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.
Read moreRead less
Maximising the value of alliances in delivering infrastructure projects: a mixed methods management study of procurement innovation. Australia’s new infrastructure is currently being delivered inefficiently. The project will take a novel approach to improving efficiency, focusing on cooperation within construction teams. The project will develop new mechanisms to align incentives and capabilities within construction teams.
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
Employee wellbeing and productivity: the role of territoriality, conflict and emotions. Australia is investing billions in redesigning modern office spaces, but the effect of office layout on employees is still not well understood. Using innovative real-time data collection techniques, an international team will study the effect of office layout and develop a training package to improve office-worker productivity and wellbeing.
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 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
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
Development of psychological capital in emergency service organisations. The project addresses the research priorities ‘Promoting good health and well being for all Australians’ and Safeguarding Australia. The project will identify ways in which the performance and wellbeing of volunteer and paid members of emergency service organisations can be enhanced, potentially diminishing the likelihood of depression, aggression, and other detrimental effects. The findings will also contribute to the qual ....Development of psychological capital in emergency service organisations. The project addresses the research priorities ‘Promoting good health and well being for all Australians’ and Safeguarding Australia. The project will identify ways in which the performance and wellbeing of volunteer and paid members of emergency service organisations can be enhanced, potentially diminishing the likelihood of depression, aggression, and other detrimental effects. The findings will also contribute to the quality of training provided to leaders in emergency services. Theoretically, the project will advance understanding of the mechanisms that underpin the psychological capital construct, placing Australian researchers at the forefront of this important emerging field of inquiry.Read moreRead less