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An examination of whistleblowing from national and organisational culture perspectives and its association with employees’ work-related attitudes
No full textThesis by publication.Bibliography: pages 200-237.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Paper one -- Chapter 3. Paper two -- Chapter 4. Paper three -- Chapter 5. Conclusion -- References -- Appendices.Whistleblowing refers to the disclosure of wrongdoings by members of organisations to persons or organisations that may be able to effect action. This thesis presents an examination of the effects of national and organisational cultures on the whistleblowing decisions of employees. The thesis also considers how remaining silent or blowing the whistle in response to observed wrongdoings affects employees’ key work-related attitudes. Mail surveys were used to collect data from 82 (Australian) and 198 (Pakistani) middle-level managers who were working in large-scale organisations in Australia and Pakistan respectively. The thesis employs the format of ‘thesis by publication’ and consists of three separate, yet interrelated, comprehensive research papers.Paper 1 addresses a major gap in the whistleblowing literature, which has been caused by generalisability issues of single-country studies, limited geographical coverage and the use of student samples and/or hypothetical scenarios by previous cross-cultural whistleblowing studies. Using Hofstede’s (1980) framework of national culture, the study examined the effects of three dimensions of national culture—individualism/collectivism, power distance and indulgence/restraint—on actual whistleblowing decisions of real-life employees. The results indicated a significantly higher frequency of whistleblowing in the individualistic national culture of Australia than in the collectivist national culture of Pakistan. Further, large power distance was found to be a hindrance for official reporting but not for the unofficial reporting of wrongdoings committed by superiors. Additionally, characteristics of restrained national culture were found to be a major reason for employees to remain silent regarding observed wrongdoings. The findings provide valuable insights for lawmakers, regulators and domestic and multinational organisations to understand the effects of national culture on the whistleblowing decisions of employees. The findings from the study presented in Paper 1 suggest that whistleblowing legislation and organisational whistleblowing policies should be customised to suit national cultures.Paper 2 provides empirical evidence regarding the association between organisational culture and whistleblowing. The results demonstrated a lower likelihood of whistleblowing in organisations that focused more on the cultural dimensions of respect for people, innovation and stability. Additionally, employees in organisations that focused more on cultural dimension of attention to detail were more likely to blow the whistle regarding observed wrongdoings. Outcome orientation and teamwork dimensions of organisational culture were not found to be associated with whistleblowing. These findings provide valuable insights for organisations to shape their organisational cultures to decrease the incidence of wrongdoings and increase the frequency of whistleblowing. Organisations with higher incidence of wrongdoings should focus on a culture of attention to detail, which may help them to reduce wrongdoings and increase the reporting of wrongdoings. Further, organisations with a focus on respect for people, innovation and stability should clearly communicate to employees that non-compliance of ethical, moral and legal standards will not be tolerated. Organisations should encourage employees to report observed wrongdoings by providing sufficient whistleblowing channels and by assuring employees that whistleblowers will not be accused of disloyalty or disruptive behaviour, that their identity will be kept confidential and that their welfare will be protected.Paper 3 presents an examination of the association of remaining as an inactive observer or becoming a whistleblower with four key work-related employee attitudes: turnover intentions, organisational commitment, job-related stress and job satisfaction. The findings revealed that inactive observers exhibited higher turnover intentions, lower organisational commitment, higher job-related stress and lower job satisfaction than non-observers. Further, compared with inactive observers, whistleblowers exhibited more negative work-related attitudes. The study contributes to the literature by providing the first empirical evidence of the effects of whistleblowing on the work-related attitudes of whistleblowers. Additionally, the study investigated the work-related attitudes of the larger and under-researched group of inactive observers. The findings will assist organisations to minimise the impact of whistleblowing on the work-related attitudes of employees. Organisations should improve their internal control systems, provide clear and unambiguous guidelines to employees and create ethical organisational environments with a focus on transparency and accountability, develop training programs aimed at improving ethical awareness of employees, provide confidential whistleblowing channels to protect whistleblowers’ identity, treat whistleblowers fairly and justly, thoroughly investigate all whistleblowing information and take corrective action.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xiv, 261 pages) graphs, table
