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Tensions exist between privacy and accountability in a philanthropic context, and how privateness interacts with forms and practices of accountability beyond transparency remains unclear. This study examines privacy and accountability in Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs), Australian endowed philanthropic foundations established for public benefit purposes, yet with private ownership and control. Three levels of privacy and accountability in foundations are examined: individual or family donors, the foundations they create, and foundations as a group or institution. Semi-structured interviews with managers and/or trustees of PAFs reveal privacy exists at different levels and different points simultaneously on the continuum between privateness and publicness, impacting perceptions and practices of accountability.

This research explored perspectives on the accountability of Private Ancillary Funds, a type of Australian endowed philanthropic foundation and was undertaken as part of a Masters by Research. With limited regulatory obligations and public reporting exemptions available, Private Ancillary Funds have discretion in various forms of public accountability. Ten in-depth interviews were undertaken with managers and trustees of Private Ancillary Funds, revealing that Private Ancillary Funds engage in accountability primarily for internal reasons relating to their mission and purpose, and their desire to lead others in philanthropy. This case study explores the processes of participant recruitment, data collection using semi-structured interviews, and analysis of interview transcripts using NVivo software. Reflective views on the challenges, highlights, and practicalities of interviewing notoriously private and difficult-to-reach philanthropists are offered.

Rationale & Background We are currently revising our Master of Business Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies) curriculum. The revised course should meet the needs of Australian nonprofit managers, and have a strong evidence base. To date, no study of this kind has been undertaken in Australia (Wenzel 2014). While the NACC guidelines (NACC 2015) are helpful, we need to ensure the skills taught meet the needs of Australian nonprofit managers (Wang & Ashcroft 2012).

The value of business planning to new business ventures and small firms has been the subject of debate among entrepreneurship researchers. In this paper, we examine business planning practices as a function of legitimacy formation among Australian social enterprises, drawing on a mixed-methods study. We find that business planning practices are driven to establish legitimacy with external stakeholders as well as organizational performance imperatives, although legitimacy is the stronger driver. Findings also suggest business planning processes serve unique communicative and relational functions among social enterprises. This has implications for understanding legitimacy formation within multi-goal and multi-stakeholder businesses.

When government purchases social services under contract from a nonprofit organisation, a clear accountability relationship is created. The NPO must give an account for the use of the funds and achievement of outcomes to the funder. This paper explores how accountability is enacted in two different types of funding relationships in Queensland. Support is found for the argument that different relationships have different approaches to accountability.

This paper reports on a study of the key determinants of public trust in charitable organisations, using survey data commissioned by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. Data analysis used partial least squares structural equation modelling to examine both antecedents of trust and the influence of trust on charitable donative intentions. We found that people tend to trust charities with which they are familiar, and which are transparent in their reporting. Organisational size, importance, reputation and national significant were also antecedents of trust. People are more likely to volunteer or donate to charities they trust. The practical implications of this are that charities seeking to enhance their volunteer and donation base should pay attention to their marketing, reputation and disclosure activities, as well as to doing good work on an ongoing basis in the community. Theoretically, the implications are that transparency and reputation do not result directly in donations and volunteering, but they do create trust, and it is trust which then leads to donations and volunteering.

Purpose The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the deviant behaviour of individuals in organisations. Deviants are those who depart from organisational norms. A typology of perceived deviant behaviour is developed from the deviance literature, and subsequently tested. Methodology/approach Star Trek: Into Darkness text is qualitatively analysed as a data source. Three different character arcs are analysed in relation to organisational deviance. Starfleet is the specific, fictional, organisational context. Findings We found that the typology of deviance is conceptually robust, and facilitates categorisation of different types of deviant behaviour, over time. Research limitations/implications Deviance is socially ascribed; so better categorisation of such behaviour improves our understanding of how specific behaviour might deviate from organisational norms, and how different behaviours can mean individuals can be viewed positively or negatively over time. Further research might determine management responses to the different forms of deviance, and unpack the processes where individuals eschew ‘averageness’ and become deviants. Practical implications The typology advanced has descriptive validity to describe deviant behaviour. Social implications Social institutions such as organisations ascribe individual deviants, both negatively and positively. Originality/value This chapter extends our understanding of positive and negative deviance in organisations by developing a new typology of deviant behaviour. This typology has descriptive validity in understanding deviant behaviour. Our understanding of both positive and negative deviance in organisational contexts is enhanced, as well as the utility of science fiction literature in ethical analysis.

