Large Australian Organisations Research Articles

“What Do I Say? How Do I Say it?” Twitter as a Knowledge Dissemination Tool for Mental Health Research

This study aims to generate evidence-based guidelines for researchers regarding how to effectively disseminate mental health research via Twitter. Three hundred mental health research Tweets posted from September 2018 to September 2019 were sampled from two large Australian organizations. Twenty-seven predictor variables were coded for each Tweet across five thematic categories: messaging; research area; mental health area; external networks; and media features. Regression analyses were conducted to determine associations with engagement outcomes of Favourites, Retweets, and Comments. Less than half (n = 10) of predictor variables passed validity tests. Notably, conclusions could not reliably be drawn on whether a Tweet featured evidence-based information. Tweets were significantly more likely to be Retweeted if they contained a hyperlink or multimedia. Tweets were significantly more likely to receive comments if they focused on a specific population group. These associations remain significant when controlling for organization. These findings indicate that researchers may be able to maximize engagement on Twitter by highlighting the population groups that the research applies to and enriching Tweets with multimedia content. In addition, care should be taken to ensure users can infer which messages are evidence-based. Guidelines and an accompanying resource are proposed.

Capturing the missing voices: A ‘fair go’ for sexual and gender minority employees in Australian workplaces

This article explores employee voice within organizations, in the context of the often-complex inclusion of sexual and gender minority (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI)) employees. This study utilized a qualitative case study approach to gather insights from diversity experts and organizational documents of three large Australian organizations representing private, not-for-profit and public sectors. This research focused on organizational interventions that capture the voices of LGBTI employees, because their voice remains a challenge. While extant literature has largely focused on employee networks as a primary voice for this group, this study identifies several other integral and novel mechanisms. This study contributes to existing knowledge by developing an empirically based theory on voice mechanisms to overcome the spirals of silence. The findings of this study offer practical value to organizations seeking to promote LGBTI voice and inclusion in the workplace. JEL Classification: J15, J16, J71, J81, M12, M14, O15

Multilevel Continua of Mothers, Fathers and Childless Women and Men’s Work–Life “Choices” and Their Constraints, Enablers and Consequences

Gendered and classed working, parenting and other life contexts create multifaceted interactions between quantitative (including time and effort-intensive) and qualitative (including needs, interests, aspirations and identities) work and life contexts. This research aimed to understand mothers, fathers and childless women and men’s gendered and classed strategies for managing multifaceted work and life interactions in their multilevel contexts. The research consisted of a qualitative case study of a large Australian organisation that ostensibly prioritised diversity and inclusion and offered flexible working arrangements to all employees. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse forty-seven employees’ responses to open-ended questions in a self-administered questionnaire, combined with iterative in-depth interviews with 10 employees. The findings suggested mothers, fathers, childless women and men’s nuanced strategies for managing multifaceted work–life interactions were explained by multilevel continua of “choices” between incompatible quantitative and qualitative work and life contexts, embedded in gendered and classed individual, family, community, organisational and societal constraints, enablers and consequences, which inhibited agency to make genuine work–life choices. These “choices” reflected and reinforced societally and organisationally hegemonic working, mothering, fathering and childlessness discourses.

