Performance Management using Balanced Scorecards to Improve the Performance of Australian Manufacturing Organizations. The balanced scorecard is a performance management technique that has been promoted to assist managers of Australian manufacturing companies improve the performance of their organizations. However, there is little empirical evidence to support an association between scorecards and enhanced performance and there is much to be discovered about how they promote effective outcomes. ....Performance Management using Balanced Scorecards to Improve the Performance of Australian Manufacturing Organizations. The balanced scorecard is a performance management technique that has been promoted to assist managers of Australian manufacturing companies improve the performance of their organizations. However, there is little empirical evidence to support an association between scorecards and enhanced performance and there is much to be discovered about how they promote effective outcomes. This study provides a significant conceptual advance by proposing that scorecards will enhance performance when they are 'comprehensive' in design. This enhancement in performance occurs as comprehensiveness assists product innovation and aligns manufacturing with strategy. The theoretical and empirical outcomes of the research are significant as the appropriate application of balanced scorecards can assist Australian firms compete effectively in global markets.Read moreRead less
The role of Activity-based costing within the Defence Forces. The aim of the research project is to enhance understanding of the implementation processes involved in the effective application of Activity-based Cost Management (ABCM) within Defence Organizations. A framework is developed that draws on organizational theories as they relate to behavioral implementation factors and change management. The research proposes that the beneficial effects of ABCM require attention to behavioral and org ....The role of Activity-based costing within the Defence Forces. The aim of the research project is to enhance understanding of the implementation processes involved in the effective application of Activity-based Cost Management (ABCM) within Defence Organizations. A framework is developed that draws on organizational theories as they relate to behavioral implementation factors and change management. The research proposes that the beneficial effects of ABCM require attention to behavioral and organizational factors during the early stages of implementation. Attention to several of these factors provides the basis to overcome resistance to change in early implementation, while attention to others ensures sustained development and acceptance of ABCM.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
Developing a Resource Allocation Framework to support more effective police investigations of major crime. The project addresses National Research Priority 4: Safeguarding Australia. This priority has a goal to protect Australia from terrorism and crime. Improving resource allocation decisions will enable police resources to be more effective in detecting and preventing crime. The project addresses the goal of all police agencies to reduce crime by enhancing the capability to manage resources mo ....Developing a Resource Allocation Framework to support more effective police investigations of major crime. The project addresses National Research Priority 4: Safeguarding Australia. This priority has a goal to protect Australia from terrorism and crime. Improving resource allocation decisions will enable police resources to be more effective in detecting and preventing crime. The project addresses the goal of all police agencies to reduce crime by enhancing the capability to manage resources more efficiently and effectively. This requires a more innovative culture that uses the available management information intelligently to make better (in terms of outcomes) resource allocation decisions. Read moreRead less
Design and Implementation of a Clinical Services Performance Management Model. This project aims to develop and test the efficacy of a balanced scorecard-based performance management model in a large public hospital. The project seeks to address significant performance management issues in the health care sector associated with the need to balance clinical care quality and resource management in an environment where conventional performance measurement systems are inadequate. The outcome will ....Design and Implementation of a Clinical Services Performance Management Model. This project aims to develop and test the efficacy of a balanced scorecard-based performance management model in a large public hospital. The project seeks to address significant performance management issues in the health care sector associated with the need to balance clinical care quality and resource management in an environment where conventional performance measurement systems are inadequate. The outcome will be a performance management model developed in collaboration with clinicians, field tested experimentally in a range of clinical settings and evaluated for effectiveness. The outcomes of the project will make a substantive contribution to the development of 'best practice' management protocols in the health care sector as well as a significant and innovative contribution to the management control literature.
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Ensuring Australia's competitiveness by implementing targeted performance measurement systems across the extended supply chain. This project will develop a framework to guide managers in designing, implementing, and using performance measurement systems across the industry supply chain to maximise the potential benefits of supply chain management. The outcomes enhance organisational competitiveness, supply chain competitiveness and boost Australia's economy.
An empirical analysis of structural cost management decision making. This study analyses the rationale adopted by firms in implementing cost management choices with significant social and economic consequences. Layoffs, across-the-board cost cuts and off-shoring are significant influences on workforce participation levels in the Australian economy. This study explores the factors associated with firms and managers that lead to systematic preferences for certain types of cost management respons ....An empirical analysis of structural cost management decision making. This study analyses the rationale adopted by firms in implementing cost management choices with significant social and economic consequences. Layoffs, across-the-board cost cuts and off-shoring are significant influences on workforce participation levels in the Australian economy. This study explores the factors associated with firms and managers that lead to systematic preferences for certain types of cost management responses. In analysing these decisions in a range of organizational settings, and seeking to establish best practice benchmarks in innovative cost management practice, this study directly supports the government's workforce participation agenda. Read moreRead less
Risk management systems and implications for carbon emission reporting and reduction: a study of Australian carbon intensive firms. This research will help Australian firms develop more efficient and effective governance over the risk management and reporting on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Consequently, higher quality decision-making and resource usage at the firm, market and community levels will occur as firms are identified by their GHG emission activities and outcomes.
Impact of Intelligent Decision Aids on Human Knowledge Acquisition. Our aim is to identify new factors that enhance learning and knowledge acquisition from an intelligent decision aid. The research will assess the ability of alternative designs of an intelligent decision aid's advanced explanation and learning facilities to affect the transfer of complex knowledge structures to novice insolvency practitioners. The result of the study is critical to understanding the factors necessary for succes ....Impact of Intelligent Decision Aids on Human Knowledge Acquisition. Our aim is to identify new factors that enhance learning and knowledge acquisition from an intelligent decision aid. The research will assess the ability of alternative designs of an intelligent decision aid's advanced explanation and learning facilities to affect the transfer of complex knowledge structures to novice insolvency practitioners. The result of the study is critical to understanding the factors necessary for successfully deploying and leveraging intelligent decision aids in practice.Read moreRead less
Accelerating Expertise Development Using Knowledge Structures and Expert Systems. There is a shortage of experts among many professional fields in Australia, a problem that is starting to be further exacerbated by a large number of pending retirements. Professions dependent on high-level experts operating in complex decision domains face potential devastation and may fail to continue to exist within Australia. The proposed research directly addresses this looming crisis by presenting a replicabl ....Accelerating Expertise Development Using Knowledge Structures and Expert Systems. There is a shortage of experts among many professional fields in Australia, a problem that is starting to be further exacerbated by a large number of pending retirements. Professions dependent on high-level experts operating in complex decision domains face potential devastation and may fail to continue to exist within Australia. The proposed research directly addresses this looming crisis by presenting a replicable methodology for rapid expertise development that is to be demonstrated within the Australian insolvency environment. However, the methodology will be easily portable to other knowledge work professions facing similar crisis conditions.Read moreRead less