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The responses of family firms to mergers and acquisitions are analyzed taking the example of the takeover of an Australian wine producer and family firm.

In this article, we challenge the prevailing view that global staff transfers are a necessary cost of doing business globally by contending that such deployment is integral to successful strategic implementation. We use three scenarios-learning from failure, failure to learn, and lost opportunities-to illustrate how awareness of the consequences of decisions related to international staffing can facilitate their efficacy. Learning awareness therefore can lead to improved policies and outcomes for the management of global staff transfers and demonstrate the value HRM brings to the implementation process. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study utilizes Australian survey evidence to estimate the heath and justice costs of a cohort of young homeless people. Health and justice costs for young homeless people are highly skewed with median costs well below mean costs. This is particularly true of justice costs resulting from a relatively high proportion of young homeless people having no interaction with the justice system. Having a diagnosed mental health condition is a primary driver of both health and justice costs. Having been homeless or sleeping rough in the previous year is associated with approximately four times mean health and justice costs compared with not having experienced homelessness. High justice costs are associated not only with having a diagnosed mental health condition homelessness and rough sleeping, but also a high-risk of dependence on one or more drugs or alcohol, identifying as Indigenous and a history of out-of-home care before the age of 18. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong correlations among share prices appear during a market transitions. Numerous measures have been proposed to predict crash events, but they all show a trend which peaks at the transition itself. Information flow among share prices peaks before a transition, whereas correlation‐based indices peak at the transition itself. The classic spin model used in physics describes one type of tipping point where there is a peak in information flow located away from the transition point itself and is thus predictive. Information theoretic metrics of this kind have not been applied to prediction in real‐world systems, such as stock markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The youth foyer model was designed to provide a package of support, including accommodation to homeless or at-risk young people, based on participation in education, training and/or employment as a supported transition to independent living and a sustainable livelihood. Commencing in the early 1990s, the UK has developed a large number of foyers while Australia is a relative newcomer to this kind of supportive youth housing. Unlike in the UK, existing and proposed Australian foyer income generated from current benefits and subsidies is not sufficient to cover the cost of support. We highlight the need for an extensible source of funding specifically for supportive housing for homeless and at-risk youth in order to ensure the financial sustainability and therefore replicability of the foyer model in Australia. We also discuss some issues relating to the translation of the model from one national context to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent casual allusions to guidebooks in the tourism literature suggest their significance in contemporary tourist experience. Yet beyond the dominant discourses of literary and historical textual analysis, focused interpretation of the role of guidebooks in the tourism system is rare. This article aims to stimulate debate concerning the role of the guidebook in contemporary tourism and to identify how the guidebook is represented in the context of popular media. Results from a content analysis of representations of the guidebook in Australian print media between 2000 and 2009 suggest guidebooks are perceived both negatively and positively within journalistic discourse, that they are framed as significant facilitators of visitor experience and tourism development, and that an extensive range of travel guidebooks in both book and digital form available to consumers reflects the recent evolution in independent travel. Future guidebook-specific research objectives are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the causes of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and problems associated with the wider securitisation industry in general. It considers the impact of the global financial crisis on the securitisation market internationally and provides a summary of the regulatory reforms aimed at preventing future crises. The paper concludes by considering the adequacy of these reforms and what additional actions could be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manuscript Type: Conceptual Research Question/Issue: In this paper we identify and discuss the relationship between corporate governance and risk management of high technology firms, with publicly listed Australian biotechnology companies as a case in point. We present a governance structure that better manages the numerous complex risks such companies face. Research Findings/Insights: Audit committees are traditionally responsible for oversight of auditing matters relating to the company's financial systems and risk management relating to financial reporting. While the audit committee needs to have a full understanding of the risk management system in order to be able to assess the overall risk profile of the company we illustrate that the complex risk and regulatory environment high technology firms face may necessitate the creation of a separate risk management committee to interface with and assist the board and audit committee. Theoretical/Academic Implications: We provide evidence that the traditional governance model is inadequate in today's complex business environment, particularly for high technology companies. By analyzing the legislative, industry, and complex risk environment faced by these firms, we posit that the traditional model may need to change to meet the demands of a wider definition of governance that specifically incorporates risk management. Practitioner/Policy Implications: Against a backdrop of corporate collapse, increasing corporate regulation and reporting, risk management and oversight has been a recent addition to the role of the board. It is not inconceivable that capital market regulators may require reporting on risk management and the creation of a separate risk management in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the question of whether directors of publicly listed companies engage in self-serving behaviour. Specifically, the enquiry considers whether directors in failing firms reduce personal shareholdings in their firms as failure approaches. The answer not only has implications for shareholders and regulators but has importance in terms of agency theory. While it appears that directors of failed firms do not hold fewer shares or reduce their shareholdings in their own firms, it seems that they do not increase their shareholdings as frequently as those in non-failed firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]