Service innovation in Australia : a preliminary exploration of the Cinderella sector

Service innovation is of increasing importance in the Australian economy, yet it remains a largely neglected area of study. Recent studies overseas have shown that services are becoming more engaged with innovation, and that service innovation is complex and multi-dimensional. Official R&amp;D and business innovation statistics in Australia are examined, and they reveal that service providers across all service industries in Australia are performing R&amp;D and are actively innovating, a finding that is consonant with the overseas studies. However, innovation performance varies across and within service industries, reflecting differences in the nature and structure of those industries. A clear need for further research is identified, both to provide a clearer understanding of the nature of service innovation and to provide a basis for practical recommendations.<br /

Towards the Automated Office: Technological Change and Office Work in the New Zealand Public Service

This paper examines Braverman's theory of the labour process in relation to the historical transformation of office work in the New Zealand Public Service. It focuses upon two exclusively female occupations, those of typist and secretary. The paper also examines the range of control strategies available to management; conflicts between groups of employees; and technological change as a political process

Managing risk in cross-sector R&D collaborations : lessons from an international case study

Cross‐sector collaborations to perform R&amp;D are on the increase, but they do involve various risks for each of the partners. Project risks in such ventures are explored through a case study, a successful collaboration involving an Australian Cooperative Research Centre and Ciba Vision, a division of the Swiss multi‐national Novartis. The analysis examines the project\u27s success factors and its risks. The reputation of researchers, the development of mutual trust among the partners, and the importance of credible commitments made at project initiation are three key factors contributing to the success of commercially focused R&amp;D collaborations.<br /

Bringing innovation to centre stage : the rhetoric of commercialisation and cross-sector collaboration

As a key element in Australia\u27s national innovation system, public sector organizations, such as universities and public-funded research agencies, have increasingly become involved in R&amp;D collaborations with firms. Government policy has encouraged this cross-sector collaboration, and in the most recent policy &quot;act&quot; has focused on the commercialisation of research findings (through which R&amp;D outputs are translated into marketable commodities) and has encouraged public sector organizations to become more directly involved in this activity. But while the policy rhetoric has contributed to a discourse of marketization, through which cultural change in the research performing organizations is both promoted and legitimised, there are other voices in the unfolding policy drama which point to the complex and multifaceted nature of commercialisation in national economies. These countervailing voices emphasise the multiple roles that public sector organizations play in national innovation systems, and this introduces organizational role ambiguity into the discourse leading to confusion among the research performing actors. It is concluded that, given the complex and subtle nature of innovation processes, the traditional dichotomy between applied (or commercially-focused) research and &quot;public good&quot; research is no longer tenable nor helpful in the policy debates.<br /

Collaborative R&D project partner experience in the Australian CRC Program : a theoretical framework

The paper focuses on commercially-oriented cross-sector R&amp;D collaborative projects carried out within Australian Cooperative Research Centres. A theoretical model is proposed to explain the participants&rsquo; experience of such collaborative projects, and the relationship between partner experience and project outcomes. It is hypothesized that collaborative projects that have both a strong relationship focus, in terms relational trust, and a strong task focus, in terms of project management capability, are more likely to be positively experienced by the participants. Four antecedent variables, derived from the literature and preliminary research, are proposed: credible commitments, previous collaboration experience, cross-sector management capability, and communication intensity. The model is to be empirically tested through a survey of CRC project leaders.<br /

Facing up to the risks in commercially focused university-industry R&D partnerships

The number of university&ndash;industry R&amp;D partnerships (UIPs) has increased significantly over the past decade, in most OECD countries and in Australia, yet the study of risk in such commercially focused collaborative ventures is still a developing area. This review paper seeks to contribute to debate on this increasingly important phenomenon by addressing three key areas of risks for universities in entering such collaborations. The commercialization of research findings presents particular risks to universities, most notably the possibility of financial loss, which has a greater impact than for companies in cross‐sector collaborations. Another major type of risk faced by universities is relational risk, and this can significantly alter the trust dynamics that underpin research and innovation. There are also institutional risks to universities and their research staff engaged in commercializable R&amp;D and, ultimately, to their reputation as a neutral source of expertise. It is argued there is a need for universities in Australia to develop comprehensive policies to manage the risks of commercialization and R&amp;D collaboration with industry partners.<br /

Arts-based pedagogies in Social Work education: does it measure up?

Social work education is confronting unprecedented socio-economic and political challenges resulting from globalisation, demographic and cultural transformation combined with technological advances. How it prepares students by keeping to the true spirit of an empowering and emancipatory yet a robust and fit-for-purpose approach to education, demands a creative approach. Our own endeavours as educators from the UK in searching for novel approaches, has led us to experiment with the arts as a means of enriching social work pedagogy (Hafford-Letchfield et al, 2012). Social work epistemology has traditionally been founded on social science theoretical frameworks so borrowing methods from the arts seems to naturally build on this interdisciplinary approach. However, the need for accountability led us to conduct a wider exploration of what is involved in arts-based learning and to look for potential new methods for research and evaluation which bring us closer to understanding why arts-based approaches might be effective in learning and teaching? In this short article we share selected findings from a systematic review of the available evidence (Leonard et al, 2017). We highlight key messages and principles for educators interested in designing an evaluation of arts-based pedagogies and what we have learned about doing this to best effect

Engaging in collaborative R&D : an international case study of cross-sector collaboration

This paper examines cross-sector engagement by drawing on a case study of a successful R&amp;D project which involved an Australian Cooperative Research Centre (with CSIRO as a partner), and the eyecare products company Ciba Vision. This project resulted in the market launch of an extended wear contact lens, a break-through product. The engagement process moved through two phases. In an initiation phase, partner reputation and the potential for complementary resources were important in the partnering decision. In an engagement phase, the partners built a relationship and focused on the tasks to be completed. In doing so, they made a number of credible commitments to the venture (most notably to jointly assign project intellectual property between the public and private sector partners), developed a trusting relationship, adopted a disciplined and effective project management approach, learned the capability for cross-sector collaboration management, and put much effort into fostering communication to facilitate team building and the task focus. The management approach taken lead to a positive experience of the project among the partners, and this was positively associated with tangible project outcomes. Such collaborations may persist across projects, but in a disengagement phase negotiations on the conditions of exit may be required. It is concluded that to build a successful cross-sector collaboration requires interpersonal engagement within and across the organizations involved.<br /

The practice educator as museum guide, art therapist or exhibition curator: a cross-disciplinary analysis of arts-based learning

The use of arts-based approaches in professional education in health and social care has gathered momentum in the last decade and their effectiveness has been well documented. There are helpful models in the education literature that begin to explain how these creative methods work in learning and practice, and that assert the significance of an emotional or affective level of learning. However, the process remains elusive, almost a ‘given’. A more cross-disciplinary analysis of affective learning is needed to guide arts-based methods and more robust evaluation of their use in health and social care education and practice. This paper identifies different roles that can be taken by the practice educator with a review of those theoretical models of affective learning that underpin them to help understand how and why arts-based approaches are effective