Ethical Decision-Making in Indigenous Financial Services: QSuper Case Study

This case study details how and why integrating storytelling, empathy, and inclusive practice shifted QSuper, a large Australian finance organisation, from minimal awareness to moral awareness then moral capability in the delivery of services to Indigenous customers. During the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation, and Financial Services Industry, QSuper were recognised for their exemplary service with Indigenous customers (Hayne, Interim report: Royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry, Volume 1. Commonwealth of Australia, 2018; Transcript of Proceedings, 13 August, Commonwealth of Australia, 2018). This position was in stark contrast to the inaccessible service offerings of other financial organisations where some used predatory practices to sell unethical financial products to Indigenous Australians (Hayne, Interim report: Royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry, Volume 1. Commonwealth of Australia, 2018; Hayne, Final report: Royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry, Volume 1. Commonwealth of Australia, 2019a). Storytelling garned from visiting customers in remote communities and other meaningful activities involving inclusive practice to facilitate ethical decision-making in finance is different to standard functionalist finance approaches (Schinckus, Int Rev Financ Anal 40:103–106, 2015). Two empathetic questions asked within QSuper complementing the storytelling, were: “What is the right thing to do by the customer?” and “How would I feel if this were my mother?” Exploration into the lived reality of moral capacity is important based on the Commission finding many of the 490,000 finance staff do not know how to provide ethical services to vulnerable customers, in particular remote Indigenous customers (Australian Bureau of Statistics. Labour force, Australia, detailed. ABS. Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/latest-release, 2021; Hayne, Final report: Royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry, Volume 1. Commonwealth of Australia, 2019a). Furthermore, there is minimal literature on the role of Indigenous storytelling to heighten moral awareness in the finance industry which was found to lead to better ethical outcomes.

Relationship-Based Care Work, Austerity and Aged Care

Home care and aged care in English-speaking countries around the globe have enthusiastically taken up a model of work known as ‘relationship-based care’ (RBC). Part of the popularity of RBC is because it does not challenge austerity, underfunding, and extensive managerialism. Instead it works within and through them to foster caring connections between patients, staff, and families, and is able to do so because workers are willing to self-sacrifice for clients. Drawing on case study data collected using a ‘rapid ethnography’ methodology in two large Australian aged care organisations, this article explores workers’ experience of work and contributes to Bolton’s typology of emotion management in the relationship-based care endeavour. Our typology includes: (1) austerity-linked sacrifice; (2) official discourse; (3) faux control; and (4) compulsory time philanthropy. The article contributes to debates on care work, relationship-based care, emotional labour, and emotion management and working in the context of austerity and managerialism.

Health professionals\u2019 perceptions of how gender sensitive care is enacted across acute psychiatric inpatient units for women who are survivors of sexual violence

BackgroundSexual violence is a global public health issue. It is a form of gender-based violence commonly experienced by women accessing mental health services. The biomedical model has been the dominant model of care in acute psychiatric units, however, there has been a global movement towards more gender-sensitive and trauma-informed models. To date, only a small amount of research has focused on evaluating these models of care and health professionals’ experiences of providing this care. The aim of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of healthcare professionals’ perceptions of how Gender Sensitive Care (GSC) is enacted across acute psychiatric inpatient units for women who are survivors of sexual violence.MethodsThis study used case study methodology and the Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) conceptual framework. NPT is a practical framework that can be used to evaluate the implementation of complex models of care in health settings. It included semi-structured interviews with 40 health professionals, document and policy reviews, and observations from four psychiatric inpatient units within a large Australian public mental health organisation. Data were examined using thematic and content analysis.ResultsThemes were developed under the four NPT core constructs; 1) Understanding GSC in acute psychiatric units: “Without the corridors there’s not a lot we can do”, 2) Engagement and Commitment to GSC in acute psychiatric units: “There are a few of us who have that gender sensitive lens”, 3) Organising, relating and involvement in GSC: “It’s band aid stuff”, 4) Monitoring and Evaluation of GSC in acute psychiatric units: “We are not perfect, we have to receive that feedback”.DiscussionMany health professionals held a simplistic understanding of GSC and avoided the responsibility of implementing it. Additionally, the competing demands of the biomedical model and a lack of appraisal has resulted in an inconsistent enactment of GSC.ConclusionsHealth professionals in this study enacted GSC to varying levels. Our findings suggest the need to address each NPT construct comprehensively to adequately implement GSC.