The Australian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) (2001) noted that Australian government assets, such as buildings, roads, rail and utilities, are valued at around $371billion and approximately $18 billion is spent annually by state, territory and commonwealth governments on acquiring and maintaining these assets. Ferguson (2007) estimates that over $200 billion will be spent on engineering assets such as transport (roads and rail), ports, utilities (water and electricity) and broadband in the next few years in Australia. Such engineering assets are highly complex arrangements which comprise social and technical systems, are capital intensive, and typically last for significant lengths of time (Herder and Verwater-Lukszo 2006). Indeed it is considered that the optimal functioning of engineering assets such as "transportation, energy, information and communication, and water is vital for the economy and society" (Herder and Verwater-Lukszo 2006, 119). Engineering assets are thus significant in both economic and social terms (APCC 2001). Recognising the importance of engineering assets to society, many jurisdictions in Australia have developed policies on the strategic management of engineering assets (e.g. Queensland Treasury 2003, Western Australia Department of Treasury and Finance 2005) particularly in order to guide the procurement of assets, asset management and maintenance, which is now typically achieved through private firms. The APCC (2001) has argued that the effective and efficient management of these assets is in the best interest of government, business and society (APCC 2001). As an emerging field of endeavour, engineering asset management seeks to optimise the performance of these engineering assets – particularly the whole-of-life management of risks and expenditures for the purpose of achieving organisational goals (British Standards 2003). Given the relative newness of the field, much research is still needed in order to identify the optimal ways of procuring engineering asset management and maintenance from the private sector by government (Lædre, Austeng, Haugen and Kaklegg 2006). Procuring engineering asset management and maintenance is a critical arena in which to conduct research due to the size of expenditure involved in acquiring and maintaining these assets (APCC 2001), the typical longevity of the assets, and the significant risk posed to society if these assets were to fail (Herder and Verwater-Lukso 2006). This paper argues that a richer understanding of the procurement of engineering asset management and maintenance services can be achieved by using perspectives from complex adaptive systems theory. The following sections outline the administrative challenges faced by governments as they seek to arrange for the management and maintenance of these assets, as these arrangements are of central interest to this research project. Firstly, the complex public policy issues which have arisen due to new systems of government in western democracies will be outlined, together with drawing out the implications of these arrangements for engineering asset management. Theoretical perspectives which have been deployed to explore this complexity will then be surveyed, and the utility of complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory to investigate the procurement of engineering asset management will be advanced.

Government is a major client of infrastructure projects and can exert considerable influence on the industry sector through the government’s regulatory power and the sheer scale of procurement of public works currently underway in Australia at the moment. Government can also seek to satisfy a range of different interests in the delivery of infrastructure projects in order to achieve multi-outcome objectives of government. However, the best way of engaging with stakeholders in the planning and delivery of public works has yet to be resolved, and is the focus of this panel. To explore the engagement of stakeholders within the planning and delivery of public works in Australia, this paper will examine a distinctive aspect of the delivery of infrastructure projects in Australia – public art. Specifically, the paper examines how an innovative policy for integrating the acquisition and creation of public art into public infrastructure projects in Western Australia can serve as a mechanism for understanding how to engage stakeholders in the planning and delivery of infrastructure projects in a democratic polity. Public art in infrastructure projects in Western Australia is implemented through a Percent for Art policy. The Western Australian Percent for Art policy mandates a percentage of the funding for an infrastructure project be allocated to the development of public art. The public art works are typically integrated into the function or form of the infrastructure itself and have a practical as well as aesthetic purpose. An outcome of the Percent for Art policy is the requirement to engage stakeholders normally excluded from decision making in the procurement process, particularly the users and wider community associated with infrastructure projects. Watermayer (2000) suggests that procurement linked to social objectives may produce positive economic benefits including acting as a stimulant to economic activity, improving competitiveness with other sectors, redressing regional disparity, promoting employment of those in disadvantaged employment groups, allowing environmental sustainability and developing markets for locally sourced labour and products. However, the mix of market and state-driven imperatives in contractual arrangements is not without problems. Potential difficulties identified by Watermayer (2000) include issues of overburdening administrative capacity of governments in procurement oversight, creating unfair competition, compromising value for money in projects, creating a situation in which the private sector is unable to deliver efficient and effective projects and exposing government to high level risk. Based on qualitative case study research, this paper argues that the Percent for Art policy provides a mechanism that engages key stakeholders into decision making processes concerning infrastructure projects which would not occur without the policy being in place. The stakeholder engagement will be demonstrated to result in a number of unique outcomes that includes increased ownership of the asset, reduced vandalism, and enhanced function of the asset. The outcomes are largely a result of the way that the engagement occurs under the Percent for Art policy and how the policy practically influences the perceived legitimacy of the infrastructure project. This research project examines in detail these potential benefits and costs from the perspectives of a variety of stakeholders. This paper investigates public works procurement policies in Western Australia with the embedded social objectives of the provision of public art, particularly how such policies facilitate the engagement of a larger range of stakeholders than would otherwise be the case. An overview of public art and percent for art from an economics perspective is undertaken in the next section which will provide a suitable foundation for a detailed analysis of the costs and benefits of this policy from the perspective of a variety of stakeholders.

