6,766 research outputs found
Extending the Social Marketing Footprint to Alcohol Education: The Principles of Segmentation and Co-Creation
No full textThis research program responds to previous research in social marketing which has indicated that programs adopting social marketing principles are more effective (e.g. Carins & Rundle-Thiele, 2014; Gordon, McDermott, Stead, & Angus, 2006; Stead, Gordon, Angus, & McDermott, 2007; Truong, 2014). Social marketing principles have been used in programs directed at reducing excessive alcohol consumption in diverse contexts such as drunk driving (Rothschild, Mastin, & Miller, 2006), pregnant women (Glik, Prelip, Myerson, & Eilers, 2008) and universities (Vinci, Philen, Walch, Kennedy, Harrell, et al., 2010). Yet, the application of social marketing principles to alcohol education programs in high school settings has received limited research attention. As a result, the first research question in Study 1 inquires "To what extent have relevant social marketing principles been implemented in alcohol education programs in high school settings?"Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
An Investigation of Asset Expenditure Management in Australian Hotels
No full textAustralian hotels compete with hotels in other countries in the international tourism market
and must therefore be in good physical condition to meet international and domestic traveller
expectations. This highlights the importance of hotels maintaining a continuing vigilance
with respect to ensuring asset related expenditure decision making is appropriately
conducted. Such decisions are, however, complex due to their high dollar value as well as
their cyclical, ambiguous and frequently irreversible nature. The broad aim of this research is
to further understanding of factors relating to asset expenditure management practices in
Australian hotels, a topic that has drawn little prior research attention.
The thesis has drawn extensively on theories of agency theory and organisational power. The
study adopted a mixed methods approach utilising two empirical phases. The first phase
involved a series of face-to-face interviews with six different stakeholder groups representing
asset managers, hotel lawyers, hotel auditors, hotel owners, hotel general managers, and hotel
financial controllers. A total of twenty interviews were conducted. The second phase
involved the administration of a questionnaire survey to general managers of Australian and
New Zealand hotels with twenty or more rooms and a star-rating of three or more.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
Sponsorship Decision-Making and Management: An Accounting Perspective
No full textThis thesis reports on a study that has examined the sponsorship decision-making process in Australian organisations. The broad objectives of the thesis are to develop an understanding of the process of sponsorship decision-making, the factors affecting this process and the role management accounting plays in the investment decision-making process.
Three empirical phases have been undertaken in the study. The first phase comprised a case study in a large public sector institution (an Australian university). The second phase involved the conduct of exploratory interviews with managers responsible for sponsorship in a number of Australian organisations. The third empirical phase involved the administration of a survey questionnaire to managers responsible for sponsorship decision making in Australian organisations.
The study’s more significant findings include:
(1) There appears to be scope for the application of more sophisticated sponsorship decision-making processes in Australian companies.
(2) In the case study organisation studied, it appeared that the only real significant sponsorship management role for accounting concerned the budgetary identification of funds allocated to sponsorship and monitoring of funds expended. The sponsorship decision-making approach in the case study organisation can be best described as intuitively-based.
(3) The exploratory interview findings suggest that the role of accounting and involvement of accountants in the sponsorship decision-making process tends to be negligible. Consistent with the case study findings, budgets were found to be mainly used in a planning and control capacity. This finding was supported by the survey phase of the study, where it was observed that the most prominent budgetary role in the context of sponsorship management is “expenditure authorisation”.
(4) Some support has been found for a proposed relationship between formalisation of the sponsorship decision-making process and the contingent factor environmental uncertainty.
(5) No support was found for a proposed relationship between sophistication of the sponsorship decision-making process and the contingent factors of strategy, size, environmental uncertainty, risk and trust.
(6) Support was found for a proposed relationship between intuition in the sponsorship decision-making process and the contingent factors of strategy, risk and trust.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
Reflections on transgender immigration
No full textRecently, the Human Rights Commission of New Zealand has conducted an inquiry that has officially documented ‘the obstacles to dignity, equality and security for trans people’. The Australian Human Rights Commission has also recently conducted a sex and gender diversity project, and in 2006 the Equalities Review in the United Kingdom commissioned the largest research project ever untaken globally on trans people’s lives, reported in Engendered Penalties: Transgender and Transsexual People’s Experiences of Inequality and Discrimination. This article reflects on the implications of the issues raised by these recent reports and research for transgendered people immigrating to and from New Zealand. It also raises some parallel issues for Australia
Freshwater Viruses: From Ecosystem Dynamics to the Cyanobacterial Cell
No full textViruses are the most abundant entity in freshwaters, and are an important cause of mortality of both heterotrophic and autotrophic organisms. As a result, they play a role in both structuring aquatic microbial communities within a water body and influencing their diversity. They can mediate nutrient cycling by preventing a portion of primary production from accumulating up the food chain, and may instead lyse cells and release nutrients and carbon, which may in turn promote more microbial growth. To fully understand the ecological functioning of freshwater environments it is vital to determine the impact of viruses on their hosts, in relation to the supply of resources, physiochemical conditions and the presence of grazers.