Health professionals\u2019 experiences of providing care for women survivors of sexual violence in psychiatric inpatient units

BackgroundSurvivors of sexual violence, who are predominantly women, commonly access mental health services. Psychiatric inpatient units in Australia are predominately mixed gender and may further retraumatise these women. Sexual violence is under-recognised by mental health professionals and there is a lack of adequate policy or direction for mental health service services. To date, only a small amount of research has focused on health professionals’ experiences of providing trauma-informed care to women in psychiatric settings, with most studies focused on specific practices or interventions. Qualitative data is particularly lacking on this topic. This is a critical gap in the knowledge given that health professionals are key to detecting and addressing victimisation. The aim of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of healthcare professionals’ experiences and perceptions in providing care to women who are survivors of sexual violence in psychiatric inpatient units.MethodsThis qualitative study utilised semi-structured interviews with 40 health professionals recruited from four psychiatric inpatient units within a large Australian public mental health organisation. Data were examined using thematic analysis.ResultsThree main typologies were developed to describe participants’ experiences of the care provided to women; 1) Dismissing and denying; 2) Acknowledging but unprepared; 3) Empathising but despairing.DiscussionGender, professional training, adherence to the biomedical model, and level of experience influenced health professionals’ experiences.ConclusionsHealth professionals in this study held varying attitudes towards female consumers and responses to sexual violence. Our findings suggest the need to address individual staff perception and promote trauma-informed and gender-sensitive care across all disciplines, genders, and levels of experience.

Applying design thinking in a hierarchical organisation

Many large financial services organisations are seeking to develop their employees’ design capability to develop innovative customer solutions. Yet, there appears limited understanding on how individual employees (without a background in design) view the relationship of design thinking to innovation. This study investigates how employees perceive design thinking and its potential link to drive innovative practices within a large Australian multinational financial services organisation. An exploratory qualitative approach used face-to face semi-structured interviews with diverse participants from across the organisation. A modified existing design capability framework was used to map each individual’s perspectives and illustrate the organisation’s current DT and innovation capacity. Findings from this study contribute new insights regarding employee perceptions and design capability requirements

Shared Value Creation in Australian Insurance Industry: The Qualitative Case Studies of IAG and AIA

This study explores the societal and economic value creation by large Australian insurance organisations, which integrate ‘shared value’ business model into their core business. The research objective of this paper is to explore the adoption of three value-enhancing thematic components of the applied shared value model, which are reconceiving products and markets, redefining productivity in the value chain and enabling local cluster development, by two Australian insurance organisations. Using case study design, the thematic analysis of primary interview data reflects how Insurance Australia Group (IAG) and American International Assurance (AIA Australia) have utilised the shared value model to create social value while generating economic value. The secondary findings also identify a fundamental shift in the customer value propositions within the conventional insurance industry, demonstrating successful utilisation of shared value model. The findings will help future academic researchers and practice managers to understand the evolving thematic components of value creation operating within the Australian insurance industry. Keywords : Shared Value, Australian Insurance Industry, Qualitative Case Study DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-30-09 Publication date :October 31 st 2019

Corporate security career progression: a comparative study of four Australian organisations

The study investigated the Corporate Security stratum of work within large Australian organisations, seeking to extract professional seating, roles, associated task complexity, career opportunity and progression ceilings as articulated through the socio-organisational literature. Two phases were applied: Phase One used online surveys distributed to participants (N = 53) across four Australian organisations, Phase Two employed semi-structured interviews and focus groups (N = 14). Findings reinforced the established literature articulation of corporate security’s roles; however, they contested the current articulation of corporate security’s executive level seating within large organisations. Instead, the study identified a Corporate Security seating with a restricted sphere of risk-based influence, along with a maximum career level at general manager. The study demonstrates an occupational corporate security ceiling, debunking the security executive belief. Corporate security was located within the technostructure group as a specialist, limiting opportunity for executive level roles or strategic influence.

Outcomes of an individual placement and support programme incorporating principles of the collaborative recovery model.

