ICT Adoption Policy of Australian and Croatian SMEs

Many SMEs are currently adopting information and communication technology (ICT) and services based on it. However, there is little systematic research into how they are doing this and what are the organisational and environmental factors associated with this adoption. In this article, the authors build the model of ICT adoption in Australian and Croatian SMEs, founded on premises that SMEs are the main economic developing factor in all modern economies and that the adoption and the use of ICT represents the fundamental source of competitiveness and the basis for their survival on the world market. By applying Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Boolean algebra, the authors developed a model of necessary and sufficient factors for ICT adoption by SMEs in Australia and Croatia.SMEs, ICT, adoption models, case studies, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), Boolean algebra

Performance Management and its Influence on Academics' Employment Relationships and Careers. Lincoln University Since 1990

With the increasing financial pressures being experienced by New Zealand universities, greater attention is being placed on the performance of academic staff. The primary aim of this paper is to explore the role of performance management in the management of universities; and its influence on academics' employment relationships and careers. The paper reviews the overt contractual changes which have occurred in the period 1990-1996, and contrasts them with the covert changes to academics' related psychological contracts. A mixture of methods including participatory action research and participant observation of management policies and processes over the period is used based around a survey of academic colleagues. Conclusions are drawn about the outcomes of changes in management policy and practice and suggestions are made for improving university-academic employment relations and academic careers

Performance Management and its Influence on Academics' Employment Relationships and Careers. Lincoln University Since 1990

With the increasing financial pressures being experienced by New Zealand universities, greater attention is being placed on the performance of academic staff. The primary aim of this paper is to explore the role of performance management in the management of universities; and its influence on academics' employment relationships and careers. The paper reviews the overt contractual changes which have occurred in the period 1990-1996, and contrasts them with the covert changes to academics' related psychological contracts. A mixture of methods including participatory action research and participant observation of management policies and processes over the period is used based around a survey of academic colleagues. Conclusions are drawn about the outcomes of changes in management policy and practice and suggestions are made for improving university-academic employment relations and academic careers

Drivers of Agricultural Mechanization and Mechanized Conservation Agriculture: Synthesis from Experience of Successful Countries

Summary Based on literature, this paper reviews drivers of agricultural mechanization and mechanized conservation agriculture (CA) focusing on the experience of selected countries where mechanization and CA have been adopted at a large scale. The synthesis followed gradient approach where drivers of mechanized CA were evaluated considering different types of farm power use (mechanical, draft animal and manual), tillage types (conservation and conventional) and farm size (large and small holding). In the analysis, emphasis was given to major drivers of mechanized CA; namely, policies, markets, and institutional arrangements. Review results show that the expansion of mechanized CA is less proportionate across the World. Wider expansion has been observed in Latin America, North America, Australia, and South Asia regions whereas countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are the least in terms of the adoption of mechanized CA. The success of mechanized CA in the above indicated regions are mainly related to the availability of conducive markets, institutional and policy environments and the integration of diverse actors that helped in putting the necessary inputs, information and knowledge together. These all assisted in creating incentives to local CA-related machinery manufactures, machinery importers, distributors, local service providers, and farmers. Generally, literature supports that the expansion of mechanized CA is strongly related to the development, distribution and use of CA related farm machineries through the integrated efforts of different actors including private companies, international and national research institutes, government and non-government organizations, farmers, and extension service providers

Understanding ethnic entrepreneurship in agricultural settings : qualitative comparative analysis of ethnic groups in New Zealand agriculture