Today, human disturbances of climatic change, pollution and anthropogenic eutrophication threaten freshwater habitats, increasing the likelihood of harmful cyanobacterial blooms, and invasion by toxic cyanobacteria. Viruses have been isolated and characterised for potentially toxic cyanobacterial species, and may be a natural control agent of cyanobacterial populations. Therefore, viruses may be an important factor influencing the timing and extent of blooms in freshwaters.
For this thesis, I examined viral ecology in two freshwater habitats: from the viruses of a subtropical freshwater reservoir system in Australia, to the cyanophage infecting an invasive subtropical cyanobacterium in the Netherlands.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith School of EnvironmentScience, Environment, Engineering and TechnologyFull Tex
Perceptions of Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and National Sporting Organisation (NSO) High Performance Staff on their Organisational Relationship and its Effect on Managing Olympic Performance
No full textThe Australian sports system is a top-down hierarchy overseen by the federal government. The Australian Sports Commission (ASC), a federal agency, is the government body responsible for overseeing the governance, management and funding of National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) which are responsible for achieving success at international sporting competitions, including the Olympic Games (Australian Sports Commission, 2009b). The NSOs rely heavily on this support to operate effectively. Because of this arrangement, the ASC and NSOs work closely together to achieve the best possible sporting outcomes.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the ASC and Olympic NSOs to determine the effect the relationship had on Olympic performance. Five Olympic NSOs were examined: Athletics Australia, Cycling Australia, Rowing Australia, Swimming Australia and Yachting Australia. All five NSOs represent sports in which Australia has consistently achieved good results at previous Olympic Games. Furthermore, each NSO receives significant funding from the ASC and as such, is expected to continue to achieve success at the Olympic Games.
Following an independent review of the Australian sport system in 2009, the review panel described the Australian high performance sport system as “one of the greatest inefficiencies in delivering elite success on the world stage” (Crawford, 2009, p. 17). As a result, the attention of this thesis was directed towards the ASC–NSO relationship and the governance of these organisations.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
The Role of Audit Committees in the Interaction Between Auditors and Management in Malaysian Publicly Listed Companies
No full textAudited financial statements are a product of the auditor-client interaction process (Antle & Nalebuff, 1991). The external auditor and the client’s management interact to determine the final contents of the audited financial statements. In some circumstances both parties have opposing preferences on certain contentious issues. As a result, the quality of financial reporting “depends on the proper resolution of contentious accounting and disclosure matters” in auditor-client interactions (Brown & Wright, 2008, p.91). A primary concern of auditor-client interactions is auditor independence, in particular, the auditor’s ability to resist management pressure when discussing major contentious issues that affect financial statement disclosures and the audit report (Kleinman & Palmon, 2001). With the current strengthening of corporate governance, auditors need to communicate audit findings to audit committees and audit committees are required to play a greater oversight role in the financial reporting process. It is assumed that by requiring audit committees to play a greater role in the auditors and management interaction to produce audited financial statements it will improve auditor independence, which in turn leads to improved financial reporting quality (Spira, 2002).
Despite the importance of audit committee oversight roles in the financial reporting process, the knowledge of the role of audit committees in the auditor-client interactions has been limited. This has motivated the study to (i) explore the role of the audit committee in resolving disputed accounting issues between auditors and management to enhance the understanding of the nature of interactions between auditors, management and the audit committee, and (ii) examine in greater depth the perceived importance of audit committee expertise on the role of the audit committee in auditor-client interactions. This study is conducted in two stages – first, in-depth interviews and, second, an experimental technique. Qualitative data collected through the interviews was used to explore the audit committee role in auditor-client interactions. The interviews were conducted in seven publicly listed companies in Malaysia, with the interviewees comprising a member of the management responsible for financial statement preparation, a member of the audit committee and the company’s external auditor. Hence, a total of 21 interviews were conducted. This data was analysed using thematic analysis. Quantitative data collected through the experiments was used for testing the effect of two factors – financial expertise and industry expertise – on audit committee mediating roles. Sixty one auditors from the Big Four firms and the Non-big Four firms took part in the study. This data was analysed using ANOVAs.