Linguistic and legal continuity in 6th to 8th century Coptic documents: a comparative study of Greek and Coptic legal formulae in Byzantine and Early Islamic Egypt
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 372-398.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Egptian and Greek from the perspective of contact linguistics -- Chapter 3. Juristic papyrology and the study of language : theory and methodology -- Chapter 4. Opening formulae -- Chapter 5. Closing formulae -- Chapter 6. Discussion and conclusion -- Bibliography -- Appendices.The study aims to investigate linguistic and legal continuity in Coptic legal documents of the 6th to 8th centuries. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from the fields of papyrology and contact linguistics, the study presents a comparison of a selection of Greek and Coptic legal formulae common across multiple genres of legal documents. Through this, it aims to investigate the extent to which the language of pre-existing Greek legal formulae is replicated in later Coptic documents, and whether this replication results in contact-induced grammatical change.Chapter one provides a historical background to the study focusing on language contact, language use, and multilingualism in Egyptian law and administration from the Late Period to the Early Islamic period, as well as an overview of the aims of the study and the corpus of material used. Chapter 2 focuses on the field of contact-linguistics, providing a discussion on current theoretical frameworks on contact-induced grammatical change and their application to the study of Greek-Egyptian language contact. Chapter 3 focuses on methodological issues encountered in the study of language use in legal papyri. After examining past work on the issue of linguistic and legal continuity in Egyptian documents, a discussion is provided on some of the unique methodological issues faced when using papyri for linguistic study.Chapters 4 and 5 present an analysis and comparison of particular Greek and Coptic legal formulae selected for the study. Chapter 4 discusses formulae which commonly appear in the opening clauses of the documents. Chapter 5 presents Coptic formulae which appear in the closing of documents. Chapter 6 provides an overall synthesis and discussion of the findings of the data, and the significance of these results for our understanding of the development of Coptic legal formulae in Late Byzantine and Early Islamic Egypt.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vi, 440 pages) table
An exploratory study of digital disruption in the accounting profession through the lens of disruptive innovation theory
No full textThesis by publication.Bibliography: pages 154-169.1. Introduction -- 2. Paper 1 : Data in search of a theory : understanding the potential of digital disruption in the accounting profession through a structured literature review -- 3. Paper 2 : Identifying and managing digital disruption in the accounting profession through disruptive innovation theory - a view from accounting professionals -- 4. Paper 3 : On cloud nine : a case study on the disruptive innovation effects of accounting software as a service in accounting domain -- 5. Conclusion -- 6. Full reference list -- 7. Appendices.Digital Disruption is a term frequently used to describe the changes enabled by ICTs that will fundamentally transform the existing value proposition and business model across all industrial sectors, including professional services (Christensen et al., 2018; Vesti et al., 2017). For the accounting profession, digital disruption is a phenomenon shaping the breadth and depth of accounting services. It has generated extensive discussion as to whether it poses a threat or opportunity to the future role of professionals within the business domain. Despite its current and future impact on practitioner and firm alike, there has been scant academic research on disruptive innovation within an accounting context.This thesis examines the extent to which Information and CommunicationTechnologies (ICTs), and accounting software in particular, has digitally disrupted the accounting profession and professionals. This thesis seeks to address the deficiency and advance our understanding of Digital Disruption through the lens of disruptive innovation theory across three studies. Chapter 2 (Study 1) conducts a systematic literature review of prior studies on how ICTs impact the role of accounting professionals and professionalism and then evaluates the potential for Disruptive Innovation Theory to provide a lens by which to assess the impact of ICTs on the accounting profession. Results indicate that prior literature has identified “changes”in the employment role of accounting professionals from one of core technical accounting skills to a greater focus on IT knowledge and soft skills. However, research has proceeded without an underlying theoretical framework and Disruptive Innovation