Social procurement provides a key source of income for the Third Sector, and is vital for the sustainability of many nonprofit organisations. Social procurement involves the exchange of economic capital from one organisation, typically government (although for-profit and non-profit organisations can also purchase), with a nonprofit organisations in order to deliver other forms of. It is this transformation of economic capital into other forms of capital (cultural, human, social) in the social procurement process, which is the focus of this paper. Four case studies, which are representative of the four main types of social procurement, will be examined in order to trace how economic capital is transformed into other types of capital in each of these cases. In so doing, the paper will advance our understanding of social procurement theoretically, and lead to a wider discussion about the role of social procurement in ensuring the sustainability of nonprofit organisations, and the civil societies in which they operate.

The Australian Construction Industry Forum (which is a peak industry association) and the Australian Procurement and Construction Council (which is a peak government organisation) have jointly agreed on a set of KPIs for the Australian Construction Industry. The goal of such a process is to work collaboratively in order to lift industry performance overall, and thereby bring about economic and social benefits to the industry and broader community. This paper seeks to underpin the process of KPI measurement by providing: an overview of international approaches to KPI measurement, summary of difficulties identified in performance measurement together with possible responses to these problems, and finally a discussion on the various methods for reporting KPIs. A number of findings throughout the paper, based on the review, made in order to advance the goal of performance measurement in the construction industry in Australia. Such findings would be relevant to other countries considering a KPI measurement process as well.

The notion of routines as mechanisms for achieving stability and change in organisations is well established in the organisational theory literature (Becker, 2004). However the relationship between the dynamics of selection, adaptation and retention and the increase or decrease in the varieties of routines which are the result of these processes, is not as well established theoretically or empirically. This paper investigates the processes associated with the evolution of an inter-organisational routine over time. The paper contributes to theory by advancing a conceptual clarification between the dynamics of organisational routines which produce variation, and the varieties of routines which are generated as a result of such processes; and an explanation for the relationship between selection, adaptation and retention dynamics and the creation of variety. The research is supported by analysis of empirical data pertaining to the procurement of engineering assets in a large asset intensive organisation.

PPPs are held to be a powerful way of mobilising private finance and resources to deliver public infrastructure. Theoretically, research into procurement has begun to acknowledge difficulties with the classification and assessment of different types of procurement, particularly those which do not sufficiently acknowledge variety within specific types of procurement methods. This paper advances a theoretical framework based on an evolutionary economic conceptualisation of a routine, which can accommodate the variety evident in procurement projects, in particular PPPs. The paper tests how the various elements of a PPP, as advanced in the theoretical framework, affect performance across 10 case studies. It concludes, that a limited number of elements of a PPP affect their performance, and provides strong evidence for the theoretical model advanced in this paper.

This report was commissioned by the Built Environment Industry Innovation Council and funded by the Australian Government Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

