Efficiency of Australian technical and further education providers

Budgetary constraints on the public purse have led Australian Federal and State governments to focus increasingly on the efficiency of public institutions, including Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes. In this study, we define efficiency as the relationship between financial and administrative inputs and educational outputs. We employ stochastic frontier analysis in determining the efficiency of Australian TAFE institutes using data sourced from institutional annual reports, the Student Outcomes Survey and administrative databases. We found significant economies of scale effects and conclude that increasing institutional size for very small institutions may result in increased efficiencies. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Cultural Practices for Mechanically Harvested Paprika

Horticultur

Employee ethical attitudes : contextual differences and impact on perceived quality of leadership relationships

This study examines the differences in how employees and their supervisors view ethical dilemmas. A 20 item ethical attitudes scale of vignettes in six categories of ethical dilemmas - business, discrimination, environment, marketing, personal finances and sexuality was developed and distributed to 152 male and female employees. To determine the way employees see themselves as ethically similar to their supervisors, respondents' own attitudes were compared with their perceptions of their supervisors' attitudes to the same ethical dilemmas. A small but significant contribution to the quality of the leadership relationship can be accounted for by the ethical similarity of an employee and their supervisor. Results also demonstrated that employees have a 'more strict' moral or ethical attitude towards non-organisational than organisational ethical dilemmas.14 page(s

Efficiency of Australian TAFE and further education providers

Budgetary constraints on the public purse have led Australian Federal and State governments to focus increasingly on the efficiency of public institutions, including Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes. In this study, we define efficiency as the relationship between financial and administrative inputs and educational outputs. We employ stochastic frontier analysis in determining the efficiency of Australian TAFE institutes using data sourced from institutional annual reports, the Student Outcomes Survey and administrative databases. We found significant economies of scale effects and conclude that increasing institutional size for very small institutions may result in increased efficiencies

Two dimensional efficiency measurements in Australian TAFE Institutes

Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes provide for the majority of Australian government funded courses in vocational education. In this study we used institutional financial, educational, demographic and employed stochastic frontier analysis to develop two distinct efficiency measures. The first model examined institutional efficiency in the transformation of financial resources into teaching loads. The second model evaluated efficiency in the transformation of institutional resources into post-study employment outcomes. In both models we found significant inefficiencies in the Australian TAFE system. We then assessed the relationship between both efficiency measures. While there was no direct linear relationship, a distinct pattern was detectable. K-means cluster analysis was used to establish groupings of similar institutes and subsequent canonical discriminant analysis to develop a typology of these clusters. We conclude that, based on the measures developed in this study, there are inefficiencies in the Australian TAFE system for which an underlying typology exists

Gross National Happiness Education in Bhutanese Schools: Understanding the Experiences and Efficacy Beliefs of Principals and Teachers

Since 2010, the Bhutanese education system has emphasised values education through its own unique approach known as 'Educating for Gross National Happiness' (referred to as GNH Education). This policy outcome emerged from the concern, shared by some Bhutanese leaders and educators, over the apparent deterioration of human values among youth in Bhutan. GNH Education was regarded by the Government of the day as critical for the sustained development of Bhutan. With GNH Education in place, the intention was that GNH values and principles would eventually be deeply embedded in the consciousness of every youth in Bhutan through implementation of an holistic approach to student development led by principals and teachers as key change agents. This study investigated the nature of principals' and teachers' self- and collective efficacy beliefs with respect to capabilities for GNH Education. Also of interest were their lived experiences, as they were involved in implementing GNH Education in its early stages and their relationships to different facets of GNH Education school contexts. Knowledge generated from this study was intended to contribute to an understanding of how schools (principals and teachers) have responded to the GNH Education challenge in local and national contexts

How Australian Vice-Chancellors Do Their Jobs: A Role-Theory Analysis

Despite universities occupying an important role in Australian society since 1851, very little research has been devoted to the key role of Vice-Chancellor. Significant research activity has been undertaken in other national higher education systems, particularly in the United States of America and recently with groundbreaking studies in the United Kingdom. The existing literature on higher education leadership in Australia is both scarce and dominated by normative designs. The literature tends to focus on governance and leadership from traditional normative paradigms and perspectives. In effect, the extant literature has been able to encapsulate "what" Vice-Chancellors do in their roles and "why" they do it. The current research seeks to extend the understanding of the Vice-Chancellor role by examining the "how" of roleperformance. This is a critical area that has been largely neglected in the managerial role literature, not the least in the research on higher education management. This research examines two Vice-Chancellors in the context of their daily activities. Viewed within the context of a changing higher education system, characterised by shifts in policy, funding, and international landscapes, the role of the Vice-Chancellors is examined through the lens of the role-theory model of Katz and Kahn. This model seeks to provide a framework by which role-sending and role-enactment can be explained along the lines of three critical dimensions

