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From the editor: Patricia McClunie-Trust Contemporary issues for nursing in New Zealand
No full textIntroduction to the research focus for the 2018 edition, and overview of research articles in this edition
The Australasian association for engineering education
Get PDFSub-Themes are:
1. Beyond the qualification – future-proofing engineering education for a diverse workforce. (National Strategy)
a. Strategies for increasing diversity of student intake often exist within institutions. However what happens to students once they graduate? Have students been prepared for the diverse workforce that will emerge as a result of an increasingly diverse student intake?
2. Beyond tolerance – educational practices that embrace diversity. (Teaching Strategy)
a. Diverse perspectives add value to the classroom, as well as to the workplace. How can we move beyond merely tolerating different viewpoints to creating educational spaces that encourage, develop and allow the ideas of an increasingly diverse student group to flourish?
3. Beyond the classroom – tailoring engineering and STEM education to meet the needs of all stakeholders. (External Industry requirement)
a. Educational institutions must consider an increasingly diverse group of stakeholders, including students, staff, industry, and the wider community. How can educational activities expand our horizons beyond classroom and industry experience
Readability of PBE reporting
Get PDFThe standardisation of Public Benefit Entities reporting has developed since 1992. Beneficial PBE reporting requires representations of position and performance, congruent with the Qualitative Characteristics of the conceptual framework. Non-regulation, optional adoption and sector-neutral standards led to issues of erroneous, complicated and misleading language in past reports. After calls for change, sector specific regulations and a tier system was introduced to address negative impacts on PBE reporting, and catering to different PBE types or users. This study aims to investigate if current reporting is meeting expected outcomes of regulation, specifically: Has the 2015 adoption of sector-specific standards impacted the readability of New Zealand PBE's annual reports? Data was collected by a convenience sample of PBE compliant annual reports and the corresponding sector-neutral report. These reports were converted, cleaned and measured for readability (by applying Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch Kincaid Grade Level and passive sentences measures). The resulting data was analysed with a Paired t-Test for a significant difference. FRE results indicated 93% of reports were tougher than ‘slightly difficult to read’. Most reports indicated a difference of one point or more, 53% of reports improved, while, 33% of reports declined after implementing the PBE regulations. This study concludes sector specific standards have not resulted in a consistent, statistically significant, difference in PBE for any readability measures studied. The use of jargon and the lack of specificity in readability measures are possible limitations of this research. However, for PBE’s to deliver efficient annual reports for users, further changes may be needed
Small business preference for software package
Get PDFUntil late 2016, the majority of small business uses QuickBooks and Excel to do their accounting work. However, the functions of these accounting tools are insufficient, and also the demands of companies are increasing. It has become inefficient and antiquated to use the software. A small business looked for new accounting software, but found that choosing an accounting software system is not straightforward, as every software package consists of different functions for users. The aim of this research was to analyse small business’ perceptions and preferences for accounting software systems in New Zealand. This is followed by an analysis of why users might want to replace their previous accounting software systems. In addition, the requirements for selecting accounting software were analysed. The main method used was qualitative research. Three people were interviewed regarding the reason for replacing their previous accounting software system. The first interviewee had not changed their accounting software system previously, but their reason for replacing their current accounting software system was that their previous accounting software system lacked the functionality he wanted. The second interviewee said e she disliked that the system frequently crashed and that it lacked the features she wanted. The reason why the last interviewee changed her previous accounting software system was that MYOB system could not improve her work efficiency
Identify successful marketing communication strategies that apply to a small hair salon
Get PDFA selected organisation provides hair dressing services and hair products to customers. The aim of this report is to analyse how the small hair salon could improve their marketing communication strategies in order to attract more customers and enhance the relationship between customers and the organisation. The approach to collecting information was to use a questionnaire with 50 participants, to gather primary information and to conduct a secondary research study. The result of this research was to decide that the role of a successful marketing communication strategy is to attract the customer to consume. In order to make the marketing communication strategy successful, it needs to choose a suitable channel that enables it to connect with the customer. New media is an effective channel that can promote the business to the customer and interact with them. New media is also suitable for a small business to use. A recommendation for the organisation is they create their own website page, Facebook page, YouTube video and WeChat group to promote themselves and interact with customers. Those channels are popular in New Zealand, with a high number of active users. Most the organisation customers like to use those channels too, so if the organisation applies those channels to their marketing communication strategy they will be able to attract customers and persuade them to consume more products