Engineering assets such as roads, rail, bridges and other forms of public works are vital to the effective functioning of societies {Herder, 2006 #128}. Proficient provision of this physical infrastructure is therefore one of the key activities of government {Lædre, 2006 #123}. In order to ensure engineering assets are procured and maintained on behalf of citizens, government needs to devise the appropriate policy and institutional architecture for this purpose. The changing institutional arrangements around the procurement of engineering assets are the focus of this paper. The paper describes and analyses the transition to new, more collaborative forms of procurement arrangements which are becoming increasingly prevalent in Australia and other OECD countries. Such fundamental shifts from competitive to more collaborative approaches to project governance can be viewed as a major transition in procurement system arrangements. In many ways such changes mirror the shift from New Public Management, with its emphasis on the use of market mechanisms to achieve efficiencies {Hood, 1991 #166}, towards more collaborative approaches to service delivery, such as those under network governance arrangements {Keast, 2007 #925}. However, just as traditional forms of procurement in a market context resulted in unexpected outcomes for industry, such as a fragmented industry afflicted by chronic litigation {Dubois, 2002 #9}, the change to more collaborative forms of procurement is unlikely to be a panacea to the problems of procurement, and may well also have unintended consequences. This paper argues that perspectives from complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory can contribute to the theory and practice of managing system transitions. In particular the concept of emergence provides a key theoretical construct to understand the aggregate effect that individual project governance arrangements can have upon the structure of specific industries, which in turn impact individual projects. Emergence is understood here as the macro structure that emerges out of the interaction of agents in the system {Holland, 1998 #100; Tang, 2006 #51}.

Encouraging entrepreneurship has been advocated as the most promising avenue for economic development of Indigenous communities in Australia. Unfortunately, the number of Indigenous people engaged in small businesses in Australia is low compared with participation rates in other countries. One explanation suggested for this low participation rate in small business is that Indigenous Australians lack the traits or cultural attitudes necessary for success. This paper advocates a different view, arguing instead that analysing Indigenous access to capital in its multiple forms provides for a richer explanation - and exploration - of the barriers to Indigenous entrepreneurship.

Development application (DA) assessment processes have traditionally been paper based, and assessed according to planning systems unique to each Local Government. Fragmented and inconsistent DA assessments resulted. Consequently, local government approvals of DA have been criticised as being slow, difficult to negotiate, and to lack transparency. Recently, the RRIF program sought to improve DA processes across 21 local governments in South East Queensland. RRIF aimed to reduce red tape and improve the transparency of DA assessment. While RRIF achieved valuable improvements in DA assessment, particularly increased consistency, transparency and streamlining; additional opportunities for harmonisation remain.

Procuring the management and maintenance of engineering assets are key activities of government, particularly given the importance of these assets for business and society. Despite their importance, the most effective methods for procuring engineering assets are still to be determined due to the complexity inherent in such arrangements. While Complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory has been advocated as a coherent theoretical framework for examining both procurement and engineering assets, considerable challenges remain in operationalising this framework for government systems. There are thus two challenges: developing an understanding of the complexity and dynamics of procurement systems, together with a practical problem of how to model such systems. This paper outlines CAS theory and suggests ways that it might be operationalised to examine engineering asset procurement.

Procuring engineering asset management is a critical activity of all types of government, with optimal approaches to procurement still in need of identification. This paper advances a novel approach of exploring the procurement of engineering assets across a number of dimensions: Project rules, organisational interaction rules and complexity. The dimensions of project rules are held to include cost, quality and time. The dimensions of organisational interaction rules are held to be collaboration, competition and control. Complexity is seen as in the project itself, in the interaction between organisations or in the business environment. Taken together these dimensions seem salient for any type of engineering asset, and provide a useful way of conceptualising procurement arrangements of these assets.

Recently released research reports into the construction industry in Australia argued that improved consistency in the regulatory environment could lead to improvements in innovation (Manley 2004; Price Waterhouse Coopers 2002), improved productivity (Productivity Commission 2004) and that, research into this area should be given high priority (Hampson and Brandon 2004). Productivity gains from an improved regulatory system have been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars (ABCB 2003). The Cole Royal Commission (2003) highlighted occupational health and safety (OHS) in the construction industry as an area needing concerted effort to improve the conditions of workers, and the need to develop a national regulatory framework. Despite numerous industry submissions advocating a national OHS system, Cole (2003) concluded there was little prospect of the development of a national framework, apart from through the development and adoption of national OHS standards. We argue that there are several harmonisation mechanisms that have been overlooked as a possible framework for understanding and operationalising a systematic approach to OHS. Harmonisation is concerned with coordination of regulation between jurisdictions that does not necessarily require 'sameness' across a national arena (Majone 1999). Consistency, especially on a national scale, has been the favoured approach (Cole 2003); however, there have been variable degrees of success in achieving a nationally consistent model and indeed significant barriers to pursuing this option. Three initiatives to improve the harmonisation of OHS regulations across Australia are reviewed in this paper. The first is the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991 (Commonwealth) which enabled certain organisations to opt out of state-based regulatory regimes. The second is the standards, codes of practice and guidance documents developed by the National Occupational Health and Safety Council (NOHSC). The third is the attachment of conditions to special purpose payments from the Australian Government to the states, in the form of OHS accreditation with the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner. This paper examines and evaluates each of these attempts to promote consistency across Australia. It concludes that while there is a high level of information sharing between jurisdictions, particularly from the NOSCH standards, a fragmented OHS policy framework remains in place across Australia. The utility of emergent industry initiatives such as the Best Practice Guideline to enhance consistency are briefly discussed. Firstly, however, a broader discussion about achieving consistency in federal systems of government is undertaken to frame and evaluate the outlined initiatives.