This thesis examines ethnic solidarity and ethnic resource mobilisation within agricultural settings using Qualitative Comparative Analysis of ethnic groups in New Zealand agriculture. The thesis addresses ethnic solidarity through the application of the concept of ethnic entrepreneurship. Major theoretical perspectives on ethnic entrepreneurship have identified situational and cultural factors as responsible for the mobilisation of ethnic resources in economic activities. This thesis argues that these two groups of factors, when taken together, provide a comprehensive explanation for ethnic solidarity in business and the development of stable social structures for mobilisation of resources within ethnic groups involved in agriculture. Thus, the thesis derived a simple causal model which combines situational explanations with the key aspects of cultural approaches in considering the reasons for ethnic solidarity and development of ethnic networks in business. This composite model of ethnic entrepreneurship considered host hostility in conjunction with collectivistic cultural endowments as the principal causal configuration responsible for development of ethnic business networks. The model also pointed at the recursive effects of ethnic networks and ethnic solidarity in business, which could be associated with conflicts between ethnic entrepreneurs and competing groups from the host population. Theoretical arguments derived from the model were empirically evaluated by using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), a method suitable to assess theoretical propositions derived from composite models, and used to provide causal explanation in social science. The thesis employed a multiple groups/one industry research design and provided a systematic, holistic comparison of eleven ethnic groups which consistently played an important role in the history of New Zealand agriculture during the ninetieth and twentieth centuries. These were: the Chinese, Indian and Italian market gardeners; the Lebanese, Dalmatian and French grape growers and wine makers; the Scandinavian and Bohemian dairy farmers; the German and Polish farmers and growers, and finally, the recent Dutch immigrants who became largely involved in the horticultural and dairy industries. These eleven comparative case studies were designed to provide a formal, coherent analysis of the empirical evidence which generated data on the key comparative components. The empirical research showed that only Asian entrepreneurs developed informal, ethnically bounded business networks. These networks facilitated the mobilisation and distribution of ethnic resources, and provided support for Asian entrepreneurs in starting and carrying out their farming businesses. In terms of causal analysis the empirical research showed how both social and cultural factors were relevant for mobilisation of intra-group resources and the emergence of ethnic business networks within the Chinese and Indian farmers in New Zealand. Certain social factors, such as considerable host hostility and discrimination faced by Asian immigrants, enhanced ethnic solidarity and mutual co-operation in economic matters. The ethnic business networks developed were deeply rooted in the cultural tradition of collectivism, which encompassed certain cultural endowments capable of promoting the establishment of network-based economic mechanisms and which also impelled strong bonds of ethnic solidarity in business. Generally, the thesis focused on the influence of non-economic factors in explaining economic activity of ethnic groups, and also pointed at ethnically-bounded business networks as structures for mobilisation of resources within ethnic communities in business. Some concepts used in the research, such as embeddedness of economic actions, networks, social and cultural capital, are also relevant for current ethnic business development in New Zealand. The thesis considered some policy implications and also indicated how these concepts could be applied to more policy-oriented research

New immigrants improving productivity in Australian agriculture

What the report is about In the last fifteen years new visa pathways have been opened up for permanent and temporary immigrants to settle in rural and regional Australia. Many of these new immigrants in the Australian bush have worked in the agricultural sector of the economy helping to redress labour shortages and adding new skills and innovative insights to contribute greatly to increasing the productivity of the Australian agricultural industry. Yet despite the increasing importance of new permanent and temporary immigrants to Australian agriculture in particular and to the revitalisation of regional and rural Australia in general research in this field has been lacking. Hence the initiative of the RIRDC in funding this three-year research project, New Immigrants Improving Productivity in Australian Agriculture, to fill an important gap in evidence-based research that identifies the ways that immigrants can contribute to the increasing vitality of Australian agriculture in coming decades as new bi-lateral free-trade agreements struck between Australia and China, Korea and Japan have opened up new market opportunities for Australian agricultural exports to Asia in addition to established markets in Europe and the Americas. Who is the report targeted at? The findings of this study are of specific interest to government agencies, community and industry organisations that have an interest in better understanding the impact of new farmer immigrants on the agriculture sector, and in refining existing or introducing new policies and procedures that can improve the attraction and retention of farmer immigrants in coming decades. Where are the relevant industries located in Australia? Fieldwork was conducted in five Australian states – NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia - involving interested parties in the Australian agricultural industry and permanent and temporary immigrants who work in the industry. The research involved fieldwork with skilled permanent immigrants and immigrant farmers and with temporary immigrants – including Working Holiday Makers and Pacific Island Seasonal workers – and humanitarian immigrants

Immigration and Multicultural Place-Making in Rural and Regional Australia

There has been comparatively little research on the relationship between immigrants and place in the context of rural and regional Australia. Considering that immigration to regional and rural Australia has been given important national importance we argue that the contemporary research on rural ethnic landscapes should be broadened to discuss the impact of different ethnic groups on the built environment of rural townships. The immigrants settling down in rural areas have transformed rural landscapes through the construction of public and private spaces expressing their cultural heritage. These sites can significantly impact the dynamics of social cohesion and intercultural relations in multicultural rural communities. They can also have a role in attracting and retaining immigrants in non-metropolitan areas. This chapter links the built environment and immigration in rural Australia and explores the potential role of the sites built by rural ethnic minorities in facilitating intra-group and inter-group social encounter, trust and networks. The chapter then outlines the empirical findings from applying these concepts to the sites built and used by non-Anglo-Celtic immigrants to Griffith, a regional city in south-western New South Wales (NSW), and Katanning, a small rural community south-east of Perth in Western Australia (WA)