What Was Privacy? (journal article)
by Lew McCreary and Harriet Pearson
from Harvard Business Review October 2008 Vol. 86 No. 10, pp. 123-131
Why is that question in the past tense? Because individuals can no longer feel confident that the details of their lives -- from identifying numbers to cultural preferences -- will be treated with discretion rather than exploited. Now IBM is involved in an open-source project known as Higgins to provide users with transportable, potentially anonymous online presences. ...
Companies that underestimate the importance of privacy to their customers or fail to protect it may eventually face harsh regulation, reputational damage, or both. The best thing they can do, says the author, is negotiate directly with those customers over where to draw the line.
It's Time to Make Management a True PROFESSION (journal article)
by Rakesh Khurana and Nitin Nohria
from Harvard Business Review October 2008, Vol. 86 No. 10, pp. 70-77
In the face of the recent institutional breakdown of trust in business, managers are losing legitimacy. To regain public trust, management needs to become a true profession in much the way medicine and law have, argue Khurana and Nohria of Harvard Business School. There are two deeply divided schools of thought. One school argues that management's aim should simply be to maximize shareholder wealth; the other argues that management's purpose is to balance the claims of all the firm's stakeholders. Any code will have to steer a middle course in order to accommodate both the value-creating impetus of the shareholder value concept and the accountability inherent in the stakeholder approach.
Exchange Rate Implications for Australian Manufacturing Investment and Exports (journal article)
By Robyn Swift
from Economic Analysis and Policy Vol 37 No 2 Sept 2007, pp. 145 - 162
"This paper uses time series data on individual industries to examine the relationship between exchange rates and investment for Australian manufacturing. "
An Estimated Trade Restrictiveness Index of the Level of Protection in Australian Manufacturing (journal article)
by Peter Lloyd and Donald MacLaren
from Australian Economic Journal, Vol. 41 No. 3, pp. 250 - 259
In this paper we provide a new 31-year time series of the level of protection in the Australian manufacturing sector. The index used is an estimate of the partial equilibrium form of the Trade Restrictiveness Index recently developed by the World Bank. This is the theoretically correct welfare based average of levels of nominal protection. The paper outlines the index and its properties. Some comments are made on the insights gained from the new series and on the record of the Labor and coalition governments in making reforms to industry assistance.
Positive Self-image and Incentives in Organisations (journal article)
by Luís Santos-Pinto
from The Economic Journal, Vol. 118 No. 531, pp. 1315 - 1332
This paper investigates the implications of workers' mistaken beliefs about their abilities on incentives in organisations. It shows that if effort is observable, then an agent's mistaken beliefs about his own ability are favourable to the principal. However, when effort is unobservable an agent's mistaken beliefs about his own ability can be either favourable or unfavourable to the principal. The article provides conditions under which an agent's overestimation about his own ability is favourable to the principal when effort is unobservable. The article shows that workers' mistaken beliefs about their co-workers' abilities make interdependent incentive schemes more attractive to firms than individualistic ones.
Work-Life Balance or Work-Life Alignment? A test of the importance of work-life balance for employee engagement and intention to stay in organisations (article)
By Louise P Parkes and Peter H Langford
from Journal of Management and Organization Vol 14 Iss 3 July 2008, pp. 267 - 284
"In an Australian sample of over 16,000 employees we assessed whether employees are satisfied with their ability to balance work and other life commitments. We tested the hypothesis that work-life balance is important for engaging and retaining employees in the context of other aspects of organisational climate.
We also explored how individual and organisational variables were related to work-life balance aiding further development of theory integrating work with other aspects of life. Results showed that of 28 organisational climate factors, work-life balance was least related to employee engagement and intention to stay with an organisation.
We discuss implications for how organisations position work-life balance strategies, particularly in relation to social responsibility and wellness, rather than the solution to employee commitment and retention. "
Work and Family Policy: Spoilt for choice or spoilt by choice? (article)
By Tanya Bretherton
from Journal of Management and Organization Vol 14 iss 3 July 2008, pp. 259 - 266
"
Employer perspectives on work-life balance are under-developed and under-represented within the context of public debate on work and family. The current state of policy debate on work and family is grounded in the value of 'choice' and implicitly suggests that expanding the range of programs available will inevitably deliver a superior program for employees and employers.
While diversity in program design is obviously an important priority for both parties, the current debate has not substantially increased knowledge or awareness of how best to assess program 'fit' nor evaluate program effectiveness for either party.
This paper presents the experience of two organisations which have implemented successful work-life programs by focusing exclusively on workplace and workforce need, rather than policy rhetoric. Comparing the experience of these two organisations demonstrates that the needs of employers may be better served by a shift in the policy debate toward program 'appropriateness' and improved program evaluation techniques, and away from 'choice'.
Government rhetoric on 'choice' may actually serve to confuse rather than assist employers in the formation of an integrated and effective organisational wide work and family policy and program. "