Theory can provide a basis upon which to understand digital disruption within the professional services market. Chapter 3 (Study 2) explores whether ICTs can be viewed as disruptive innovation to the accounting profession and to what extent, accounting professionals have identified and coped with digital disruption in their daily practice. Semi-structured interviews with 13 senior managers/CEO/CFO of firms, professional bodies and public sector organizations, who occupy key decision-making positions with respect to ICT strategy across firms, finds that disruption has yet to fully materialize, but that accounting professionals have learnt to collaborate with ICTs as tools to achieve high value services and adapt different strategies to enhance their capability to innovate. Chapter 4 (Study 3) examines the case of Xero Ltd, a New Zealand domiciled public accounting software company which has recently embedded AI technology into its cloud-based accounting software. The study explores its potential disruptiveness to accounting services within the SME market, and finds two waves of disruption. One being cloud-based accounting software that has become embedded within the mainstream accounting software market across the SME sector, and an emerging second wave involving the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence in accounting software.Whilst studies have been undertaken on the impact of technological changes on accounting practice, this thesis enriches accounting literature by focusing on its impact on the accounting profession and professionalism. Disruptive Innovation Theory (Christensen, 1997; Christensen & Raynor, 2003), allows this study to develop an understanding of 1) the disruptive potential of ICTs in the accounting profession, and 2) the extent to which accounting professionals have recognized the disruptive nature of ICTs in their offering and deliverance of professional services.This thesis concludes that from a theoretical perspective, ICTs have still not fully disrupted the accounting domain, but that disruption is ongoing as developments including artificial intelligence and machine learning continue to emerge as factors that have the potential to further shape accountants’ future responsibilities, skills and knowledge. Although often seen as a catchphrase to describe the technological challenges accounting professionals face in their daily work, a majority are still unaware that ‘digital disruption’ is not technology itself, but is instead what technology itself empowers, that being the commoditization of expert knowledge and access to it at a significantly lower price. However, accounting professionals hold advantages that ICTs do not, including social capital and notions of “trust” built upon human interaction between professionals and their clients; and a more synthesized, integrated and creative way of thinking that is difficult to replicate through AI (due to its current stage of technological advancement). Therefore, this thesis argues that whilst the accounting profession has experienced digital disruption to date through automation, its effects have largely been managed, and that its ability to cause further disruption is to a large degree dependent upon whether professionals fail to be both critical and creative thinkers, strategic in focus, and empathetic and adaptive toward the needs of customers.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (x, 200 pages) diagrams, graphs, table
The limit of our inhabited world?: Identifying subversive elements in Eratosthenes’ geographical treatises
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 80-108.Introduction -- I. Prior scholarship : scientist or propagandist? -- II. Identifying Eratosthenes’ subversion -- Conclusion -- Bibliography.The landmark geographical works of Eratosthenes of Cyrene were produced under Ptolemaic patronage in the latter half of the third century BCE. These treatises have been traditionally understood as shaped by the heated philosophical debates of Athens, rather than the ideological concerns of the Ptolemaic regime in Alexandria. Much needed revision of this view has been adopted by recent scholarship, re-examining Eratosthenes’ geographical treatises through the lens of imperial geography. However, such propagandistic readings tend to overlook significant elements which do not seem to support Ptolemaic ideological concerns. Identification of subversive elements can contribute to a more nuanced reading of Eratosthenes’ geographical works as literature developed within the sympotic court culture, in which an élite scholar was expected to flatter, yet also challenge, his royal patron as a ‘friend of the king’ (φίλος τοῦ βασιλέως). Examination of the geographer’s natural and cultural digressions with narratological tools reveal a distancing of the reader from a sense of imperial control, instead elevating competing forces which diminish or even undermine vital Ptolemaic religious and geo-political concerns. Alternate political systems are celebrated, natural causation emphasised and ideologically-potent mythological causation challenged, distancing the reader from a sense of the regime’s primacy within the inhabited world. Eratosthenes’ mathematical geography requires a different approach. For the identification of subversion within the mathematical elements of Eratosthenes’ geographical works, the role of the focaliser is considered. Whilst some aspects may encourage the privileged unified focalisation that is the hallmark of imperial geography, other areas resist such a reading, instead elevating alternate focalisation of the landscape, effectively challenging geo-political claims of the regime. The identification of subversive elements and consideration of their sympotic context provides a more nuanced understanding of Eratosthenes’ geographical treatises as court literature which may have ostensibly reflected his patron’s concerns, but also carefully challenged elements of Ptolemaic imperial and religious ideology.