Recent initiatives around the world have highlighted the potential for information and communications technology (ICT) to foster better service delivery for businesses. Likewise, ICT has also been applied to government services and is seen to result in improved service delivery, improved citizen participation in government, and enhanced cooperation across government departments and between government departments. The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) (2006) identified local government development assessment (DA) arrangements as a 'hot spot' needing specific attention, as the inconsistent policies and regulations between councils impeded economic activity. COAG (2006) specifically suggested that trials of various ICT mechanisms be initiated which may well be able to improve DA processes for local government. While the authors have explored various regulatory mechanisms to improve harmonisation elsewhere (Brown and Furneaux 2007), the possibility of ICT being able to enhance consistency across governments is a novel notion from a public policy perspective. Consequently, this paper will explore the utility of ICT initiatives to improve harmonisation of DA in local governments. Specifically, this paper examined as a case study the recent attempt to streamline DA in local governments in South-East Queensland. This initiative was funded by the Regulation Reduction Incentive Fund (RRIF) Program, and championed by the South-East Queensland (SEQ) Council of Mayors. This paper examines the ways in which increased harmonisation was achieved through the project.

While the procurement of public works such as schools, bridges, train stations and roads is a well accepted contract management role of government in most OECD countries, the management of the provision of public art as part of such activities is not as well known. This paper provides an in depth analysis of the specific case of public art embedded in public works procurement in Queensland. While confirming expected benefits identified in the literature, such as economic benefits for artist, this case study extends our understanding of the costs and benefits of managing public art projects through an extended analysis of the views of various stakeholders in the procurement process.

This paper is an initial conceptualisation of a PhD project which would seek to develop a infrastructure procurement framework – a policy document which would detail how, and under what conditions, infrastructure procurement contractual arrangements are successful. As it is an initial conceptualisation, the paper will focus on the research problem, theoretical and methodological issues involved in operationalising the framework. In particular it will outline the phases of such a study, together with the methodology necessary for the project to be a success.

The Australian construction industry is moving towards the implementation of a voluntary code of practice (VCP) for occupational health and safety (OHS). The evidence suggests that highly-visible clients and project management firms, in addition to their subcontractors, will embrace such a code, while smaller firms not operating in high-profile contracting regimes may prove reticent. The paper incorporates qualitative data from a research project commissioned by Engineers Australia and supported by the Australian Contractors’ Association, Property Council of Australia, Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Association of Consulting Engineers Australia, Australian Procurement and Construction Council, Master Builders Australia and the Australian CRC for Construction Innovation. The paper aims to understand the factors that facilitate or prevent the uptake of the proposed VCP by smaller firms, together with pathways to adoption.

