Galvanizing Philanthropy (journal article)
By Susan Wolf Ditkoff and Susan J Colby
from Harvard Business Review Vol. 87 Issue 11, Nov 2009, pp. 108-115
"Philanthropic organizations, exempt from the accountability imposed on business by markets or on government by voters, are free to experiment and take risks. But they have little experience in objectively evaluating their own performance or figuring out how to improve it. Regardless of the economic climate, the authors say, developing a philanthropic strategy is an iterative process -- one they've labeled "getting clear, getting real, and getting better." Getting clear means selecting a few strategic anchors -- people, problems, or philosophies the institution truly cares about -- and using them to guide decisions about programs and grantees. In addition, hard evidence should be examined in light of values and beliefs. Getting real means pragmatically assessing the resources and time required to bring about desired change and soliciting candid feedback from the field. Getting better means regularly reviewing the organization's entire funding strategy in light of both outside perspectives and nonfinancial assets. Ditkoff and Colby outline the traps that funding institutions must avoid if they are to optimize their resources and organizational outcomes, and they offer stories from the James Irvine, Bill & Melinda Gates, Annie E. Casey, David and Lucile Packard, and Edna McConnell Clark foundations as examples of success. The pursuit of excellence, they say, can be imposed only by philanthropic investors themselves."

WHAT WOULD PETER SAY? (journal article)
By Rosabeth Moss Kanter
from Harvard Business Review Vol. 87 Issue 11 Nov 2009, pp. 64-70
"Heeding the wisdom of Peter Drucker might have helped us avoid -- and will help us solve -- numerous challenges, from restoring trust in business to tackling climate change. He issued early warnings about excessive executive pay, the auto industry's failure to adapt and innovate, competitive threats from emerging markets, and the perils of neglecting nonprofit organizations and other agents of societal reform. If he were still here, a century after his birth, what would he say about the path forward? The essential Drucker can be summarized in three themes: First, management should be a profession, and executives and managers should remember that their primary job is to look out for the long-term health of their organizations. That means taking responsibility for social well-being, not just wealth. Second, knowledge workers cannot be controlled; they must be motivated. Such employees must see a purpose more meaningful than personal profit. And third, nonprofits are necessary ingredients for producing a good society, one in which businesses can thrive. It is critical to invest in them. Drucker was not a revolutionary. He merely asked that we constantly challenge our assumptions. He preached steadiness and vision, recognizing that leading in turbulent times requires foresight about where things are heading as well as judgment about what not to change."

How to Jump-Start the Clean Tech Economy (journal article)
By Mark W Johnson and Josh Suskewicz
from Harvard Business Review Vol. 87 Issue 11 Nov 2009, pp. 52-60
"Billions of dollars worldwide are pumped into the search for clean technology and renewable energy. So far, however, most investment has been in companies that are using conventional business models to fit new technologies into existing systems. A far better approach, say Johnson and Suskewicz, is to create whole new systems. The authors propose a framework for thinking about clean tech that consists of four interdependent components: an enabling technology, an innovative business model, a careful market-adoption strategy, and a favorable government policy. Two recent experiments show how this framework can be applied: Better Place, founded by the software executive Shai Agassi, has a network of battery-recharging and -switching stations to support its electric cars and a business model based on selling electricity (miles) rather than vehicles. It has a foothold market in Israel, where gas- powered cars are taxed far higher than electric ones. Masdar City, now under construction in Abu Dhabi, will be a carbon-neutral incubator of clean technologies, supported by the investment, manufacturing, strategy, and academic units of a government initiative. The city is itself a foothold market and will benefit from government subsidies, "free zone" status, and favorable regulations. Both enterprises provide hope for supplanting the oil-based economy."

TEN PRINCIPLES FOR TAX REFORM (journal article)
By Robert Carling
from Policy Vol. 25 Issue 3 Spring 2009, pp. 9-15
"Australia's tax system needs principles that go beyond efficiency, equity and simplicity. The author discusses ten principles for tax reform."

What Jobs Pay 2009-2010 : earnings in the Australian jobmarket by occupation and age [book]

Author: Rodney Stinson

"Provides average weekly full-time income for eight age groups in each of the 400 occupations and 50 occupational groups." - introduction.