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (108 pages
Plagues, famines and other disasters: interpreting the signs from the gods
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 79-88.Chapter 1. Introduction, literature review and methodology -- Chapter 2. Decemviri sacris faciundis : historical overview -- Chapter 3. The experience of disasters -- Chapter 4. Religious responses to disasters -- Chapter 5. Space and memory -- Chapter 6. Conclusion -- Appendices -- Bibliography.My thesis concerns the decemviri sacris faciundis - a college of priests from Republican Rome who were in charge of the Sibylline books, considered the most sacred possession of the Romans. When Rome was besieged by disastrous events, their role was to search these books for remedies that would appeal to the gods, thus maintaining the pax deorum. The aim of my thesis is to show how the decemviri, through their responses to disasters, changed the sacred landscape of Rome. Firstly, I analyse the role of this college, which consisted in equal part patrician and plebeian, in the intertwined system of religion and politics that saw Rome expand its empire across Italy and into the Mediterranean. My aim is to understand how these priests might use religion for political ends. My analysis is therefore concerned with the prestige of this college in the Republican period. Secondly, I examine the psychological responses of disasters as a way of understanding the impact of these events. This is a necessary element in analysing the subsequent responses of the senate and the decemviri to disasters. Although ancient historians consistently avoided this type of emotional analysis, Livy, in his descriptions of wartime disasters, provided a thorough record of the fears and anxieties associated with disastrous events. Thirdly, I consider the reliability of Livy, and other ancient authors, as a source for religious traditions, an essential component in establishing how and why the decemviri were called upon to consult the Sibylline books. Finally, I investigate how the decemviri responded to disasters. I consider the built spaces, the celebrations and the transitory religious observances that pervaded the city at the behest of these priests. My thesis provides a better understanding of how the decemviri were important to the religious and physical development of Rome.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (88 pages) colour illustrations, map
Unlocking the role of proactive motivational processes in driving customer engagement with special events in Thailand
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 165-199.Chapter One. Introduction -- Chapter Two. Literature review -- Chapter Three. Theory and hypotheses development -- Chapter Four. Research design --Chapter Five. Data analysis and results -- Chapter Six. Discussion and conclusion --Appendix -- References.Enhancing customer engagement creates both opportunities and challenges for scholars and practitioners, especially in the service sector. One critical service sector of global importance is tourism. Specifically, tourism plays a critical role in many economies, and, because of its large contribution to GDP growth, is receiving growing attention from academics and practitioners (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2018). Specifically, Thailand, as a preferred destination, is expected to continue its fast growth and become the third biggest market for visitors by 2027 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2017).Customer engagement, when viewed from an organisational perspective, is an organisation’s strategies that encourage customers to connect to their service and brand, and stimulate long-term relationships. The potential outcomes of customer engagement include the attraction of new customers, reduced marketing budget activities, and a competitive advantage. The benefit of customer engagement from a customer perspective is the interaction through unique experiences with services and brands that serve to address their goals, and contribute to their subjective well-being.This study develops a theoretical framework underpinned by proactive motivation theory and regulatory mode theory, proposing specific triggers for driving and fostering customer engagement with special event tourism. To uncover the underlying reasons for customer engagement with special events, proactive motivation theory is adopted to gain a deeper understanding of customers’ reasons to attend and actively