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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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
The New Discipline of Business Coaching? Business coaching combines business planning with facilitation techniques to assist clients in defining and achieving goals. Its recent emergence means its effects on managerial behaviour and organizational performance have not been rigorously researched. We will combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to investigate the craft of business coaching, to demonstrate what is important in business coaching; why it is important, and how it works. We wil ....The New Discipline of Business Coaching? Business coaching combines business planning with facilitation techniques to assist clients in defining and achieving goals. Its recent emergence means its effects on managerial behaviour and organizational performance have not been rigorously researched. We will combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to investigate the craft of business coaching, to demonstrate what is important in business coaching; why it is important, and how it works. We will construct a model for business coaching that systematises best practice in a governance framework of interaction norms, processes and outputs. The research will set standards for this important but institutionally unregulated field of practice.Read moreRead less
Patterns of change in organizational structures in hyper-competitive environments. Aim: Longitudinal study of organizational structures in a highly competitive industry, focusing on change from traditional to new organizational structures. Our conceptual framework of retention, coexistence, replacement and integration enables assessment of patterns of structural change over time and tests of resource based and institutional theories about why organizational structures change.
Significance: Ou ....Patterns of change in organizational structures in hyper-competitive environments. Aim: Longitudinal study of organizational structures in a highly competitive industry, focusing on change from traditional to new organizational structures. Our conceptual framework of retention, coexistence, replacement and integration enables assessment of patterns of structural change over time and tests of resource based and institutional theories about why organizational structures change.
Significance: Our conceptual framework is innovative and provides a template for assessing current arguments about structural change and performance.
Outcomes:
Theoretical: greater understanding of relevance of organizational change theories.
Practical: provision to managers of knowledge about new patterns of structuring organizations and which ones are associated with superior performance.
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Designing global organizations to create local competitive advantage: An evolutionary perspective of ING Direct. Little systematic research exists on how organizational design and global strategy interact to achieve success. Such research is necessary in light of recent poor track records of Australian companies expanding globally. The project will assist by analysing the design of a highly successful network-based global organisation, ING Direct, using an evolutionary perspective. It will cont ....Designing global organizations to create local competitive advantage: An evolutionary perspective of ING Direct. Little systematic research exists on how organizational design and global strategy interact to achieve success. Such research is necessary in light of recent poor track records of Australian companies expanding globally. The project will assist by analysing the design of a highly successful network-based global organisation, ING Direct, using an evolutionary perspective. It will contribute to debates within two literatures (i) new organisational forms and (ii) multinational literature on strategy/structure. Applying a novel conceptual framework using concepts of retention, adaptation, transference and integration it will examine changing organizational design practices in reaction to both local conditions and the global network.Read moreRead less
Strategizing and Management Accounting Control: Comparing and Contrasting Australian and Japanese Practices. Organisations invest significant resources in the development of formal strategic plans, as well as management accounting control systems (MACS) to facilitate their implementation. Yet we know very little about the practices connecting MACS to the realisation of organisational strategies. This study intends to examine these practices by using field research to compare and contrast pract ....Strategizing and Management Accounting Control: Comparing and Contrasting Australian and Japanese Practices. Organisations invest significant resources in the development of formal strategic plans, as well as management accounting control systems (MACS) to facilitate their implementation. Yet we know very little about the practices connecting MACS to the realisation of organisational strategies. This study intends to examine these practices by using field research to compare and contrast practices in Australian and Japanese organisations. Such research will contribute to the national benefit by highlighting 'best' practice in relation to the use of MACS in achieving strategic goals/change, contributing to an innovative Australian business culture.
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Pay alignment: Fact or fallacy? The project will make an important contribution to our understanding of the impact of employee pay system configuration on firm performance and, in turn, on national productivity and Australia's social and economic fabric. The findings will enrich pay system theory and guide evidence-based improvement in firms' pay practices. It will help employers to identify the most contextually appropriate and effective ways to manage pay level, structure and plan choice and t ....Pay alignment: Fact or fallacy? The project will make an important contribution to our understanding of the impact of employee pay system configuration on firm performance and, in turn, on national productivity and Australia's social and economic fabric. The findings will enrich pay system theory and guide evidence-based improvement in firms' pay practices. It will help employers to identify the most contextually appropriate and effective ways to manage pay level, structure and plan choice and thus to design pay systems that employees in different workplace contexts perceive as fair and that enhance organisational performance and ability to attract, motivate and retain high calibre staff.Read moreRead less
Sustainable organisational change: Australian business responses to climate change. Australian businesses are expected to play a leading role in the fight against global warming. This project will generate new insights into how, though organisational change initiatives, Australian corporations are responding to the issue of climate change, as well as the sustainability of these initiatives.
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
Public-Private-Partnership Governance and Performance: An Empirical Assessment. While Australia's rural and regional communities require improved infrastructure services at reduced costs and higher quality; infrastructure costs are significant and governments' funds are insufficient to meet demand. Public-private-partnerships (PPPs), if they work successfully, can be the key to meet this demand. As PPPs reduce the financial investment that governments need to make, the greater the opportunity fo ....Public-Private-Partnership Governance and Performance: An Empirical Assessment. While Australia's rural and regional communities require improved infrastructure services at reduced costs and higher quality; infrastructure costs are significant and governments' funds are insufficient to meet demand. Public-private-partnerships (PPPs), if they work successfully, can be the key to meet this demand. As PPPs reduce the financial investment that governments need to make, the greater the opportunity for considered infrastructure development, if the PPPs are successful and meet their intended financial and social objectives. Thus, a better understanding of the performance outcomes of different governance mechanisms in PPPs can result in less expensive and better infrastructure services for Australia's communities.Read moreRead less