Are There Still Differences Between the Roles of Private and Public Sector Managers? (journal article)
By Cline Desmarais and Emmanuel Abord de Chatillon
from Public Management Review Vol 12 Iss 1 Jan 2010, pp. 127 - 149
"In France, the differences between public and private organizations seem to have been reduced by the ubiquity of some management tools and approaches, and, at the same time, highlighted by the political environment, stereotypes, and negative perceptions of French public management. Given this confusion, systematic empirical studies are needed to determine the degree of convergence, if any, between management in the public and private sectors. The present study analyzed a survey of 908 managers, in order to determine whether differences in managerial practices still exist. Our results show that some differences do persist, although they are relatively small."

What is the Australian model for managing cultural diversity? (journal article)
By Jawad Syed and Robin Kramar
from Personnel Review Vol 39 Iss 1 2010, pp. 96 - 115
"This paper seeks to assess the Australian approach to managing a culturally diverse workforce by examining the outcomes of this approach."

THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN POWER DILEMMA (journal article)
By Paul Simshauser and Phillip Wild
from Australian Economic Papers Vol 48 Iss 4 2009, pp. 342-369
"From 1984 gas-fired power generation had been gradually increasing its share of the electricity market in Western Australia (WA) starting at 1 per cent and rising to about 50 per cent by 2008. Had it continued on this trajectory, the WA power system would have made great advances in terms of cost and environmental efficiencies given the looming commencement of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in Australia from 2011. However, more recently the cost of natural gas has increased from $3/GJ to $7/GJ following the sudden collapse of the East Spar gas field in the North West Shelf. In this article, we analyse the impact of the gas price increase and demonstrate that despite being the most environmentally efficient conventional technology, natural gas combined cycle plant has been squeezed out of the market which in turn will increase forward electricity price risks to WA consumers through greater exposure to CO2 pricing in the long run."

PESSIMISM OR OPTIMISM: A JUSTIFICATION TO VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (journal article)
By Johanna Etner, Meglena Jeleva and Pierre-Andre Jouvet
from Australian Economic Papers Vol 48 Iss 4 2009, pp. 308 - 319
"This article analyses the determinants of voluntary contribution to environmental quality by introducing the perception of environmental risk. We consider individuals who are aware both of the impact of their voluntary contributions and of the quality of the current environment on the future quality of environment. Their preferences are represented by the RDU model. We distinguish three kinds of effect: environmental quality, wealth and risk perception. The first effects are not always sufficient to explain agents' implication in the improvement of environmental quality."

The effects of employment protection legislation and financial market imperfections on investment: evidence from a firm-level panel of EU countries (journal article)
By Federico Cingano, Marco Leonardi, Julián Messina and Giovanni Pica
from Economic Policy Vol 25 Iss 61 2009, pp. 117 - 163
"Exploiting information from a panel of European firms we study the joint effect of EPL and financial market imperfections on investment, capital-labour substitution, labour productivity and job reallocation. We find that EPL reduces investment per worker, capital per worker and value added per worker in high reallocation sectors relative to low reallocation sectors, while increasing the average frequency at which firms adjust their capital stock. The reduction in capital per worker and value added per worker is less pronounced in financially sound firms. Also, the propensity to invest appears to increase only in firms that are likely to be financially unconstrained. Overall, poor access to credit markets seems to exacerbate the negative effects of EPL on capital deepening and productivity."

After the gold rush( journal article)
from The Economist, Vol 393 No 8661, 12.12.2009, pp.27-29
"The article focuses on Great Britain's National Health Service. The service's costs have risen significantly during the 2000s, and the country's large budget deficit means spending on it will likely not be increased. Managerial reforms creating increased internal competition within the service are examined."

Who cares about super? (article)
by Alan Kohler
from Business Spectator, 15.12.2009
"Sometimes the simplest, most obvious ideas are the best. The Super System Review’s idea for restructuring the architecture of super has the great benefit of simplicity, but whether it’s good or not depends entirely on the detail.The idea, in essence, is to divide the big funds into two: 'care' and 'don’t care'. The review panel, chaired by Jeremy Cooper, calls them 'Choice' and 'Universal', but the effect is the same. Actually, yesterday’s preliminary recommendations would divide super into four types of fund, but two of them – eligible roll-over funds (to be renamed 'Disconnected') and self-managed funds – already exist, so no change there.The real change would be to set up a formal difference between default funds and 'supermarket' funds, and the really important detail about that plan, still to come, involves the regulation of fees."