engage with a special event. Further, the role of regulatory mode orientation is adopted to gain a deeper appreciation of “can do” motivation as a key to fostering the relationship between customer’s proactive motivation and engagement with a special event. In addition, this theoretical framework articulates the moderating role of self-image congruence and perceived event crowding in the relationship between customer engagement with a special event and perceived special event quality.To test the proposed effects, this study uses a quantitative research approach with data drawn from three distinct special events in Thailand – the Sukhothai Loy Krathong and Candle Festival, the Khon Kaen International Marathon, and the Chiang Mai International Flower Festival. The findings advance knowledge in service marketing and tourism by offering theoretical explanations for the influence of drivers and consequences of customer engagement with a special event. In a practical context, this study also provides implications for tourism organisations to generate a better understanding of customers’ perception of special event experiences.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xi, 199 pages) colour illustration
An evaluation of self-efficacy of patients with chronic pain attending a community based exercise program
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 88-95.Chapter One. Introduction -- Chapter Two. Methods -- Chapter Three. Results -- Chapter Four. Discussion and concluding remarks -- References -- Appendices.Currently one in five Australians suffer from chronic pain with this increasing to one in three Australians aged over 65 years. In 2007, this corresponded with 3.2million Australians with an economic cost of approximately $34.3 billion annually. Musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of disability, with low back pain and neck pain the single largest cause of this disability globally. Chronic pain and disability resulting from musculoskeletal disorders forms a significant portion of the burden of chronic pain borne by primary health care services, with these conditions predominantly managed by primary health care practitioners, such as physiotherapists. The Australian National Pain Strategy recommends active therapy as central to chronic pain management which appears to be most successful when it is specific to the individual’s needs, focuses on increasing activity levels, and incorporates the psychosocial aspects of pain, such as the individual’s self-efficacy beliefs.Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in their ability to cope or succeed in a specific situation. It influences their ability to initiate certain behaviours and their willingness to persevere when faced with obstacles. It has been shown to be predictive of disability in chronic pain and has also been found to be related to mood, exercise adherence, pain intensity, coping and adjustment. It is also animportant mediator in the relationship between pain and disability in individuals with chronic pain. As self-efficacy is a primary mechanism of behaviour change and can be modified by experience, strategies to enhance self-efficacy are considered an important component of chronic pain management.This observational study evaluated the self-efficacy of 22 individuals with chronic pain who were attending an existing community-based exercise program. It evaluated whether participants pain self-efficacy changed over the ten-week exercise program and whether there were any associations between pain self efficacyand pain intensity, pain impact, kinesiophobia, catastrophising thoughts and feelings, disability and physical function. It also sought to evaluate whether participants pain self-efficacy was associated with overall program satisfaction.The participants of this study commenced the program with a high level of painself-efficacy which was maintained throughout the program. They experienced significant improvements in the impact of pain, kinesiophobia, disability and physical function in self-selected activities. There was also a high level of satisfaction among participants at the end of the program. This study identified associations between high pre-program pain self-efficacy and decreased catastrophising and decreased disability at post program and follow up time points respectively. The results of this observational study support the basis for utilising strategies to support and improve self-efficacy in individuals with chronic pain and indicate that greater understanding of the sources of self-efficacy may facilitate the management of disability associated with chronic pain.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (132 pages) table
The effects of capital and labour distortion on innovation
