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The effect of multi-dimensional exploratory search on firm performancee
No full textThesis by publication.Bibliography: pages 164-176.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Paper 1 - Searching in the nonmarket environment ; the impact of regulatory search on firm innovativeness -- Chapter 4. Paper 2. The role of market environmental turbulence in moderating the effect of market and regulatory search on firm competitiveness -- Chapter 5.Paper 3 - Managerial intentionality and firm strategic renewal : the mediating role of higher order competencies -- Chapter 6. Summary and conclusions -- Reference list -- Appendix.This thesis investigates an overarching research question about how firms’ performance is affected by exploratory search, internal and external environmental conditions, and firms’ strategic change processes. Specifically, building on multiple theoretical lenses such as organizational learning theory, the knowledge based view of the firm, the theory of strategic renewal and higher order competences, the thesis extends the literature examining the relation between exploratory search and performance in a number of ways. First, drawing on organizational learning theory, the thesis conceptualizes and develops a measure of exploratory search in the regulatory environment (i.e., regulatory search). Second, building on the knowledge based view of the firm, the thesis examines the effects of regulatory and market search on firm performance in a contingency framework, with a focus on the moderating effect of internal environmental conditions, specifically slack, and external environmental conditions, specifically market environmental turbulence. Third, the thesis conceptualizes exploratory search as a complex and multi-dimensional construct (including both market and regulatory search), and frames the exploratory search and performance relation in the theoretical framework of strategic renewal. Using this framework, the thesis examines the mediating roles of research and development and marketing competences in the association between a firm’s overall exploratory search orientation (representing managerial intentions to renew) and firm performance (representing renewal outcomes).The format of the thesis is ‘thesis by publication’, consisting of three individual yet related papers. Paper 1 investigates the relation between regulatory search and firm innovativeness, and the moderating effect of slack on this relation. Regulatory search is conceptualized as a nonlocal and exploratory knowledge acquisition capability in a firm’s regulatory environment. Given there is no established scale for regulatory search, using survey data from the CEOs of Australian listed and private firms, a self-developed scale is used. Psychometric properties of the scale are examined with the results suggesting two independent factors, aligning with the knowledge requirements for the nonmarket strategies of anticipation (i.e., reactive regulatory search) and participation (i.e., proactive regulatory search). In relation to the direct effects of regulatory search factors on firm innovativeness, the results of the regression analysis indicate that only reactive search exhibits a positive and direct association with firm innovativeness. However, in relation to the moderating effects of firm slack, the results suggest that slack moderates the relation between the two regulatory search factors and innovativeness in different ways. Specifically, under a high (low) slack environment, reactive regulatory search negatively (positively) affects innovativeness, while under a high (low) slack environment, proactive regulatory search positively (negatively) affects innovativeness.Paper 2 investigates the moderating effect of market environmental turbulence (MET) on the relation between exploratory search (in both the market and regulatory environments) and firm competitiveness. MET is used to indicate both potential changes in the regulatory environment through customers’ potential collective actions, and a changing market environment through changing customer preferences and purchasing behaviours. Using both market search constructs (i.e., supply, demand, and geographical/spatial side search) from the existing literature and the self-developed regulatory search constructs (i.e., reactive and proactive regulatory search), the findings indicate that it is more effective for a firm to pursue demand side search and proactive regulatory search when MET is high, aligning with the strategies of ‘demand pull’ and ‘influence’ respectively. In contrast, supply side search and reactive regulatory search are more effective when MET is low, aligning with the strategies of ‘technology push’ and ‘anticipation’ respectively. The results suggest that, in addition to the contribution of a firm’s market search, regulatory search contributes to firm performance.Paper 3 investigates the intervening effects of research and development (R&D) and marketing competences (as firm-level strategic change processes) on the relation between exploratory search and firm performance. This investigation is placed in the theoretical framework of strategic renewal, suggesting that top management’s intentional search actions play an important part in a firm’s successful strategic renewal. Paper 3 conceptualizes managerial intentionality to renew as learning complexity, combining exploratory search in both the market and regulatory environments, and examines (1) how learning complexity affects R&D and marketing competences, and (2) how these competences affect the renewal outcomes (specifically, innovativeness and competitiveness). Using structural equation modelling, the empirical findings suggest that the learning complexity and innovativeness relation is mediated by R&D competence, representing the renewal channel of technological transformation, and the learning complexity and competitiveness relation is mediated by marketing competence, representing the renewal channel of marketing transformation.In summary, the research conducted in this thesis, through its three individual papers, contributes to both literature and practice by focusing on the influence of both the environment and managerial actions on firm performance. Overall, the findings of the research suggest that firm performance is influenced by managerial actions (i.e., the actions of exploratory search), both internal (firm slack) and external (market environmental turbulence) environmental conditions, and firm strategic change processes (i.e., R&D and marketing competences).Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (178 pages) diagrams, graphs, table
