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Linking ethical leadership to employee voice and employee silence: investigations of causality and underlying mechanisms
No full textThesis by publication.Thesis written as part of a cotutelle program with Renming University of China.Bibliography: pages 182-220.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Ethical leadership, employee voice and employee silence : the moderating roles of employees’ cognitive construal and culture difference -- Chapter 3. Is speaking up worth the cost? An investigation of the relationship between ethical leadership, employee voice and employee silence from a perspective of conservation of resource theory -- Chapter 4. Giving voice to the self : the mediating role of moral identity centrality and organizational identification on the relationship between ethical leadership and employee voice, employee silence -- Chapter 5. General discussion -- References -- Appendices.Encouraging employees to ‘voice’ their opinions and ideas is an essential way for organizations to survive and develop in a dynamic and competitive business world. Ethical leadership, a form of leadership in which organizational leaders demonstrate conduct for the common good that is acceptable and appropriate in every area of their life, has been theoretically and empirically demonstrated to be one of the key antecedent variables that are able to promote employee voice and reduce employee silence. However, given ethical leadership theory is relatively new and the motives of employee voice and employee silence are somewhat complicated, the causual relationships and the underlying mechanisms among these variables are not yet well known.This thesis aims to address a number of these shortcomings via three empirical studies outlined below:Study 1 tested the causal relationship of ethical leadership on employee voice, and employee silence as well as the effects of cognitive construal and cultural difference on the causalities through a 2 (leader types: ethical leader vs. unethical leader) × 2 (cognitive construal: high-level construal vs. low-level construal) × 2 (cultural background: Chinese participants vs. Australian participants) between-subjects designed experimental study.The findings not only support the view that ethical leadership has a direct influence on employee voice and employee silence, but also emphasize the importance of employees’ individual differences in terms of cognition and culture in influencing the ethical leadership process.Study 2 taking perspectives of conservation of resource theory investigated how ethical leadership exerts influences on the “resource conservation” and “resource acquisition” motives of employees’ use of voice at multi-levels (i.e. individual level and team level) simultaneously. Specifically, study 2 established a two-stage pathway in which the direct effect of ethical leadership on employees’ job burnout and the mediating roles of instrumental ethical climate and employee resilience were tested at the first stage. And, at the second stage the direct effects of job burnout on employee voice and employee silence as well as the moderating role of ethical leadership on such linkages were tested. The findings support the complicated stress-coping motives of employees’ use of voice and indicate that ethical leadership is able to influence how employees balance their resource conservation and acquisition motives of speaking up. Additionally, these findings also provide empirical support for the notion that studies on leadership should deliberately differentiate individual and team levels of analysis.Study 3 drawing from identity-relevant theories investigated the identity-based mechanisms underlying ethical leadership and employee voice, employee silence. Specifically, study 3 tested the mediating role of moral identity centrality and organizational identity in the ethical leadership, employee voice, and employee silence linkages. Additionally, the study tested the moderating effect of self-construal on the direct and indirect relationships between ethical leadership, employee voice, and employee silence. This study enriches our understanding of how ethical leadership facilitates employee communicative behaviors with regard to self-relevant motives and highlight the role of employees’ individual differences in terms of culture in the target relationships, providing both theoretical and practical implications for future research and management practice.Through three empirical studies this thesis aims to illustrate the causal and influence mechanisms between ethical leadership, employee voice and employee silence. The results of these studies will contribute to the literature as well as managerial practice by extending the understanding of the dynamics between ethical leadership and employee communicative behaviors.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xii, 237 pages) graphs, table
Investigation of fluid flow behavior in the human upper airway during inhalation
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 48-50.1. Introduction -- 2. Methods -- 3. Results -- 4. Discussion and future work -- Appendices.Despite the array of studies on respiratory flow modeling, very few experimental works have been conducted to validate the results of the models. The objective of this research sets the groundwork for a comprehensive study on upper airway mechanics. Briefly, this thesis documents the work which has been undertaken during this 8-month research program and is summarised as such. A method to reconstruct models of human organs using 3D Slicer,an open source software. A novel method to develop an airway phantom with highly complex geometry. Design and development of a flow circuit capable of simulating a range of flow conditions. Design and development of an organ grip to simulate moving wall boundary conditions. Design and development of a particle image velocimetry (PIV) tank and other accessories. Finally, the development of a computational model to determine and match the experimental flow field obtained using PIV. This research presents analogous results of the flow field determined from the PIV experiment and computational model in specific locations of the upper airway. Further studies to determine the effect of physiologically realistic complex airway deformation and flow using the developed tools are necessary to help improve our current knowledge in respiratory mechanics and flow.1 online resource (x, 50 pages : illustrations
