Conversations about God: Does Skills Training Make a Difference?

This paper will address relational communication skills. It seeks to explore the importance of relationship skills for Christians and the role skills training can play in skill development which may change our interactions with others. A survey is undertaken of participants from Christian leadership training program that included interpersonal skills development. Participants evaluate their skills prior to and after training as well as commenting on how and why their interaction with others changed. Consideration is also given to the application of skills. [from Introduction of article]

Lessons from successes in medical communication training and their applications to accounting education

Accountants interact with people from diverse backgrounds. While accounting knowledge and technical skills are essential, it is well-developed interpersonal skills that will enhance their relationships with clients and staff alike. Similarly, patients want their doctors to have extensive medical knowledge and an agreeable bedside manner. To address this, professional communication training forms part of the education of doctors and has been extensively researched. Employers of accounting graduates are looking for students with well-developed interpersonal skills. However, concerns continue about how well accounting education has addressed this need. In addition, research on approaches to improve accountants' interpersonal skills is limited. This paper seeks to raise awareness that successes in medical professional communication training may be drawn on to help frame an interpersonal skills training approach appropriate for accounting education. Also provided are two appendices that may assist accounting educators. One takes a medical communication model and suggests how it might be adapted to understand accountant–client interactions, while the other summarises the key issues to be considered in implementing interpersonal skills training including listing some helpful resources

Kedudukan Saksi Korban Menurut Kitab Undang-undang Hukum Acara Pidana

Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana seseorang yang menjadi saksi berkewajiban untuk memberikan kesaksian dan bagaimana kedudukan saksi korban dalam KUHAP. Dengan penelitian kepustakaan disimpulkan bahwa: 1. Berdasarkan ketentuan Pasal 108 ayat (1) KUHAP, dapat disimpulkan bahwa pada dasarnya orang yang dapat menjadi saksi tidak berkewajiban melaporkan diri untuk menjadi saksi. Melaporkan suatu tindak pidana, yang dengan sendirinya akan memberikan kesaksian, merupakan suatu hak, bukan merupakan kewajiban hukum. 2. Seseorang yang dipanggil sebagai saksi wajib untuk memenuhi panggilan (Pasal 112 ayat (2) KUHAP), sedangkan ancaman pidana untuk saksi yang tidak memenuhi panggilan ditentukan dalam Pasal 224 KUHPidana

Spotted gum (plantations)

Spotted gum is an important commercial tree in Queensland that produces a high quality, hard, durable and attractive timber. Currently, spotted gum is the highest volume native hardwood harvested in Queensland and has been used for construction, engineering, appearance products and round timbers. Spotted gum timber has a well-established market, and is in demand both nationally and internationally

Transcending hunter gatherer pursuits while balancing customary cultural ideals with market forces of advanced western societies: Extending the traditional boundaries of indigenous Yolngu people of the Northern Territory of Australia

As large multinationals move their operations into remote regions of the world, imperatives of social responsibility and sound business pragmatism compel engagement of the marginalized local Indigenous people. This notion is particularly relevant for the mining industry in Australia, which is undertaken in remote regions, where the local Indigenous communities are significantly socio-economically disadvantaged compared to other Australians. This article reports the job-related outcomes of Indigenous Yolngu people of East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia who were participants in a unique vocational-educational programme set up by the multinational mining company Rio Tinto Alcan. These mainline job-related outcomes are in two main areas: (1) employment in mainline work at the Nhulunbuy refinery or the mine site and (2) entrepreneurial timber-related business (milling timber, house construction, furniture manufacture). Both streams are inaugural achievements for these Indigenous Australians. The concluding sections present challenges for multinational corporations when anchoring institutional processes, structures and the contemporary technologies of the workplace with the contextuality of rural Australian communities

Accountants' proactivity in intra-organisational networks: a strong structuration perspective

Purpose The paper provides insights into the importance of accountants’ networks inside organisations, the parties who comprise those networks and how accountants go about building and maintaining their networks. It also illustrates the use of strong structuration theory, which specifically considers the networks that surround agents. The theoretical discussion highlights the significance of communication as agency in the context of accounting practice through a strong structuration perspective. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach to the inquiry was adopted. Interviews were conducted with 30 Australian accountants from 22 not-for-profit organisations. A thematic approach was used to analyse the transcripts. Structuration theory, supplemented by strong structuration, informed the study. Findings The interviewees attested to the importance of communication and developing networks within their organisations. They actively sought to expand and enhance their networks. The accountants played a pivotal role in networks and they pursued both horizontal and vertical relations. The accountants’ knowledge of organisational positions and perceptions of their own roles were used strategically in attempts to alter the internal structures of networked others. Originality/value The study contributes to the meagre literature regarding accountants’ networks within organisations. It provides insights that may assist accountants in enhancing their own networks. Although structuration theory is well-established in accounting research, the enrichments offered by strong structuration are illustrated in this study. Research limitations/implications The interviewed accountants worked in not-for-profit organisations and this may influence the findings. Future research might consider accountants working in for-profit organisations. The study provides insights into strategies to develop intra-organisational networks

Indigenous Workforce Participation at a Mining Operation in Northern Australia

The potential of the Australian minerals industry to generate considerable national revenue can be jeopardised in periods of economic growth by fostering a shortage of relevant educated and skilled personnel. Legal reforms of the 1990s, public pressure, and benefits by employing local Aboriginal people has driven the installation of work-integrated learning programs designed to reduce the skill shortage by increasing the employment rate of Indigenous people in the mining industry. This article reports five years of primary data to detail nationally accredited attainments and relevant job outcomes of an Indigenous education-vocation program that has delivered sustainable jobs in a substantive remote mining operation in Northern Australia. Identified barriers for applicants and vocational career choices that are framed by values and priorities held by regional Indigenous people are discussed to focus on a conclusion challenging the mining industry and the government to disclose how Indigenous training schemes are ameliorating the skills gap in the Australian mining industry

Poetry, prose, literature and insights

The text in this paper is written in the form of a poem. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the destruction of value and passion of research by presenting the elements that are ruining this passion. The inspiration of this was Parker and Guthrie’s (2019) comment that accounting research suffered when science dominated universities privileged the science and medicine focussed impact factors, when most of the accounting journals were not even included in the rankings. The poem is written in free verse, which mimics the nuances and cadences of spoken English. Frequent media coverage of university rankings and outcomes of research assessment exercises and the close monitoring of academic research grants and publications have become fashionable clichés. The poem is an outcome of careful collection and coordination of different research papers that have highlighted the impact of research assessment exercises. The ideas shared in the poem ring so true to the hearts of the authors who are accounting scholars themselves