Psychologists’ adherence and carer experiences with best practice in intellectual disabilities and co-morbid mental ill health
No full textThesis by publication.Includes bibliographical references.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Clinical competencies and training needs of psychologists working with adults with intellectual disabilities and co-morbid mental health concerns -- Chapter 3. Clinical practices and barriers to evidence based practice of psychologists working with adults with intellectual disability and co-morbid mental ill health -- Chapter 4. Best practice principles when working with individuals with intellectual disability and co-morbid mental health concerns -- Chapter 5. Best practice adherence and workplace facilitators and hindrances for psychologists working with Individuals with Intellectual disabilities and co-morbid mental health concerns -- Chapter 6. Mental health literacy, help seeking barriers and service satisfaction of carers of individuals with dual disabilities -- Chapter 7. Carer experiences of services for adults with intellectual disabilities and co-morbid mental ill health or challenging behaviour -- Thesis discussion -- Appendices.This thesis explored Australian psychologists’ perceptions of best practice when working with individuals with an intellectual disability and co-morbid mental health disorders and its alignment with carer experiences. The first study explored assessment practices, perceptions of workplace resources, training needs and barriers to evidence based practice of Australian psychologists working in intellectual disabilities via an online survey. Study two involved focus groups with psychologists working in intellectual disabilities and investigated their perceptions of best practice, adherence to practice guidelines and impact of organisational factors. The final mixed method study used online surveys and face to face/phone interviews to explore experiences of carers with an offspring with dual disabilities with mental health and disability services. This study also assessed carer mental health literacy and barriers to help seeking. Overall, findings indicate that psychologists are generally aware of best practice principles and reported clinical practices that are aligned with current international and national practice guidelines. Psychologists showed limited confidence in mental health diagnosis with individuals with an intellectual disability and expressed a need for further training in dual disabilities. Organisational and systemic factors were found to create barriers to evidence based practice implementation and practice based evidence was noted to compensate for the limited evidence based available to guide clinical practice. Carers reported varying experiences of helpfulness and satisfaction with mainstream mental health and disability services. Carers also generally showed high mental health literacy and reported few attitudinal barriers to help seeking. Carers also noted more negative than positive experiences with services received for their offspring with dual disabilities. Findings suggest there is much improvement to be made in a range of areas to improve the experience of carers with services to address mental health concerns. Findings from this thesis have implications for clinician training, organisational operations, service models of care, practice guideline implementation and practice based evidence.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (x, 303 pages
Teacher/student interaction
No full textTheoretical thesis.Running title: Teacher/student interaction.Bibliography: pages 65-75.Introduction -- Literature review -- Methods -- Results : case studies -- Results : thematic analysis -- Discussion -- References -- Appendices.This research employed a qualitative design to examine two dimensions of teachers’ experiences with students presenting with challenging behaviours: teachers-student interaction, and classroom engagement. A total of 15 teachers from three Catholic schools were involved in the study, five teachers from each participating school. The three schools included: (1) a coeducational primary school; (2) a mainstream secondary school for boys; and (3) a special behavioural secondary school for boys. The study employed one-on-one semi-structured teacher interviews. Teachers’ own classroom experiences, along with their perceptions of the impact of the wider school context on outcomes for students with behavioural difficulties, were examined. An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach was used in the analysis of interview data. Findings: A narrative of caring for the wellbeing of students with challenging behaviour was embedded in the interview data from all fifteen teachers. The teachers reported the complexity of student behavioural challenges and factors that inhibited positive teacher-student interaction and relationships, as well as consequences for not meeting school expectations. However, developing caring and positive relationships with students - giving them a voice, providing students with clear expectations, rules and boundaries – was seen as key to the formation of positive teacher-student interactions, positive student classroom engagement, and an optimal environment for learning. Limitations: This research was limited by the relatively small participant numbers, and it may be that the emphasis on caring reflected a philosophical approach emphasised and reinforced within the Catholic school system.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (83 pages
A functional approach to teaching English tenses to speakers of other languages: the case of teaching English to adults in Serbia