Chinese EFL learners’ reading motivation: a dynamic systems theory perspective
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 102-112.Chapter One. Introduction -- Chapter Two. Literature review -- Chapter Three. Methodology -- Chapter Four. Results and discussion -- Chapter Five. Summary and conclusions -- References -- Appendices.This study intended to investigate how Chinese EFL learners’ reading motivation in L2 reading classrooms can be explained through the Dynamic Systems Theory (de Bot, 2008; Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008). The study focused on exploring how different components of reading motivation interact with each other using a mixed method research (MMR) approach (QUAN-qual design). For the quantitative phase, a Reading Motivation Questionnaire (RMQ) and a reading comprehension test were administered to 59 freshmen Non-English major participants at Northeast Agricultural University in China. They filled out the RMQ and completed a former CET-4 reading comprehension test twice over a four-week time interval. For the qualitative phase, 10 participants were interviewed to elaborate on their reading motivation. The major findings were: (1) Chinese EFL learners were both intrinsically and extrinsically oriented to reading in English; (2) Nearly all the variables of RMQ were significantly and positively correlated with each other ranging from low to high over two RMQ administrations. Reading for grades motivation decreased significantly, which was attributable to reading outcomes and some contextual factors; (3) Reading motivation exerted no causal influence on reading outcomes but reading outcomes had a predictable influence on reading motivation. Theoretically, this study contributes to the dynamic nature and perspective of reading motivation. Practically, this study strengthens the teachers’ capability in pedagogical intervention and students’ understanding of their mental features to adjust different elements to enhance their language achievement.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vii, 134 pages) table
Understanding DPRK’s nuclear strategic choice: using a constructivist lens to illuminate rational choice insights
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 92-119.Chapter I. Introduction -- Chapter II. Structural-realist model & strategic-culture model -- Chapter III. The constitution of Realpolitik ideations -- Chapter IV. Continued Realpolitik ideations and new constructions -- Chapter V. DPRKs strategic-culture and nuclear choice -- Chapter VI. Conclusion -- References.Predictions of Pyongyang’s nuclear-weapons acquisition under the dominant structural-realist model are predicated on an anarchic international system where states optimise their capabilities to survive. Opaque to structural-realists is what predicated North Korea’s discounting of a Chinese or Soviet/Russian nuclear umbrella as a reliable balance to South Korea’s US-provided nuclear umbrella. This project innovatively explored the North Korean leaders’ ideational processes regarding self-realisation using Alastair Iain Johnston’s alternative strategic-culture model, subjecting key regime texts and historical documents to symbolic analysis. The model recognises that non-cultural factors help shape internal cultural elements and that ideological variables have significant impact on states’ reactions to structural changes. Understanding North Korea’s nuclear choice requires assaying leaders’ perceptions of three features inherent in its security environment; namely “the role of war in human affairs,” “the nature of the adversary and the threat it poses” and “the efficacy of the use of force.” These preoccupations limited nuclear choice to ideation-derived strategic choices where indigenous nuclear balancing was preferred across changing structural conditions. It is concluded that Pyongyang’s nuclear-weapons programme was not only for survival, but also for internal social stability, economic prosperity, political ideological consistency and the regime’s credibility in the international system.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vi, 119 pages
Exploring lived experience of the intercultural: ideologies of identity, language & culture among EFL speakers in South Korea
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 227-238.