Engaging in employment enhances mental health recovery and is therefore of central focus for many occupational therapists working in mental health. Individual placement and support (IPS) is an evidence-based, supported employment model specifically designed for individuals with severe mental illness who have the desire to work. Despite strong support for IPS in Australia, implementation challenges have been encountered. This study evaluates outcomes achieved by participants engaged with WorkWell, an IPS programme delivered by a large Australian non-government organisation. In addition to following IPS principles, WorkWell was informed by principles of the collaborative recovery model (CRM). De-identified outcomes data for each participant were analysed by an independent research team. The proportion of individuals engaged with the programme who achieved a competitive employment placement was calculated. Average employment duration and weekly wages were calculated for individuals who achieved a competitive employment placement. Finally, the proportion of individuals who achieved some form of vocationally relevant outcome was calculated. Ninety-seven participants were engaged with the programme. Forty-eight participants (49.5%) gained a competitive employment position. Average employment duration was 151days (21.6weeks) and average weekly wage was $478. Overall, 62 participants (63.9%) were supported to achieve some kind of vocationally relevant outcome (e.g. competitive employment, education, work trial or voluntary work) as a result of their engagement with the programme. While the addition of CRM principles appears to have supported positive outcomes for participants, especially in terms of employment duration, results for employment placement rates were lower than expected. While the employment placement rate compares favourably to results from the international literature and numerous programmes in Australia, more development is required to increase the proportion of individuals who are supported into competitive employment positions. Future research should focus on the specific elements of CRM that most contribute to enhancing IPS processes.

Influence of sustainability scholarship on competencies – an empirical evidence

Purpose Curricula is developing from a pure knowledge-based outcome to a more skill-based outcome, with the objective of creating and advancing competencies that meet employer expectations. While the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) demand organisations to change practices and adapt to sustainable goals, there is a lack of understanding in how competencies can enhance these goals. The purpose of this paper is twofold: Study 1 explores competencies related to sustainability required in a work force and examines employer perceptions on the existing literature for competencies. Study 2 empirically tests the influence of sustainability scholarship on non-technical competencies in the work force. Design/methodology/approach A mixed method approach was undertaken. A sample of managers from 39 large Australian organisations participated in the scoping study. This was followed by further interviewing executives from 12 multinational corporations in China to assess the validity of competencies and provide deeper understanding of the issues at hand. The quantitative study analysed a sample of executive responses from 229 multinationals in China using factor and regression analysis to test for the effects of mediation. Findings The research highlights that the underlying competencies regarding sustainability influences the bigger picture within firms for attaining sustainability. The affective and cognitive growth of sustainability scholarship is governed mainly by a firm’s sustainable values. Core organisational values facilitate the development of non-technical competencies. These relationships and their cumulative effect on competencies provide a theoretical framework for acquiring sustainability within organisations. Employees need sustainability scholarship for enhancing sustainability. Sustainability scholarship reflects high-level learning obtained through universities or training. The research found that non-technical competencies such as professional ethical responsibility mediate between core business competencies and sustainability scholarship. Originality/value By exploring employer’s perception of competencies, the study first makes an important contribution in addressing the need to support SDGs by bridging organisational-level competencies and sustainability literacy, which hold significant benefits for practitioners, academia and organisations at large. Second, the theoretical findings strengthen the need for embedding competencies in the curriculum. It conveys the need for sustainability literacy/scholarship to align with organisational training and learning pedagogies, in order to effectively meet industry needs. Third, it provides useful insights on employers’ estimation about workplace competencies and broadens our understanding on the contribution that competencies within organisations make to this end.

Open-plan office, employees’ enactment, interpretations and reactions to territoriality