Strategies for an elderly care business
Get PDFThe elderly population in New Zealand is growing much faster than any other group. The Ministry of Social Development predicted that there will be an increase of 77% in the elderly population by 2036 to that of 2016. In addition to the population growth, Hamilton is also becoming a hub for retirees. It is found that 1 in 7 people aged 80 years and older lives in a care home. The research question is ‘What are the strategies required for a care business to become successful’. The research method includes interview and observation. Staff have been interviewed, as well as older people and the relatives of older people. From my research I have found that older people prefer to live in calm, green and less noisy areas. Older people also prefer caring and loving staff. The relatives prefer close proximity to the city and low cost. So, a recommendation for a new care home to become success in Hamilton market it should be able to maintain well qualified and trained staff, be located in a calm and green area not too far from city, and it should also be able to provide quality service at a cheap rate
Maintaining customer service in a fast food outlet
Get PDFIn a fast food outlet, a competitive field, customer service is a crucial factor. Customers are very much concerned about customer service and the quality of the food they get. This research is based on quality of service, inventory management, and employee training methods. Qualitative method is used for data collection for this project since it is more communicative and reliable. Data is collected from observations during work time. The store manager was interviewed for more information about inventory management of the store and customer service. This research found that not all the employees are trained for customer service. The inventory is done manually in the store, which is a time-consuming method. Not keeping sufficient stock leads to a shortage of toppings for pizza in the rush time if demand goes high, which may lead to customer complaints. Results of this research show that the standard of customer service and quality of food can be controlled and improved by managing the inventory, employee retention technique, and proper employee training. The research recommends using employee retention techniques and software methods for better inventory management. Keeping safe stocks as per the demand can reduce customer complaints about the quality of food
Health and safety in hospitality
Get PDFHealth and safety involves rules and regulations at the workplace. It is important at workplaces to protect employers and employees from accidents and injuries. The aim of this research project is to identify health and safety issues at motels, identify possible causes of those problems, provide some potential solutions to solve those problems, and suggest ways to develop a safe work environment. Observation was used as a primary research method. Results show that staff are not following the health and safety rules properly and managers do not inspect or observe properly. Common hazards in motels are slips, trips and falls, forceful exertions, and musculoskeletal disorders. Lack of health and safety education and training prior to commencement of work, carelessness, ignorance, lack of inspections, are some of the reasons for workplace accidents. Both managers and workers are responsible for keeping the workplace safe and healthy. Recommendations include frequent and timely inspections at the workplace, verbal warnings to workers, a health and safety meeting prior to starting work, and meeting to remind them every day, as well as motivating and rewarding employees to encourage them to develop a safe working culture
Strategies for growth and sustainability
Get PDFIn order to develop the market strategy of a company it is essential to assess and analyse the opinions of customers relating to service. This research focuses on the process by which a food outlet will be able to increase its market competitiveness by which this company will be able to enhance its profit margin. In this research, quantitative and qualitative research methods are used. Analysis of customers has been considered in this study for analysing drawbacks related to the operation of this company. This food outlet has seriously experienced a declining profit margin in recent times due to their unprofessional approach regarding engagement of knowledgeable and competent professionals. The main dispute in this context may be identified in their operation throughout inventory management, which is responsible for some quality issues. Moreover, degradation in terms of the quality of their food items is responsible for degradation in the level of customer satisfaction they have experienced recently. In order to mitigate these risks, which may be responsible for showing a declination in their profit margin, they must be taken seriously by management. Several recommendations are proposed that, in turn, may revive their position within the concurrent marketplace
Impact of corporate social responsibility disclosures on financial performance
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to explore the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure on the financial performance of industrial companies operating in Australia. The study adopts a quantitative methodological approach. Using a statistical analysis technique, the study makes use of regression analysis to explore the relation between the independent variable (number of CSR achievements) and the dependent variable (average share price). The number of CSR achievements was extracted from annual reports using content analysis. The average share price was taken from the annual reports. The total sample is 10 industrial companies listed in Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), and the sample comprises 50 annual reports. The result of the analysis shows that overall there is positive relationship between CSR disclosure and the financial performance of listed Australian companies operating in the industrial sector of the economy. It is recommended that these companies pay more attention to their CSR disclosure, and view it to achieve better financial performance