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Research context -- Chapter 4. Research methodology -- Chapter 5. Participant profiles -- Chapter 6. Identity -- Chapter 7. English as a foreign language -- Chapter 8. Ideologies of culture & the intercultural -- Chapter 9. Conclusion -- Appendices.While the intercultural has been broadly theorized across the social sciences, empirical studies have been scarce and are dominated by the testing and instantiation of theoretical constructs. Few have analysed individuals’ sense making of intercultural encounters grounded in their personal realities. Inquiry outside formal education and beyond Anglo European contexts has also been limited. This thesis investigates ideologies of the intercultural among individuals in South Korea, for whom education, work, religion and family entail regularly crossing linguistic and cultural borders. The focus on participant’ lived experience and their ideological landscapes in relation to the intercultural has enabled unique insights into interculturality and its processes.I analyse what these individuals have to say about what it means to live interculturally, and make visible the complex ideologies of identity, language and culture reflected in those discourses. My analysis and findings highlight the situated nature of intercultural interaction, where structural dynamics of power, economic privilege and socio-historic legacy intersect with personal agency. In the participants’ discourses, the interplay of structure and agency is reflected in their contextually dynamic cultural identifications. I also make visible the complex emotions they associate with foreign language use, and the ways in which they make recourse to essentialist ideologies of culture when making sense of difficult or conflictive intercultural experiences.An implication of findings from this study is the need to better account for the contextual dynamics of intercultural experience in theorizing the intercultural, particularly in relation to the teaching of English as a foreign language. These include the dynamics of cultural identification, of foreign language use, and of the implicit and explicit power relations that characterize situated intercultural experiences. I call for the expansion of current models of intercultural competence, proposing a tentative framework that makes visible locally situated constraints and enablers of intercultural competence.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (245 pages
Two-dimensional diffraction by structures with corners
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 257-271.1. Introduction -- 2. Problem formulation -- 3. Effect of corner rounding : numerical results -- 4. Bounds analysis -- 5. The total field, the normal derivative and surface quantities near the vicinity of the corner -- 6. The nature of the differences in the far-field measured in the time domain -- 7. Scatterer arrays -- 8. TMATROM -- 9. Large arrays -- 10. Summaries and conclusions -- Appendices -- Bibliography.In studying acoustic or electromagnetic wave diffraction, the choice of an appropriate canonical structure to model the dominant features of a scattering scenario can be very illuminating. A common approach used when dealing with domains with corners is to round the corners, producing a smooth surface, eliminating the singularities introduced by the corners. This thesis examines and quantifies the effect of corner rounding both numerically and analytically. The diffraction from cylindrical scatterers which possess corners, that is, points at which the normal changes discontinuously is examined. We develop a numerical method for the scattering of a plane wave normally incident on such cylindrical structures with soft, hard or impedance loaded boundary conditions. We then examine the difference between various test structures with corners and with the corners rounded to assess the impact on near- and far-field scattering, as a function of the radius of curvature in the vicinity of the rounded corner point. We then examine the nature of the differences in the far-field between the cornered and rounded scatterers both in the frequency and the time domain. We obtain precise quantitative estimates for the rate of convergence of the maximum difference between the far-field solutions as the radius of curvature of the rounded scatterer approaches zero and verify them analytically. Having examined the near- and far-field solutions we confirm that the techniques employed also produce highly accurate solutions in close proximity to the surface of the scatterer especially in the vicinity of the corner. Our study of the effect of corner rounding is extended to arrays of scatterers using a classical but computationally intensive method for these calculations. To enable the study of larger scatterer arrays, we employ the recently available TMATROM an object-oriented T-matrix software package,with our own forward solvers.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xv, 271 pages) graphs, table
Can planning legislation in New South Wales support adaptation responses to the impacts of climate change in urban areas?: A study of green infrastructure in the Greater Sydney Region
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 71-82.1. Introduction -- 2. Methodology and limitations -- 3. Climate adaptation in urban areas and the law -- 4. International frameworks and Australia -- 5. Climate adaptation and planning law in NSW -- 6. Green infrastructure in NSW – planning for climate adaptation -- 7. Green infrastructure, funding and the law -- 8. Challenges and opportunities -- 9. Conclusion -- 10. Bibliography.Planning laws are essential to managing climate change adaptation in urban areas in Australia. Recently, the focus in New South Wales (NSW) has been on minimising the impacts of climate change on coastal and bushfire prone areas. Yet, the concern regarding the increasing impacts of extreme heat events in urban areas is growing. One of the adaptive responses has been through the development of green infrastructure. This concept is well-known for its multifunctional benefits, which extend beyond mitigating the urban heat island effect and improving air quality. This research explores how planning laws and other mechanisms of governance in NSW can support adaptive responses to climate impacts in urban areas through green infrastructure. Western Sydney, an area within the Greater Sydney Region is the focus area for this study. It has been selected due to its unprecedented urban and population growth, coupled with its escalating exposure to extreme heat events. The study investigates the NSW Government legal framework and instruments for planning, together with local government initiatives that underpin the rapid growth of this region. While this study acknowledges the growing commitment to green infrastructure through plans and policies, it argues for the need for green infrastructure to be incorporated in to the legal framework at state and local levels to support adaptation responses in vulnerable areas to extreme heat. International case studies provide exemplars as to how the law could evolve in the future. This includes the development of planning instruments for increased standards, funding and established responsibility between state and local government authorities.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (82 pages