PurposeResearch on the physical work environment and employee territorial behavior in the field of organizational behavior is limited. In particular, while the prevalence of territorial behaviors in organizations is not new, little is known about how the physical work environment (e.g. open-plan offices) may influence the enactment, interpretation and reactions to territoriality. The purpose of this paper is to explore the connection between the physical environment of work (e.g. open-plan office), employee territorial behaviors (including infringement) and affective environment.Design/methodology/approachData were collected by means of in-depth-interviews from 27 participants from two large Australian public organizations involved in recruitment, marketing, consulting and education.FindingsResults revealed that employees’ personalization in the open-plan office is driven by the nature of their tasks, appointment, duration of time spent on their desk, level of adaptation to the open-plan office configurations and the proximity of desks to senior managers, hallways and passers-by. Additionally, affective environment has a critical effect on employee personalization and the enactment and perception of territoriality and infringements in open-plan offices. Additionally, the authors found that the affective environment is dynamic and that employees in open-plan offices experienced emotional contagion (positive and negative).Research limitations/implicationsDue to the demographic make-up of one of the participating organizations, less than a third of participants were male. While the data did not suggest any disparity in the territorial behaviors of male and female, future research should include an even representation of male and female participants. Similarly, the authors did not examine the impact of ethnicity and cultural background on employees’ territoriality. However, given that the workforce is increasingly becoming multicultural, future research should explore how ethnicity might impact the use of space, work processes and productivity in open-plan office. Additionally, scholars should continue to tease out the impact of affective environment (positive and negative) on team processes (e.g. conflict, communication, collaboration and the development of team mental models) in the open-plan office.Practical implicationsThe results indicate some practical implications. Noise and distraction are indicated in the results. Therefore, human resource managers and organizational leaders should work with employees to develop some ground rules and norms to curb excessive noise in the open-plan office. Additionally, the authors found in the current study that the affective environment is dynamic and that employees in open-plan offices experienced emotional contagion (positive and negative). Managers should watch out for how individuals react to the prevailing emotions and moods in the open-plan office with the intention of diffusing negative emotions as quickly as possible, for example, by changing the topic under discussion in the open-plan office. The results speak to the need for more active collaboration and engagement between policy makers, workspace architects, designers and employees especially prior to the building of such workspaces.Social implicationsThe results suggest that effective employee interactions in open-plan office may be enhanced by positive emotional contagion and office affective environment.Originality/valueSo far, little is known about the impact of the physical work context (e.g. open-plan offices) on the enactment, interpretation and reactions to territoriality. The current paper explores the connection between the physical environment of work (e.g. open-plan office), employee territorial behaviors (including infringement) and affective environment. The findings demonstrate for the first time and especially in an open-plan office that ownership and personalization of objects and workspaces are more likely to be driven by the amount of time spent at one’s desk, the nature of employees’ appointments and tasks. Additionally, the present research is one of the first to report on affective environment dynamism in the open-plan office.

Investigating work-related musculoskeletal disorders: Strengths and weaknesses of current practices in large Australian organisations

This paper presents a conceptual framework for learning from investigations of work-related musculoskeletal disorders based on the literature. The framework is used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current practices in 19 large Australian organisations, in comparison to recommended practice in the literature. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 34 employees responsible for investigating reports of WMSDs. The findings show that current practices are highly variable both within and across organisations, and that reports of minor injuries due to work tasks (i.e. pain, discomfort) are unlikely to be investigated. While some practices that may enhance opportunities for learning were identified, they tended to occur based on individual skills and experience. Participants also reported significant challenges in implementing recommendations to address WMSDs following investigations. Overall, the findings suggest that in large Australian organisations, investigation processes for WMSDs are not aligned with recommended practice in the literature, and that insufficient resources are available to translate any potential lessons into effective prevention activities.

Understanding Organizational (In)action in Response to Climate Change: Evidence from Australia

This paper examines why large Australian organizations’ response to climate change is often muted despite increasing regulatory, stakeholder and societal pressure to respond. Through adopting a qualitative research methodology that covers a wide range of sectors, we investigate why and how Australian corporations are responding to climate change. The findings show that a number of drivers internal and external to the organization elicit responses in the following key areas: energy efficiency, driven by a business case and risk management approach; increased measurement and reporting of emissions; investments in renewable energy; stakeholder engagement; supply chain measures and; increased coopetition. We show that the responses are largely undertaken through a risk-minimization lens that promotes mitigation of emissions, rather than adaptation. This is explained as being the result of three underlying causes – uncertainty about climate change, climate change policy in Australia and evidence of path dependence in the organizational routines of risk management and corporate governance. Conclusions are presented with implications for future research.

Understanding VET teacher attitudes to student support in a major public VET provider

In the ever-changing environment of vocational education and training (VET), an individual teacher can create a learning environment which can inhibit or promote the success of a student. Their encouragement of small successes, acknowledgement of study challenges and practical guidance can assist students to push forward to achieve their goal. Conversely, an unsupportive teacher’s actions can diminish a student’s significance and build barriers to success, causing distress which can influence not only current study direction but undermine any possible notions of future learning. This study aims to investigate the attitudes and practices of teachers across two schools within a large Australian VET organisation. These responses have been collated and examined to describe and understand the practices and attitudes as well as the challenges and limitations to practice, with the intention of investigating attributes which are critical for teachers to display in order to motivate student retention and engagement in vocational education.

