Akubras to Hard Hats: Easing Skills Shortages through Labour Harmonisation Strategies

This article examines skill and labour shortages within rural agricultural industries in Western Australia. It draws on primary and secondary data, including 600 survey respondents in the sector. It is determined that there may be a shortage of farm workers during the busy seasons, while they are unemployed during the low seasons. Consequently, it is proposed that a human capability framework is utilised to encourage farm owners and (or) workers to consider the potential for labour-harmonisation (LH) strategies which would allow workers to transit between working on the land during the busy seasons and in mining during the low seasons. The outcomes of the study are considered in relation to indicators of precarious work illustrating that LH could enable an easing of labour shortages for both the farming and mining sectors, while providing benefits for the respective workers, employers, and the region in general

Strategic alliances - A marriage of convenience or a matter of trust?

This paper examines how members of a strategic alliance (referred to as the Alliance) develop knowledge through networking relationships that may or may not contribute to competitive advantage. A 1994 survey of Alliance general managers revealed that the reasons they gave for joining were related to maintaining and improving competitiveness through sharing management know-how, training costs and programs, engaging in joint tendering and increasing market share (Fulop and Kelly, 1995). Ten years later, in 2004 and again in 2008, the authors revisited the Alliance in order to discover whether some of these objectives had been achieved, the forms of learning that may have occurred among partners, and the role that trust has played in the knowledge sharing processes

Employment Issues in Australian Public Sector Call Centres: Differences and Similarities with the Private Sector

Call centre development has been extensive and ongoing across the industrial world. These developments have resulted from an ongoing process of consolidation and restructuring ofservice work that has been facilitated by the continuing application of information and communication technology (lCT) to production in the service sector. Thus far, the academic discussion of call centres has been dominated by labour processes, particularly in the private sector. Meanwhile, there has been an extensive and growing use of call centres to deliver public services. Hence, this article draws on secondary data, policy documents and registered workplace agreements to examine employment related issues in Australian public sector call centres while comparing these issues with those found in private sector call centres

Human resource management of Indian call centre representatives.

This study examines how call centres adopt different types of human resource practices (involvement and control oriented) to manage frontline employees in Indian call centres. Data were collected from 250 call centre representatives to test the research hypotheses. The research model was analyzed using Mplus software. Findings showed that involvement and control oriented human resource practices resulted in more employee exhaustion and disengagement. Involvement oriented HRM had a positive impact on job satisfaction as well as, a positive relationship between employee exhaustion and disengagement. The findings suggest that, while involvement oriented HRM enhances job satisfaction, its implementation comes with a cost, that is, an increase in employee exhaustion and disengagement at work

The effectiveness of education in the recognition and management of deteriorating patients: A systematic review

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: The effectiveness of education in the recognition and management of deteriorating patients: A systematic review journaltitle: Nurse Education Today articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2016.06.001 content_type: article copyright: © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Assembly of Miscible Supramolecular Network Blends Using DDA·AAD Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions of Pendant Side-Chains

The formation of polymer blends can result in materials with superior properties through combination of homo- or co-polymers with divergent functionalities. However, the contrasting physical properties of different polymers often result in phase separation. Herein we induce miscible blend formation of immiscible poly(methyl methacrylate) and polystyrene polymers through triple donor–donor–acceptor and acceptor–acceptor–donor (DDA·AAD) hydrogen bonding between complementary heterodimers on pendent side-chains. RAFT polymerization is used to synthesize a series of poly (methylmethacrylate) and polystyrene co-polymers bearing complementary side-chain hydrogen bonding motifs. Mixing of these polymers promoted miscible blend formation as demonstrated by atomic force microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The effectiveness of blend formation was shown to depend upon the extent of incorporation of hydrogen-bonding motif bearing co-monomer; lower degrees of incorporation lead to ineffective blending, whereas higher degree of incorporation, suppress phase separation and promote miscibility

'Dressage Is Full of Queens!' Masculinity, Sexuality and Equestrian Sport

Attitudes towards sexuality are changing and levels of cultural homophobia decreasing, yet there remain very few openly gay men within sport. As a proving ground for heteromasculinity, sport has traditionally been a hostile environment for gay men. This article is based on an ethnographic study within a sporting subworld in which gay men do appear to be accepted: equestrian sport. Drawing on inclusive masculinity theory, equestrian sport is shown to offer an unusually tolerant environment for gay men in which heterosexual men of all ages demonstrate low levels of homophobia. Inclusive masculinity theory is a useful framework for exploring the changing nature of masculinities and this study demonstrates that gay men are becoming increasingly visible and accepted within once unreceptive locales, such as sport and rural communities. However, this more tolerant attitude is purchased at the expense of a subordinated feminine Other, perpetuating the dominance of men within competitive sport. © The Author(s) 2012

Concealed concern: Fathers' experience of having a child with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Despite increased research into families of chronically ill children, more needs to be known about the father’s experience. We address this issue through asking: ‘What is it like to be the father of a child with juvenile idiopathic arthritis?’ (JIA). Four members of eight families with an adolescent diagnosed with JIA, including seven fathers, were interviewed and transcripts analyzed using grounded theory. This study suggests that fathers of children with JIA experience several severe losses which are exacerbated through comparisons they make between their own situation and that of fathers of healthy children. In addition, the fathers faced several constraints which reduced their opportunities to communicate with their ill child through shared activities. Fathers appeared to conceal their distress by adopting strategies of denial and distraction however their adjustment was facilitated, to some extent, by social support. They could also develop greater acceptance of their situation over time as the care of their ill child became assimilated into family life and constraints upon their life gradually reduced through the increased maturity of their son or daughter with JIA. These findings have implications for healthcare professionals and voluntary organizations

Searching for help online: An analysis of peer-to-peer posts on a male-only infertility forum.

Men’s experiences of infertility help seeking are under-researched and thus less widely understood than women’s experiences, with men’s needs for support often missing from reproductive research knowledge. This article presents a thematic analysis of peer-to-peer posts within the context of a UK men-only online infertility forum. The key themes demonstrate that men value male support from those with experience, and that masculinity influences help-seeking requests and men’s accounts more broadly. We highlight the value of such online communities in offering support to men in need while recognising the importance of further research across other online settings in order to inform practice around supporting men in the reproductive realm

Services just for men? Insights from a national study of the well men services pilots.

Men continue to have a lower life expectancy in most countries compared to women. Explanations of this gendered health inequality tend to focus on male risk taking, unhealthy lifestyle choices and resistance to seeking help from health services. In the period 2005-2008 the Scottish Government funded a nationwide community health promotion programme aimed at improving men's health, called Well Men Service Pilots (henceforth WMS)