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Executive remuneration in Australia [book]

Author: Australia. Productivity Commission

"Proposes reforms that would improve the accountability of boards, remove conflicts of interest and enhance shareholder engagement on remuneration. ... The Commission is proposing a package of changes to the Corporations Act and ASX listing rules, including: barring executives from sitting on remuneration committees; requiring that remuneration consultants report to boards independently of management [and]; prohibiting directors and executives voting their shares and any undirected proxies on remuneration issues." - media release.

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Stress management for success in the workplace [book]

Author: Robert M. Fried

"Designed to provide tools that employees can use to handle their workplace stress in a constructive manner and also functions as a resource for employees on stress management programs that are very effective at reducing stress, reducing turnover, improving employee loyalty, increasing worker satisfaction and happiness." - page iv. Suggestions include: massage, self-hypnosis, meditation, nerolinguistic programming, exercise and diaphragmatic breathing.

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Will China fail? : the limits and contradictions of market socialism [book]

Author: John Cheong Seong Lee / Centre for Independent Studies (Australia)

"Looks at the profound and mounting contradictions, tensions, and dysfunctions within Chinese economy and society and why the country's problems are getting worse. It also examines the impact of the global financial crisis on China's economy and assesses the Chinese Communist Party's response to the crisis." - cover.

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It pays to be socially aware. (journal article)
By Matt Parsons
From Travel Trade Gazette UK & Ireland; 9/4/2009, Issue 2879, p10-11, 2p
"Information about topics discussed at a Travel Trade Group (TTG) roundtable discussion in Great Britain is presented. Topics include the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool with several range of uses including in training, marketing, and brand management. It notes the different opinions of executives from different travel companies regarding the issue. A list of the participants during the discussion is also provided. "

Creative solution, California tourism (journal article)
From Campaign (UK); 9/5/2009 Supplement, p12-13, 2p
"The article provides information on the move of California Tourism to promote the state. It cites that California chose The Times and The Sunday Times to develop a media partnership through Feather Brooksbank Ltd., its media agency. Sara Lamb, team leader of the News International Campaign Team, aimed to use the whole lay out of the two newspapers in print and online in educating the readers about the broader appeal of visiting California. "

Can a brand identity for a nation be successfully created? (journal article)
From B&T Magazine; 9/18/2009, Vol. 59 Issue 2701, p11-11, 1p, 3 color
"The article offers the opinion of Mike Staniford of Landor, Kate Messenger of Yello and Tim Riches of Futurebrand, regarding the 20 million-Australian dollar brand campaign for Australia. According to Staniford, identity is essential to countries as it is significant to sector such as business investment and tourism. Messenger stated that the identity to be created by the campaign should be credible. Riches asserted that the country is capable of employing such campaign."

Lists & Rankings: America’s 200 Best Small Companies Of 2009
Source: Forbes
"Our list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America begins with a search for companies that show both sales and earnings growth. Candidates must have annual revenue between $5 million and $750 million, be publicly traded for at least a year and have a stock price no lower than $5. Rankings are based on earnings growth, sales growth and return on equity in the past 12 months and over five years; we dropped companies with fuzzy accounting or looming legal troubles. We also compared the stock performance of each company with that of its peers. Shares of last year's list members outpaced the Russell by 10 percentage points. "

Joint venturing [book]

Author: Paul W. Beamish

"The key purpose of the book is to demonstrate that joint ventures can work. They require however an open mind, and the willingness to work through a series of questions. These relate to: testing the strategic logic; partnership and fit; shape and designs; and operating the JV." - cover.

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Taxation of SMEs : key issues and policy considerations [online]

Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Covers a broad range of SME taxation issues, including possible effects of taxation on the creation and growth of SMEs, and considerations arising from a relatively high compliance burden." - abstract.

The focused executive : leadership & management skills in challenging times [book]

Author: Virginia Mansell

"Explores many aspects of developing leadership and management skills, which are the means by which individuals grow into being effective leaders ... Packed with practical insights for individuals to better understand themselves and others. It provides analytical guidance and valuable advice on effective ways to work with people, teamwork, presentation skills, influencing and building trust." - publisher's website.