Reconceptualising and Reconstructing Consumer Involvement: Modeling Involvement in a Nomological Network of Relevant Constructs

The research reported herein concerns a specific stream of research within the general domain of consumer behaviour. The dissertation attempts to reconceptualise the construct of involvement and develop an instrument to measure consumers involvement. Largely, the significance of this dissertation rests in the development and presentation of a comprehensive model for the conceptualisation and analysis of involvement and key individual variables that act as antecedents to involvement and consequences of it. The study focuses on the philosophical and practical questions of involvement's content, nature and the direction and strength of its relationship with theoretically important constructs. It fundamentally asks the question: how should the construct of involvement be conceptualised and operationalised, and what is the relationship between involvement and self-image product-image congruency, consumer values, product knowledge/expertise, consumer confidence and consumption consequences. The methodology is based on the development and administration of a survey questionnaire. A mail survey was sent to a random sample of 900 students at an Australian University. The primary analytic procedure for the study was structural equation modeling using the computer program AMOS. The results of the research indicate significant support for the theoretical propositions developed in this study. The theoretical formulations of product involvement, purchase decision involvement, communications involvement and consumption involvement were strongly supported. Further, the introduction of consumer involvement as a second-order factor for the four forms of involvement proved significant. Nomological validity between involvement, values systems, product knowledge, consumer confidence, consumption consequences and self-image product-image congruency was established. A number of theoretical and managerial implications for marketers are identified and discussed

Harnessing Sources of Innovation, Useful Knowledge and Leadership within a Complex Public Sector Agency Network: A Reflective Practice Perspective

This Innovation Portfolio Project focuses on the development and implementation of a single workplace innovation, namely the "Portal2Progress" (P2P) to the context of the Western Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES). The P2P endeavour sought to harness emergent grassroots innovation ideas within the complexity of the contemporary public sector environment of the DFES, which I lead. The P2P is the Innovation Project that underpins my Professional Doctorate study, which is essentially insider research on the introduction and embedding of P2P as a workplace innovation. Within my role, I was actively involved in the research process and in the innovation project delivery. The organisational goal of this Innovation Portfolio Project was that DFES would benefit practically and culturally from the adoption of the P2P. The P2P mechanism of the cultivation of innovative ideas, percolating within DFES, was intended to make a real difference to the business of the agency; and culturally, by the adoption of those ideas leading to the organisation's embracing of innovation and learning. The social aim was to add public value to DFES operations through the delivery of improved service to the community and by making a contribution to the field of public sector management. This Innovation Portfolio Project provides a vehicle for the sharing of knowledge, derived from this endeavour. It also provides a reference, available for the benefit of others that might seek to embed an innovation strategy across their organisation. My personal aim from this research was that of self-improvement as a thinker, as a leader and as a scholar. The Innovation Portfolio Project of this workplace research project, articulates the results of my study from a practical, organisational, academic and personal perspective. It also presents my reflections on the contextual conditions I see as more broadly necessary for the successful implementation of change in public service organisations and more specifically, the leadership, organisational structure and power relationships that I believe made change possible in the DFES. Through my reflection on the findings of this study and its significance, I have explored its potential within DFES, the challenges into future and how these might be managed. I also briefly consider the wider impacts for the wider public sector of P2P and what might be achieved by broader adoption into a public sector organisation

An Investigation of Factors Influencing the Continued and Frequent Use of Internet Banking by Australian Consumers

The goal of this study was to investigate the factors that influence how consumers continue to use, and how frequently they use, internet banking in Australia. Patterns of continued use and frequency of use of internet banking have been neglected as most of the existing studies focus on either consumer adoption or acceptance of internet banking. However, in comparison to new customer acquisition, measures of continued and frequent use of internet banking are related to a cost-effective marketing strategy aimed at retaining customers. The research in this thesis is a response to a gap in existing literature which requires the application of more integrated theory testing and the identification of factors that influence the continued and frequent use of internet banking in order of importance to consumers. In order to address the research goals, the study sets out to develop a conceptual framework based on theoretical models related to the acceptance of technology and diffusion of innovations theory. The conceptual model developed encompasses technology, channel, social and value for money factors as predictors in the identification of influential factors for consumers and their continued and frequent use of internet banking