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 50-60.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Empirical study -- Chapter 4. Conclusion -- References -- Appendices.Factor misallocation has significant effects on productivity and innovation (Bento and Restuccia, 2017). In addition, aggregate total factor productivity could be lowered by factor misallocation across heterogeneous production units (Restuccia and Rogerson, 2013). Factor misallocation not only has important effects on productivity, but also plays a significant role in innovation (Bai and Bian, 2016). Innovation is widely regarded as the most important element for economic growth (Feldman and Link, 2001; Guellec and Potterie, 2004; Chen et al., 2015). The purpose of this thesis is to study how capital distortions and labour distortions influence innovation activities in China. Province-level data is manually collected from the China Statistical Yearbook and the China Statistical Yearbook on Science and Technology. This research applies the generalized least square (GLS) method with province and year fixed effects, the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model with introduced instrumental variables, and a natural experiment with an exogenous shock. The results indicate that the measurements for factor misallocation – capital distortion and labour distortion - are significantly negatively correlated to innovation. The findings have important implications for emerging countries to improve their innovation productivity.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (viii, 64 pages) table
Empathic efficacy and cyberbullying defending: exploring the influence of cyberbullying victimisation and moral disengagement
No full textThesis by publication.Includes bibliographical references.A review of the literature on empathy and moral disengagement among participant roles in face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying -- Empathic efficacy and cyberbullying defending : exploring the influence of cyberbullying victimisation and moral disengagement -- Appendices.Empathy and moral disengagement have been researched as protective and enabling factors, respectively, for face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying. These factors have been mostly researched in isolation; however, there is a need to understand the interactions between these two variables across different contexts of bullying and participant roles and to fully understand how empathy and moral disengagement are implicated in bullying episodes. To investigate this issue, this thesis comprises two parts: a literature review and an empirical paper. The literature review describes how empathy and moral disengagement are associated with different participant roles in face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying. The empirical paper presents a study in which 540 grade 7 and grade 9 students answered a questionnaire about their experiences in different cyberbullying roles (perpetrator, victim and defender), and their empathic efficacy and moral disengagement. The results showed that empathic efficacy and cyberbullying victimisation were positively associated with cyberbullying defending. Additionally, cyberbullying victimisation moderated the effects of empathic efficacy on cyberbullying defending; specifically, empathic efficacy was positively associated with cyber defending at all levels of cyberbullying victimisation, and this association was stronger at higher levels of cyberbullying victimisation. Together, the two components of this thesis suggest there needs to be more research on the interactions between factors associated with cyberbullying defending and that training to enhance empathic efficacy should be included in intervention programs to increase cyberbullying defending.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (viii, 116 pages) table
From wanax to βασιλεύς: a consideration of the development of the wielding of Greek power and authority from the Late Bronze Age into the Early Iron Age, 1400-800 BC
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 90-99.1. Introduction -- 2. The Late Bronze Age -- 3. The LH IIIC period -- 4. The Early Iron Age -- 5. Final conclusions -- Reference list.In the Late Bronze Age (LBA), the wanax was the central figure of Mycenaean society, around whom the palatial administration was organised. Archaeological and textual evidence of the LBA points towards a highly religious and social role of the wanax. However, after the palatial administration system collapsed at the end of the LH IIIB period, much of the Mycenaean social organisation and hierarchy disintegrated.It has been proposed that during the Early Iron Age (EIA), the Greek βασιλείς, who were likely the LBA qa-si-re-we, who held minor a chieftain position within the Mycenaean polities, emerged as the prominent authority figures. Previous scholarship constructed the role of the βασιλεύς from the term's usage in the Homeric epics. However, more recent excavations suggest that this figure fulfilled a role which is perhaps explained as that of a 'big-man' system. The big-men of the EIA depended on their ability to attract followers by offering security and resources. The EIA was also a period of great population movements, which may also be explained by the nature of big-men societies.It is the aim of this thesis to assess what the archaeological and literary evidence reveals of the different social constructs surrounding the maintenance of Greek authority in the LBA, LH IIIC, and EIA. In this way, this paper will hope to offer a clear analysis concerning the transition of power between 1400 and 900 BC.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (v, 99 pages