creation). Governments and health-care providers continually seek new ways to be more efficient and to create more effective health service outcomes. This research aims to identify why co-creation will be important in the formulation of future health policy. The project plans to assess patient-centred practi ....Examining the effectiveness of co-creation practices on health outcomes. This projects aims to examine how patients interact collaboratively with multiple stakeholders in a health system (co-creation). Governments and health-care providers continually seek new ways to be more efficient and to create more effective health service outcomes. This research aims to identify why co-creation will be important in the formulation of future health policy. The project plans to assess patient-centred practices using qualitative and quantitative health outcome measures and to model the patient’s end-to-end journey by developing new metrics. The intended outcomes are practical guidelines to help health professionals focus on the most effective co-creation activities and interactions. The research aims to determine how co-creation practices shape a service ecosystem by examining the effectiveness of a patient-centred approach on health care service outcomes. Findings will improve the implementation of health care practices.Read moreRead less
When and How Does High Pressure Supervision become Abusive? Employees in both public and private sector organisations are today being urged to do more with less. Consequently work team supervisors are under pressure to demand more effort from subordinates. But when does this cross the line to become abusive supervision? This project proposes to develop and test a framework intended to explain, from an employee's perspective, how supervisors can motivate their subordinates to perform and at the s ....When and How Does High Pressure Supervision become Abusive? Employees in both public and private sector organisations are today being urged to do more with less. Consequently work team supervisors are under pressure to demand more effort from subordinates. But when does this cross the line to become abusive supervision? This project proposes to develop and test a framework intended to explain, from an employee's perspective, how supervisors can motivate their subordinates to perform and at the same time avoid being seen as abusive. The project includes three studies whose results aim to have both theoretical and practical implications, and in particular to help supervisors to understand their subordinates' behaviours, leading to improved employee wellbeing and organisational productivity.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
Serving the greater good: using 'Servant Leadership' to build ethical and engaging work practices. The project will result in the first organisational application in Australia of a leadership development program based on scientific foundations of the 'Servant Leadership' framework. The outcomes will benefit organisations of all types in developing the leadership capabilities required to create ethical, positive, and sustainable work environments.
Leaders as motivators: A test of an integrated theory of leadership and motivation to predict employees' psychological health and productivity. The effectiveness of organisations depends upon the quality of its leaders. While research shows that certain leader behaviours can enhance psychological heath (increase job satisfaction, reduce stress) and productivity, it is not clear why this occurs. This proposal addresses this shortcoming by developing a model of leadership that places motivation ....Leaders as motivators: A test of an integrated theory of leadership and motivation to predict employees' psychological health and productivity. The effectiveness of organisations depends upon the quality of its leaders. While research shows that certain leader behaviours can enhance psychological heath (increase job satisfaction, reduce stress) and productivity, it is not clear why this occurs. This proposal addresses this shortcoming by developing a model of leadership that places motivation as a core process between the leader's behaviour and outcomes. The model is tested across new innovative research designs, including a study that tests an intervention to improve leadership effectiveness. The research will increase the understanding of workplace leadership and provide practical ways to improve employees' psychological health and productivity.Read moreRead less