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Regulatory impact analysis : a tool for policy coherence [online]

Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Regulatory impact analysis (RIA) is a systemic approach to critically assessing the positive and negative effects of proposed and existing regulations and non-regulatory alternatives. This publication brings together recent OECD research and analysis concerning methodological issues and country experiences with RIA." - abstract.

The Determinants of Population and EmploymentGrowth in Small Queensland Regions (journal article)
by Bernard Trendle
from Economic Analysis and Policy, Vol 39 No 2 September 2009
"This paper investigates the determination of population and employment changes for the 125 Local Government Areas of Queensland over the 1996–06 period. The intention is to determine the flow of causality from employment to population growth and/or vice versa. Unlike previous similar studies, the role of geographic location is formally investigated using techniques from the field of spatial data analysis. Overall, results of previous research are confirmed, in that there is some evidence of bi-directional causality. However, spatial effects are found to be important in the process of regional growth, with regional economic performance in part, determined by the outcomes experienced in neighbouring regions."

Business Cycle Dynamics (journal article)
by Sebastian Wende
from Economic Analysis and Policy, Vol 39 No 2 September 2009
"This paper attempts to simulate endogenous cyclical behaviour through variations on the standard real business models. This paper relaxes the perfect foresight assumption implied by the rational agent hypothesis. It is replaced by imperfect adaptive expectations. The model is extended with a delay between investment and capital accumulation. This paper also simulates a non-equilibrium timedifferential wage adjustment in a model economy. The models show that the boom produced by a single positive technology shock can be followed by the equivalent of a recession. The models are solved using numerical methods for differential equations, which allow for non-linear dynamics, as opposed to the usual log linearisation."

China's Top Ten Companies (journal article)
from Fortune, October 2009
Energy, power and banking lead the list of the nation's - and some of the world's - biggest companies.

Services, ICTs and the Changing Nature of Economic Development Processes in the KBE Era (journal article)
by Tom Mandeville and Hadi Kardoyo
in Prometheus, Volume 27, Issue 1 March 2009 , pages 17 - 25
"We present a concise, exploratory, discussion paper that provides some promising hypotheses concerning how economic development processes may be evolving in the KBE era. Emerging roles for ICTs and services in the economy are driving these changes. Developing countries may be able to leapfrog stages of growth, or structural change, that presently developed nations historically went through. Case studies of India and Indonesia are utilized. "

The Competitive Process in the Age of the Internet (journal article)
by Peter E. Earl and Tom Mandeville
from Prometheus Volume 27, Issue 3 September 2009 , pp. 195 - 209
"This paper examines some of the impacts of the widespread adoption and use of the Internet in advanced countries on business, consumers and the media. It is argued that while capital costs of entry into Internet-based businesses may be very low, this does not guarantee that markets in which such firms operate will necessarily be hotly contested, for success may require substantial sunk costs to be incurred in development. It explores the changing nature of market institutions associated with the rise of e-commerce (including the advent of what are labelled 'portal' firms) and associated changes in the division of labour between buyers, sellers and intermediaries. The authors provide behavioural, evolutionary, and information theoretic perspectives on these dynamic issues. "

An Analysis of Workplace Representatives, Union Power and Democracy in Australia (journal article)
by David Peetz and Barbara Pocock
from British Journal of Industrial Relations, June 2009
"The purpose of this article is to illuminate the views and experiences of workplace representatives in Australia in the context of falling union density, and to analyse factors that are most strongly associated with subjective union power at the workplace level, as perceived by delegates. The analysis relies on a large random survey of workplace delegates in eight significant Australian unions. The article describes the situation broadly facing delegates as shown by the survey and analyses a set of factors associated with the power of workers as perceived by delegates. We find that higher levels of reported activism among delegates are strongly associated with greater subjective union power. ...Support for delegates from the union office and organizers is also associated with higher levels of union power at the local level. The analysis provides some support for union renewal strategies associated with the 'organizing model' as applied in Australia and some other Anglo-Saxon countries that aim to increase the activism of workplace delegates through education, the provision of support for workplace delegates and more democratic union structures."
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Prospects for Labour in Global Value Chains: Labour Standards in the Cut Flower and Banana Industries (journal article)
by Lone Riisgaard and Nikolaus Hammer
from British Journal of Industrial Relations, June 2009
"Global value chain (GVC) governance is central to analyses of labour's strategic options. It frames the terrain on which labour campaigns and institutions — such as private social standards and international framework agreements — contribute to the social regulation of value chains. GVC concepts help to emphasize how power in the employment relationship transcends organizational boundaries, as well as how industrial power is shifting from the sphere of production to that of consumption. Based on extensive case studies of the banana and cut flower value chains, we explore the implications of GVC restructuring for the scope and form of labour rights strategies."
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Nice girls can finish first : getting the results you want and the respect you deserve-- while still being liked [book]