Making (more) sense of subjective rankings (article)
by Mary Hallward-Driemeier
from World Bank Research Digest, Vol 4 No 1, Fall 2009
Do firms’ subjective rankings of constraints to their business reflect reality? Evidence suggests that they do.

Fiscal ‘stimulus’: a loanable funds critique (journal article)
by Anthony J. Makin
from Agenda, Vol 16, No 4 2009
This paper proposes an extended loanable-funds framework for examining the effects of fiscal stimulus on the budget balance, international borrowing, real interest rates, private saving, private investment and national income. It challenges the prevailing view that fiscal policy can be used effectively as an income ‘stimulus’ instrument, and proposes that discretionary fiscal measures that increase the budget deficit entail macroeconomic costs for significant external borrower economies, such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Predictable results in unpredictable times [book]

Authors: Stephen R. Covey & others

"Captures four key principles for getting great performance in good times and bad. First, winning companies slim down to a few key simple goals with clear targets and careful follow-through. ... Second, winning companies maintain high levels of trust with their customers, employees, and suppliers. They are totally transparent about their commitments, what they can and can't deliver. ... Third, winning companies do more of what matters. ... Winning companies focus on giving more value-not just cutting back. Finally, winning companies recognize that everyone gets scared when things get uncertain. Instead of allowing themselves to be paralyzed by fear, they channel their anxiety into results." - from publisher.

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Systems leadership : creating positive organizations [book]

Authors: Ian Macdonald, Catherine Burke, and Karl Stewart

"Concerned with how people come together to achieve a productive purpose. Human survival has always depended upon our ability to form and sustain social organisations. People have a deep need to be creative and to belong. By creating positive organisations we can fulfil these needs and build a worthwhile society. Such organisations do not occur by chance; a positive organisation is created by the hard work of leaders and members and influenced by the way the organisation is designed, especially its systems. All this needs to be based on an understanding of sound, general principles of behaviour." - cover.

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The fine art of confident conversation : how to improve your communication skills and build stronger relationships [book]

Author: Debra Fine

"Shows you how to use conversation to build stronger relationships with friends, colleagues and family members. Discover how to: Develop meaningful conversations, Keep conversations on track, Deal with difficult people and awkward situations, Achieve the purpose of your meetings and presentations, Leave clear answer phone messages, [and] Send emails that won't be misinterpreted." - cover.

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Gearing up : business readiness for climate change [book]

Authors: Australian Industry Group; KPMG

Reports on the findings from a survey of 400 Australian companies in the manufacturing, services and construction sectors. Results include that: almost 75% of Australian companies are currently measuring their firm's carbon footprint or they plan to within the next year; 14% have assessed cost alternatives of alternative abatement measures; and 25% have no plans to measure their carbon footprint in the next 3 years.

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Is Normal Boring? (article)
by Michael Knox
from RBS Morgans, 11.12.2009
"After the turmoil of the last two years, the outlook for 2010 is (well) boring. Almost every country that we look at will grow somewhere near its trend growth rate. ...
Stockmarkets have now recovered from the deep recession discounts from which they suffered in the beginning of 2009. These deep recession discounts which saw stockmarkets trading at well below fair value were caused by a collapse of liquidity. Now that liquidity has returned, markets have returned to where they should be based on earnings per share and bond yield. We estimate that currently the S&P500 has a fair value of 1,160 points. This means that today at 1,102 points it is around 3% below fair value. We also estimate that the fair value of the ASX200 is 4,870 points. Trading today at 4,623 points it is around 5% below fair value."

Single point of failure : the 15 laws of supply chain risk management [book]

Author: Gary S. Lynch

"Shows you how everyone is involved in the supply chain itself, often on several levels at one time; how the footprint (the network) of the chain is exposed to an infinite number of constantly changing threats; how weak links in that chain represent threats and vulnerabilities; and how those threats and vulnerabilities can be managed, reduced and eliminated." - page 5.