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 70-75.1. Introduction -- 2. Towards a functional approach to describing English tenses -- 3. Towards a functional approach to teaching English tenses to L2 learners -- 4. Empirical study : research methods -- 5. Empirical study : results -- 6. General discussion -- 7. Conclusion -- References -- Appendices.This thesis investigates how a pedagogy based on systemic-functional linguistics (SFL) can benefit teaching English tenses to adults in Serbia. Using a functional tense description within the SFL-based teaching/learning cycle should benefit language learners because it foregrounds the logical architecture of tense selection in English texts. There is a gap in research, however, exploring possible SFL applications in teaching tenses in English as a second/foreign language. Data for this study were collected through surveys with 24 English teachers of adult learners in Serbia, followed by semi-structured interviews with three survey respondents. The findings indicate that, despite the influence of a form-focused grammar pedagogy on their current practices, the participant-teachers believe in the benefits of a text-based approach to teaching grammar through scaffolding. The study also suggests that learners struggle when tense forms reflect more than one temporal relation, arguably due to the Serbian tense system. A functional pedagogy can provide English teachers with pedagogical tools for a text-based approach to teaching tenses, whereas the recursive SFL-based English tense system can enable learners to observe all time references influencing tense choice. One implication of this study is that a functional approach to teaching English tenses should be endorsed by English teachers in Serbia if provided with teacher training. Another implication is that such a pedagogy should assist in overcoming the difficulties arising from the learner’s first language, which encourages the replication of this study involving different language groups.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (118 pages) diagrams, table
Apostle of temperance : John Saunders and the early history of the temperance movement in New South Wales
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 76-85.Introduction -- “A combination of aristocrats and religionists”? Saunders, class and respectability -- “An auxiliary, not a usurper”: Saunders, temperance and secularisation -- Rethinking temperance : a social movement in biographical perspective.Existing histories of the early temperance movement in New South Wales all adopt broad, structural approaches, constructing explanatory narratives that focus variously on issues of class, social status and secularisation to explain the rise of the movement in the early 1830s and its turn toward total abstinence in the final years of that decade.This thesis examines the writings and reported actions of a key leader in the movement, John Saunders, in order to complement and, where necessary, complicate the already existing histories. What emerges is a case study in the complex interaction between class, status and religious belief within the understandings and motivations that drove the movement, with broader implications for our understanding of religion and secularism in nineteenth-century Australia. While issues of class and social status were undeniably prominent within the rationale and rhetoric of the movement, neither of these factors on its own is sufficient to explain the motivations and behaviour of those involved. Nor does the theory that the early temperance movement was driven by a fundamentally secular ideology of “moral enlightenment” allow sufficient room for the multi-layered and carefully-articulated combination of enlightenment ideals and evangelical convictions within the thinking of leaders such as Saunders.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (85 pages
Proteomic characterisation of TDP-43 inclusion pathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia
No full textEmpirical thesis."Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University" -- title page.Bibliography: pages 108-119.1. Introduction -- 2. Aims -- 3. Methods -- 4. Results -- 5. Discussion -- References -- Appendices.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are part of a spectrum of adult-onset fatal neurodegenerative diseases. ALS begins in either the upper motor neurons of the motor cortex or the lower motor neurons of the brain-stem and spinal cord, resulting in progressive paralysis. FTD however presents in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, causing debilitating changes to personality, language and behaviour. The pathological hallmark of both diseases is the presence of low-solubility protein aggregates (which form large inclusions in affected neurons), usually within the cytoplasm. These inclusions consist of both misfolded non-functional proteins as well as functioning proteins that are sequestered due to abnormal interactions or endogenous aggregate-clearance mechanisms. The major inclusion-forming protein in the vast majority of ALS and approximately half of all FTD cases is the DNA/RNA-binding protein TAR DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43), however the other components of TDP-43 pathology in disease remain largely unknown. The aim of this thesis is to characterise the populations of proteins that are present within ALS/FTD-linked TDP-43 inclusions. Various forms of human TDP-43 (wildtype, cytoplasmic-targeted and post-translational mimetics) were expressed in neuronal NSC-34 and SH-SY5Y cells, and brain tissue from a TDP-43 transgenic mouse model was also used. By developing a biochemical low-solubility protein fractionation method, the types of proteins present with the TDP-43 pathology in these cells and brain samples were isolated for shotgun mass spectrometry proteomics. This approach identified many potential disease-associated as well as previously unidentified proteins that may play a role in ALS/FTD pathology. By identifying the types of proteins that are affected in these terrible diseases, it will be possible to understand the pathways and mechanisms through which they act to ultimately target therapeutics and identify biomarkers for people living with ALS and FTD.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xiii, 197 pages) illustrations (some colour
Australia's local government and counter terrorism in the contemporary terrorism environment : risks and opportunities