The interview results suggest that auditor-client negotiation over contentious accounting issues is commonplace and generally occurs when issues lack authoritative guidance from accounting standards. Only very material issues that cannot be resolved are raised with the audit committee and the committee then plays a mediating role using techniques such as controlling the agenda, gathering information, advising, problem solving and taking sides. The outcome from the negotiation and mediation process is generally a compromise solution. Next, the experimental results found that both financial expertise and industry expertise are perceived by external auditors to influence the mediation role of the audit committee. However, the study found that external auditors do not perceive any effect of either financial expertise or industry expertise on the final outcome of the mediation process.
The findings of this study have implications for both research and practice. The study provides original research examining the triadic relationship of the CFO, the auditor and the audit committee to supplement the audit committee and auditor-client interactions literature. By employing behavioural theories, this study should form the basis for future research because a strong theoretical understanding underpins the study. In relation to contributions to the practice, the findings of the study provide current information regarding the implementation of best practice recommendations for audit committees to practitioners and policy makers.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
An Examination of Customer Accounting in an Australian Context
No full textThis thesis reports on a study that examined customer accounting (CA) in Australian companies. The broad aims of the thesis are to develop an understanding of the organisational role played by CA practice and the role accounting plays in providing information about a firm's customer base. Three empirical phases have been undertaken in the study. The first phase involved exploratory interviews with accountants and marketers from a number of Australian firms. The second phase comprised an in-depth case study that involved the development of a segmental customer profitability analysis in a major Australian telecommunications company. The third empirical phase involved the administration of a survey questionnaire to chief accountants and marketing managers from a number of large Australian companies. A number of significant findings are reported and include: (1) A level of CA practice has been observed that is reasonably in line with what was anticipated based on the minimal previous academic interest in this area. (2) There appears to be a potential for further CA development in Australian companies. (3) The interview findings identified 'short-term tactical decisions' and 'focus attention on maximising customer value' as the two most important organisational roles CA may play. (4) CA systems were found to provide important information for marketing resource allocation decisions, customer retention decisions, customer service management decisions and customer pricing decisions. (5) The main barriers to CA implementation identified during the segmental CPA case study and exploratory interviews concerned information technology and data acquisition problems. This finding was supported by the results of the survey questionnaire phase of the study where in addition to these two barriers, 'other competing organisational priorities' was rated highly as an impediment to CA system development. (6) Some support was found for the proposed relationships between CA and the contingent factors of company size, customisation, and organisational structure. (7) Limited support was found for the proposed positive association between CA systems and competition intensity and marketing orientation. (8) No support was found for the proposed relationships between perceived environmental uncertainty, organisational strategy, organisational performance and CA systems. (9) Customisation was the only contingent factor found to have a significant impact upon the potential of CA to aid management.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
Knowledge Renewal and Knowledge Creation in Export Trading
No full textThis thesis examines how tacit knowledge about export trading is tapped and
collectively used in a web portal by a community of practice. Working with a design for
application software, such as a web portal, requires an understanding of the application
software domain. This research focuses on an export trading knowledge portal for use
by an export trading community. The community comprises members involved in
export activities. The research adopts three theories useful in the design of the portal.
First, theory of domain analysis specifies an application software knowledge domain
and explores the thoughts and discourse of the user community. Second, activity theory
is used to understand the inherent knowledge in human interactions and the resultant
human activity system in relation to the portal use. Third, the theory of organisational
knowledge creation is used to explore how knowledge conversion processes take place
in the human interactions in the portal.
The knowledge captured and collectively used in the portal is beneficial to members for
their work purposes. It is argued that tacit export knowledge is exchanged through
human interactions. Thus, it is critical to understand what tacit knowledge can be
captured and managed in the portal and how this can be done. It is argued that
effectively managed knowledge can help members and their organisation to achieve
export success. This research is important, as export creates revenues and stimulates
economic growth in both the exporting firms and the exporting country. It is particularly
important for members involved in export activities who make use of the captured tacit
knowledge at work.
The principal research questions of this thesis are: what constitutes export knowledge,
and how does portal technology help members use and exchange knowledge? From
these main questions, the sub-questions are: (1) what portal features can help export
trading members interact; (2) what portal features can help export trading members seek
and use important useful resources; and (3) how can members’ previous version of
knowledge be renewed and new knowledge created when the collective knowledge in
the portal is used?Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith Business SchoolGriffith Business SchoolFull Tex
Three New Music for Viola and Piano
No full textThree new works were presented at the 5th IMC World Forum on Music at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University on 24th November 2013. They include: Fragile by Lisa Cheney (world premiere), Into the Sun by Diana Blom, Tango by Michael Hannan
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