Microstructural evidence of melt-present deformation and its effect on zircon modification
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 51-54.Introduction -- Recognising the former presence of melt -- Zircons -- Regional geography -- Methods -- Results -- Discussion -- Conclusions -- Reference list.The Earth’s structure, chemistry, and the formation of mineral resources, require significant transfer of mass through the crust. Though pathways are identified such as dykes and shear zones, the recognition of these pathways can be improved and the effects of melt migration n zircon geochronology studied. This project examines a suite of variably strained outcrops associated with a m– scale shear zone in the Pembroke Granulite, Fiordland, New Zealand. This project shows an improved understanding of the signatures and processes associated with mass transfer by identifying five key microstructures indicative of the former presence of melt within intermediate to high strain zones in the Pembroke Granulite; 1) small dihedral angles of interstitial grains including plagioclase, clinozoisite, rutile and ilmenite; 2) veinlets/melt films pseudomorphed by plagioclase, clinozoisite and rutile; 3) melt pseudomorphs including biotite; 4) cuspate grains; & 5) quartz – amphibole symplectites. Further development of this tool is the recognition on how melt-present deformation can modify zircons within a melt-fluxed system. This thesis proposes that microstructures indicative of the former presence of melt, and zircon modification, may be used as a tool for identifying rocks that formed during melt present deformation at variable strain intensities and potential shortfalls to interpretation.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (iii, 54 pages) illustrations (some colour), maps (some colour
Diagnosis of a base metal mine tailings capping failure
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 51-53.1. Introduction -- 2. Regional setting -- 3. Current site condition -- 4. Methods -- 5. Results -- 6. Discussion -- 7. Recommendations -- 8. Conclusions -- 9. References -- Appendices.Conrad, in northern NSW, is a derelict base metal mine that has undergone extensive rehabilitation. In 2002, the upper tailings (UT) was hydraulically isolated through clay capping; however this was unsuccessful as As, Pb, Cu, and Zn enriched water is exiting the containment structure into Borah and Maids creeks, then Copeton Reservoir, the local drinking water supply, 3 km downstream of the mine. This thesis identifies UT as the highest priority for further rehabilitation. The UT is characterised through elemental and mineralogical analysis of solid samples taken from 0-10 m depth, and leachate extraction from tailings. Metal(loid) concentrations of sediment and water exceed NEPM and ANZECC guidelines onsite and downstream of the mine. Aquatic macroinvertebrate edge sampling along the creeks shows decreased family richness and diversity onsite and downstream from the mine. These results show that capping of the UT has been ineffective, and improvements are suggested to properly rehabilitate the area to stop further offsite spread of contamination. These include a replacement capping design incorporating geofabric, and investigating the possibility that water is infiltrating through the fractured granite in the valley wall on which the UT rests.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (v, 61 pages) colour illustrations, colour map
Learning to find a gap: navigational problem solving in nocturnal bull ants
No full textThesis by publication.Bibliography: pages 22-29.1. Introduction -- 2. Methods -- 3. Results -- 4. Discussion -- Future directions -- Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Supplementary material -- Appendix.Solitarily foraging ant species derive compass information from terrestrial landmarks and path integration to navigate. Our test ants, solitary foragers of Myrmecia midas, have the added challenge of completing their navigation during evening and morning twilight. The aim of this research was to test bull ants’ ability to use edge contrast to find a gap in an obstacle that obstructs their direct path. Ants were individually identified and tested repeatedly on their foraging trip. An artificial obstacle (0.9m by 1.2m wide) with a 10cm gap in it was installed on their foraging route to train them to find the gap. The gap location was unpredictably varied from one run to another so that the ants had to look for it. In training, each nest of ants was given two colour conditions on the obstacles: one with black on one side of the gap and white on the other side (which was easier to spot), one with black on both sides (which was harder to spot). We tested the ants’ ability to find the gap and measured the directness of the path. We found that the ants learnt to find the gap in the obstacle after completing several trials. However, we did not find any significant differences in the ants’ behaviour in the two colour conditions.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (35, 14 pages) colour illustration