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Robust Decision Making: Coping with Uncertainty (journal article)
By Robert J. Lempert, Steven W. Popper and Steven C. Bankes
from Futurist Vol. 44 Issue 1 Jan/Feb 2010, pp. 47-48
"The article focuses on the application of robust decision making (RDM) in taking the right choice in different situations. It states that RDM which emerged at RAND Corp. offers a variety of forecasts which provide the best option possible for decision makers. It mentions that the RDM is supported by a computer which tests the strategies using data extrapolations for iterative processes and suggests alternatives if the forecasts may perform poorly. In addition, the RDM also identifies the different characteristics of two or more plans together with their possible outcomes. The basic steps in RDM are also presented."

The Post-Scarcity World of 2050-2075 (journal article)
By Stephen Aguilar-Millan et al
from Futurist Vol. 44 Issue 1 Jan/Feb 2010, pp. 34-40
"The article presents the world economic forecast for 2050-2075. It states that scarcities in food, water and energy are expected to occur during these years which will greatly affect the operations of many institutions. It states that the aftereffects of the scarcity will impede the economic growth of 30 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development like U.S., Europe, and Australia. According to the European Union (EU), the scarcity will be the result of growing population wherein resources become limited."

R&D tax incentives: a reappraisal (journal article)
By Eren Inci
from International Tax and Public Finance Vol 16 Iss 6 Dec 2009, pp. 797-821
"This paper examines R&D tax incentives in oligopolistic markets. We characterize the conditions under which tax incentives reach the socially desirable level of firm-financed R&D spending. The outcome of the market depends not only on the level of technological spillover in the industry but also on the degree of strategic interaction between the firms. One major result emerges from the model: The socially desirable level of R&D investment is not necessarily reached by subsidizing R&D. When the technological spillover is sufficiently low, the government might want to tax R&D investments, and this result does not necessarily arise because firms are overinvesting in R&D. There are also cases in which an R&D tax is desirable even though firms are underinvesting in R&D compared with the first-best optimum. In practice, this theoretical finding calls for a lower sales tax combined with an R&D subsidy in oligopolistic industries with high technological spillovers, and a lower sales tax combined with an R&D tax in oligopolistic industries with low technological spillovers. "
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Free : the future of a radical price [book]

Author: Chris Anderson

"Considers a brave new world where the old economic certainties are being undermined by a growing flood of free goods - newspapers, DVDs, T shirts, phones, even holiday flights. ... Shows how the flexibility provided by the online world allows producers to trade ever more creatively, offering items for free to make real or perceived gains elsewhere. ... Demonstrates the ways in which, as an increasing number of things become available for free, our decisions to make use of them will be determined by two resources far more valuable than money: the popular reputation of what is on offer and the time we have available for it." - cover.

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Undress for success : the naked truth about making money at home [book]

Authors: Kate Lister, Tom Harnish

Offers honest, real-world information on home-based jobs, businesses and careers that can change your life. It explains everything you need to know about how to simplify your life with a work-at-home job or business.

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How to master networking [book]

Author: Robyn Henderson

"Provides a step by-step plan to take the confusion out of attending networking events, exchanging business cards, keeping in touch without being pushy and building successful business and career networks."

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Network analysis of tourism events: an approach to improve marketing practices for sustainable tourism (journal article)
by Anne-Marie Hede and Robyn Stokes
from Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Vol. 26 No. 7, 2009, pp.656-669, 14p
"Farmers' markets have recently emerged as a new tourism event around the globe. Yet, little information is known about them. This article explores the network of stakeholders associated with farmers' markets through a qualitative analysis over a period of time of an Australian farmers' market. Multiple methods of data collection were used to build a case study of the farmers' market. The findings highlight the acute need for this farmers' market, and potentially many others that are similar, to strategically establish an appropriate and effective network of stakeholders for both organizational longevity and tourism sustainability."

Crunch time : using and abusing Keynes to fight the twin crises of our era [book]

Author: Tony Kevin

"Australia today faces an existential challenge: how to manage simultaneously our two greatest national crises - the local effects of the global recession and global climate disruption. ... Argues that Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is dealing with these twin crises inadequately, especially by comparison with how US President Barack Obama is tackling the same policy challenges in his nation." - page 1.

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Green business practices for dummies [book]

Author: Lisa Swallow

Covers: How to develop a sustainability plan; How to "green" a business's daily office practices, product development and production, and physical facilities; Involving customers and stakeholders in sustainable business practices; and Measuring and reporting on the progress.

Chapters include: Sustainability : the visionary way to grow a business -- Pushing up your green sleeves : implementation -- Involving stakeholders in your sustainability efforts -- Measuring and reporting results -- The part of tens.