Author: Daylle Deanne Schwartz

"Are you a 'People Pleaser'? Do you put up with put-downs? Say yes when you're dying to say no? Sit down when you should be standing up for yourself? ... This step-by-step guide from a self-described former 'doormat' shows you that you don't have to be a demanding diva or mean girl to get what you want. There's a 'nice' way to be assertive-in business and in life. Once you learn the secret, you can: Speak up-without shouting, Say no-without sounding negative, Be strong-without being aggressive, Get respect-without getting tough [and] Ask for anything you want-and get it!" - cover.
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OECD in Figures 2009 [online]

Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Simple to use, pocket data book. As ever, this 2009 edition contains key data on the OECD-wide economy, society and the environment. There are comparable tables on the entire spectrum of the organisation's work, from national income and industry through employment and research to banking and public finances. Our customary OECD in Graphs section highlights key challenges such as public debt, joblessness and climate change. "

How to prepare a business plan [book]

Author: Edward Blackwell

"Explains the whole process in accessible language, including guidance on: Producing cash flow forecasts and sample business plans; Expanding a business; Planning the borrowing; [and] Monitoring business progress. ... Introduces several small businesses as case studies, analysing their business plans, monitoring their progress and discussing their problems. Whether you are looking to start up or expand, this practical advice will help you to prepare plan that is tailored to the requirements of your business." - cover.

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Introductory economics for decision makers [book]

Authors: Paul Frijters, Uwe Dulleck and Benno Torgler.

An introductory textbooks explaining economic concepts and how they shapes Australian policy. Topics covered include: Market failures and the role of government, Taxation, the Australian labour market, Economics and the environment, and Regulation and privatisation.

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Giant steps in management : creating innovations that change the way we work [book]

Authors: Michael J. Mol and Julian Birkinshaw ; foreword by Gary Hamel.

"Looks at the pasts of 50 key management innovations in every area of management, showing you what caused these innovations to become so successful. ... Read about giant steps in: process, money, people management, internal structures, customer and partner interfaces, innovation and strategy, and information efficiency." - cover.

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OECD Economic Surveys : Japan (preliminary), 2009 [online]

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"In the context of the global economic crisis, the Japanese economy has fallen into its deepest recession of the post-war era. Output is projected to contract by around 6% in 2009, reflecting a plunge in exports and tighter financial conditions. Prompt action by the authorities to stabilise financial markets, cut the policy interest rate and implement large-scale fiscal stimulus is cushioning the blow and sets the stage for a mild recovery, against the backdrop of a projected sluggish rebound in world trade. With deflation entrenched, the Bank of Japan should keep the policy interest rate close to zero. As the stimulus packages fade and fiscal consolidation begins, sustaining the expansion will depend increasingly on private domestic demand, which requires economic reforms to create new drivers of growth. Reforms in the labour market, where rising dualism has constrained wages and private consumption, and the non-manufacturing sector, where productivity gains lag far behind manufacturing, are especially important. Policy reforms in a number of other areas are needed for robust and sustainable growth."

Throwing sheep in the boardroom : how online social networking will transform your life, work, and world [book]

Authors: Matthew Fraser & Soumitra Dutta.

"Examine the powerful forces behind the social 'e'-revolution, detailing often absurd and powerful reactions to it as well making predictions about its long-term consequences. ... Argues that while the Web 2.0 revolution has reached a tipping point socially ... it is facing powerful forces of resistance inside organizations - especially corporations and government bureaucracies." - cover.

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Supersize New Zealand : a collection of essays on how to improve New Zealand's public policy [book]

Editor: Luke Malpass / Centre for Independent Studies (Australia)

A series of essays which suggest that New Zealand needs less government, less and more predictable regulation, and less, but more targeted, government spending.

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