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 70-81Part I -- Chapter One: Introduction -- Chapter Two: Methodology -- Part II -- Chapter Three: Literature review to establish the current terrorism environment -- Chapter Four: Counter Terrorism Governance Thematic Analysis -- Chapter five: United Kingdom Case Study -- Chapter Six: Discussion chapter -- Part III -- Chapter Seven: Conclusion -- Sources Consulted -- Annexure A.Australian counter terrorism governance has necessarily evolved in response to the dynamic nature of terrorism. This evolution has failed in to include a role for local governments within the all levels approach outlined by the government. This thesis demonstrates that the evolution of Australia's counter terrorism governance has led to vulnerabilities at the local government level within the context of the current terrorism environment. A four phased mixed method approach was adopted drawing on a sequential application of a review of academic theory, thematic mapping of Australian counter terrorism governance, case study and the adoption of the SWOT analytical framework. This mixed method approach concluded that the absence of local government from the strategic approach to counter terrorism failed to utilise the significant capabilities and resources available at the local level. This thesis identifies the risks and opportunities for local government involvement, making a number of recommendations to develop a future role at this level.1 online resource (84 pages) illustration
Moral selves and mean welfare: responsibility and vulnerability in multicultural Sydney
No full textTheoretical thesis.Responsibility and vulnerability are morally potent yet contested concepts in contemporary welfare politics and policy, through which the issue of dealing with cultural diversity in the Australian welfare state is refracted. This thesis is a bout the lived experience of culturally diverse welfare users at the sharp end of Australia's residual welfare system. Taking responsibility and vulnerability as conceptual frames, the research explores how diverse moral and material economies of support interact with th e cultural politics and institutional cultures of the welfare state. I draw on a combination of ethnographic methods and in - depth interviews based in the highly multicultural south - west of Sydney, an area targeted as disadvantaged under recent place - based welfare interventions. In this way the thesis brings cultural diversity to the centre of an empirical exploration of how welfare users experience and relate to the welfare state, where it has previously been peripheral or focused on a single ethnic group. The theoretical framework prioritises the micro - politics and social relations of everyday life, allowing the thesis to draw out the cultural frames and practices that animate expectations and experiences of welfare state provision. It endeavours to keep i n view both the messiness of everyday lived existence and wider conditions in which it is placed . By combining fine - grained empirical analysis with empirical and theoretical insights from race and ethnic studies and social policy studies, this thesis offer s a thick account of individual lived experiences of welfare embedded in histories and structures of racial and socio - economic injustice and inequality. An overarching argument that ties together the different themes in each chapter is the need to grapple with the dominant cultural lexicon of agency in both policy and scholarship, which affirms agency as a value that is antithetical to claims of victimhood.Bibliography: pages 232-270.Introduction: the moral and material economies of welfare and multiculture -- Chapter one: A review of the literature -- Chapter two: Problems of access in community welfare: initiative or opportunism? -- Chapter three: Seatbelts and safety nets: expectation, reciprocity and belonging -- Chapter four: Over-drawn accounts: on being and performing "vulnerable" -- Chapter five: The shame of protection: shame, dignity and agency for the plural actor -- Chapter 6: The art of getting by: toward a generative account of making do -- Chapter seven: Conclusion.1 online resource (270 pages
On the use of multi-population mortality models for deprivation subgroups in a population
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 80-831. Introduction -- 2. Literature Review -- 3. Data and methodology -- 4. Fitting results and performance -- 5. Model Projection -- 6. Concluding remarksActuaries and demographers have shown a keen interest in the longevity improvement in the past decades since human longevity significantly affects society, especially influencing the creation of government policy for pensioners and life insurance products. Studies have shown that mortality rates have converged across populations, in which academics have been developing multi-population models to capture this phenomenon. Multi-population models can be used to assess longevity basis risk, which is the mismatch of the longevity outcome between two different populations. Longevity basis risk arises from hedging the sub-population using mortality hedging instruments based on the reference mortality rate. Good multi-population models are able to capture and reduce the basis risk along with hedging instrument. In this thesis, we study a variety of multi-population models from the literature. These models are fitted for the UK population data and the deprivation subgroups in England. Goodness-of-fit tests, and the examination of forecasting accuracy and hedging effectiveness are used to compare the multi-population models.1 online resource (96 pages
Extending the ability to communicate effectively via an online mobile application: connecting Australian senior secondary school German and French learners with target-language speaking peers to increase language learner development
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 65-77.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Methodology -- Chapter 4. Findings -- Chapter 5. Discussion and recommendations -- Chapter 6. Conclusion -- References -- Appendices.This thesis reports a study which investigated how interacting with target-language speakers on a language learning app influences Australian French and German learners. A qualitative case study is used to explore how communicating online influences student development as language learners. Sociocultural theory in language learning (Lantolf, 2011) provides a framework for considering factors that were influential in the online interaction. Data was collected from the students and drawn from three sources: pre-task student reflective portfolio entries, pre- task student interviews, and post-task student interviews. The findings revealed that developments in the language learner occurred in three areas: personal development, linguistic development, and development of learning and communication strategies. The project highlighted the importance of extending language learning beyond the classroom to develop student communicative competence.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (87 pages) table