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The Dark side of behaviour at work : understanding and avoiding employees leaving, thieving, and deceiving [book]

Authors: John Taylor & Adrian Furnham

"This book is about the cause, manifestations and consequences of individual infidelity to the employer. It is concerned with why employees become angry, disgruntled and spiteful towards their employer and how they attempt to seek to damage or take revenge for their feelings. ... It aims to help people identify and manage those who are likely to cause considerable damage to the organizations that they work for through theft, sabotage, fraud or a range of other counterproductive behaviours." - page 1.

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The winner's bible : rewire your brain for permanent change [book]

Author: Kerry Spackman

"You've probably read plenty of books which promised to turn you into a happy, rich and successful person. Books filled with brilliant ideas that were finally going to transform your life. However, if you're like most people, you'll find a year later not much has actually changed in your life. The problem is that 'knowing' what to do and being able to do it are two entirely different things.
- Permanent change requires both the logical and the emotional circuits of your brain to be re-wired
- Your brain is not a computer that can be re-programmed by simply running 'different thoughts' through your mind.
Formula 1 Neuroscientist Dr Spackman explains, with fascinating examples taken from real life, the tools he developed to transform the performance of world class athletes and corporate executives. The Winner's Bible is a riveting read that will show you how to rise above your natural limits." - publisher's website.

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Think bits : things to get you thinking creatively [book]

Author: Nigel Collin

"In today's business world, success is determined more and more by our ability to come up with new ideas and creative solutions. It's all about thinking differently and more often than not we just need a bit of prodding to do just that. [This book] is a practical tool to help you think creatively and find 'out-of-the-box' creative solutions to conundrums." - introduction.

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Doing business 2010 : reforming through difficult times [book]

Authors: World Bank; International Finance Corporation

"Presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies ... and over time. Regulation affecting 10 stages of the life of a business are measured: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business." - contents.

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The Great crash of 2008 [book]

Authors: Ross Garnaut & David Llewellyn Smith

"Ross Garnaut, respected economist and author of the Garnaut Climate Change Review, takes us through the recent boom and the global imbalances that led to the bust. He presents a whole-world view of reasons for the downturn, from good, old-fashioned greed and rampant speculation, to the imbalances in global capital flows. Crucially, he sets out how we might seek order in the wreckage in a world forever changed. What are the geo-economic and geo-strategic implications of such a wide-ranging crash, and how do we restore development in this changed world? The book will also include the impact of the downturn on climate change, economic policy and ideology." - from publisher.

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Immigration policy change and the International student industry (journal article)
by Bob Birrell and Bronwen Perry
from People and Place, Vol 17, No 2 2009
"Enrolments of overseas students have grown sharply, especially in hospitality courses in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. Most VET sector students undertook their studies with the expectation that their qualification would lead to a permanent residence visa in Australia. However, since late 2008, changes to Australia’s migration policy mean that few will gain this outcome. This article explores the numbers of students affected and their options for staying on in Australia on a temporary or permanent basis. It argues that to be sustainable, the Australian international student industry must focus on providing qualifications that overseas
students can take back to their country of origin with profit."

Removing Conflict (journal article)
by Amanda Lohan
from Management Today, October 2009
"Conflict resolution is a critical managerial skill, but it is often dumped in the too-hard basket while issues are left to fester. "

Strategic Networking : Your Guide to Networking Excellence [book]

Authors: Robyn Henderson et al

"Whether you are a beginner or an advanced networker, this book provides clear tips and tactics for career building, business development and forging personal connections." - cover.

Chapters include: Networking anywhere in the world, Forensic networking, Informal strategic alliances, How to escape your career rut, Cultivate your cultural awareness, Virtual networking, and Creating and developing relationships.

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Business process mapping : improving customer satisfaction [book]

Authors: J. Mike Jacka, Paulette J. Keller

"Business Process Mapping is a powerful tool that offers a solid understanding of any given process, as well as the methods for that process to be more effective, and ensures that true value is being provided to customers. From management to internal auditor to external consultant, the new edition includes more detailed work and examples related to ERM [Enterprise Risk Management] practices, particularly focusing on how objectives, risks, and key performance indicators are fundamental to understanding and analyzing processes. As well, new tools are included toward enhancing and enriching the basic work done with process mapping." - from publisher.

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