Anomaly Detection in Complex Real World Application Systems

The ability to understand application performance and pro-actively manage system state is becoming increasingly important as infrastructure services move toward commodisation models such as cloud computing. The complexity of systems being monitored in large corporations means that detailed component-by-component analysis and/or simulation of behaviour can be impractical. The key problem is to find practical systems management approaches that enable behavioural profiling and detection of anomalous events in complex real world systems. This paper details a system performance measurement method that enables slowdown event detection and characterisation of application behaviour. These measurement techniques can underpin IT service management frameworks such as the IT Infrastructure Library. This enables business to manage the stability and performance of the end-user experience in order to support productivity and effectiveness of business processes. This paper examines anomaly detection efficiency in two case studies using six detection models in a large Australian financial services organisation. The whole of service anomaly detection methodology proposed in this paper was found to be more efficient than alternative individual transaction and whole of service models.

To integrate or not to integrate? Understanding B2B social media communications

PurposeSocial media communications on platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn can allow managers to interact cost effectively with trading partners. However, although most firms have an online presence on multiple social media platforms, the question remains as to whether marketers’ widespread social media investments are beneficial for firms. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents competing hypotheses to explore how firms’ investment in one form of social media impacts activity on another form of social media. To do so, the authors draw on a data set of 208 large Australian organizations using objective social media activity metrics that measure business-to-business (B2B) audience engagement.FindingsThe findings suggest that widespread social media activity on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube negatively affects a firm’s marketing activity on Facebook. The results indicate that having a social media preference whereby firms focus on a specific social media platform is more effective in forming successful inter-organizational relationships than a multiplatform approach.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the sparse research that seeks to leverage social media for audience engagement beyond a business-to-consumer context. The study’s findings provide insights into the key mechanisms that underlie firms’ B2B social media strategies, and in so doing, offer a fresh perspective on the importance of interactive marketing communication.

Multiple Case Explorations of Australian Property Organisations Creating Social and Economic Value: Application of Shared Value Framework

Name: Asoke (Rocky) Mehera Affiliation: University of Southern Queensland Proposed Format: Presentation in-person Theme (2): Sustainability in Economic and Social Context Title of Conference Proposal: Multiple Case Explorations of Australian Banking Organisations Creating Social and Economic Value: Application of Shared Value Framework. Abstract: The study has strived to explore simultaneous social and economic value creation by large Australian banking organisations integrating ‘Shared Value' (Porter and Kramer, 2011) framework more cohesively into their core business mechanism and strategy. The study has adopted a qualitative multiple case design to conduct semi-structured open-ended face to face interviews for collection of primary data. Based on the interpretive paradigm; the study has conducted a thematic analysis of shared value initiatives for value creation based on total three thematic components derived from the applied three-level shared value framework (i.e. re-conceiving products and markets, value chain configuration, enabling clustered collaboration). The findings have denoted the banking organisation-wide similarities and differences based on the emphasis given to socio-economic-communal inclusion and product innovation based on the new value proposition.

The social legitimacy of disability inclusive human resource practices: the case of a large retail organisation

Research in the field of HRM has begun to examine organisational responses to social policies around welfare‐to‐work programs. However, relatively little research has examined how organisations respond to the increased demand from people with disability for employment opportunities. The current study addressed this knowledge gap by exploring how a large Australian retail organisation legitimises disability employment practices against the background of the institutional context of disability employment. The findings revealed that the organisation seeks social legitimacy for disability employment practices primarily based on social expectations and to a lesser extent, from government funded disability employment agencies. The study makes three important contributions to the SHRM literature. It provides empirical evidence of how SHRM responds to welfare‐to‐work programs, informs the development of social policy relevant to disability employment and adopts the notion of institutional fit as a way of explaining how government incentives influence HRM diversity strategies.