Encouraging entrepreneurship amongst Indigenous people, and fostering the development of small businesses, has been advocated as the most promising avenue for economic development amongst Indigenous communities (Fuller et al., 2003). Unfortunately, the number of Indigenous people engaged in small businesses in Australia is quite low when compared both to the national average and also with Indigenous participation rates in Canada and the United States of America (Hindle, 2002). While rationales for low Indigenous participation rates in small businesses have been advanced for other Pacific nations (Cheshire, 2001a, 2001b; Croulet and Sio, 1986; van der Grijp 2003; Curry 2005), a cogent explanation of analysis of low participation rates by Indigenous entrepreneurs in Australia remains to be articulated. One explanation for low Indigenous participation rates in small business is due to a lack of access to capital (de Bruin & Mataira 2003). Bourdieu (1986) suggested that there are a number of different types of capital. Firkin (2003) advances this reasoning by arguing the following forms of capital are relevant to entrepreneurs: financial, human, social, physical, organisational and technological. If an entrepreneur lacks of access these forms of capital, this is likely to have negative outcomes for the entrepreneurial venture (de Bruin and Dupuis 2003; Firkin 2003). The literature suggests that Indigenous entrepreneurs lack access to most of these forms of capital. For example, many Indigenous communities lack access to physical, labour, and information marketplaces (Miller 1985; Pearson, 2000); financial institutions and financial capital (Daly 1994); and have low levels of financial literacy and management skills (de Bruin and Matira 2003). Indigenous entrepreneurs do, however, have access to rich sources of social capital through their extended kinship networks. But this form of capital proffers a mixed blessing for Indigenous entrepreneurs. Dense social networks can provide rich sources of financial, intellectual and social capital (Naphiet & Goshal 19984). However if a network is over-embedded it can paradoxically limit access to resources (Uzzi 1997). For Indigenous entrepreneurs, social networks can even result in a drain on resources, as an Indigenous person in business is expected to share their wealth with their kin - even if this wealth is floor stock that needs to be sold in order to create operating surplus (Foley 2003). This is what has been referred to as the 'traders dilemma' in Pacific Island nations (van der Grijp 2003), as the entrepreneur needs to make a profit to succeed in business, but is also expected to distribute wealth among kinship networks. These calls for support and favours from extended networks of relations can often overwhelm new enterprises (Granovetter 1992:7). Sharing resources within Indigenous communities is more than an economic investment - it is also a social investment (Schwab, 1995). In Schwab's (1995) extended analysis the social networks of indigenous people, sharing acts as a primitive form of socialism through redistribution of wealth through the community, and reinforces the relationship of giver and receiver through the act of giving. To refuse a request from a relative in need is to reject the relationship itself (Schwab 1995). As Granovetter (1992: 4) argues, the ''(1) the pursuit of economic goals is normally accompanied by that of such non-economic ones as sociability, approval, status and power; (2) economic action (like all action) is socially situated and cannot be explained by individual motives alone; it is embedded in ongoing networks of personal relations rather than carried out by atomised actors''. Thus the rich social networks of Indigenous entrepreneurs, while a resource, are paradoxically a drain on financial resources, due to their embedded nature. A number of examples of attempts by government to address the capital constraints facing Indigenous communities are identified, specifically programs which seek to enhance financial literacy, micro savings and loans, business incubators and enterprise partnerships.

Non-profit organisations are major providers of services in many fields and often receive financial support from government. This paper investigates a number of different forms of government/non-profit relationships, with the viewpoint being mainly, though not exclusively, from the perspective of the non-profit agencies. Research methods included collecting primary data from peak agencies, service providers and government staff; and gathering secondary data from government and the agencies connected with the specific funding programs. Two programs were selected for further examination and became case studies in order to identify the elements of what makes a successful funding program. Three typologies of government/non-profit relations were identified as relevant. An analysis of the models shows that, while they provide an excellent springboard for the process of typifying government/non-profit relationships, there are inconsistencies when the models are compared with one another. In particular, none of the models allows for a comparison of relationships across a number of variables such as those of values, power and objectives. In view of this, a new model is proposed and explained, which builds on previous models and provides a means for the advancement of government/non-profit relationships. The model may prove useful in analysing the current condition of relationships between non-profit agencies and government departments.

Public organisations both internationally and in Australia are exploring networked governance arrangements particularly in seeking to resolve wicked social problems that impact on the community. Engaging more effectively with stakeholders is crucial in the search for effective solutions to complex social problems. The objective of this research is to understand how the level of interdependency between organisations and stakeholders contributes to development of network governance in public organisations. An empirical analysis will show how stakeholders are incorporated into the governance processes of network entities in public organisations. In particular, this study will focus on how stakeholder salience i.e. stakeholder power, urgency and legitimacy, is impacted by the level of interdependence between organisations and stakeholders. This paper will provide a critical analysis of the literatures of stakeholders and network governance to show how the concepts are connected and the gaps in the literature relating to interdependency between stakeholders and organisations in governance networks.

The dynamics of the labour market are changing with the balance of power within the employment relationship swinging towards employees. Recruitment is now a seller's market (Herriot, 1988) particularly among mobile, highly skilled workers (Rousseau & Shperling, 2003). The changing labour market has been the backdrop against which a refocusing on the topic of employee-employer relationships by both researchers and practitioners has occurred (Sparrow, 1996; Tekleab, Takeuchi, & Taylor, 2005). This focus is purposed on building a better understanding of such relationships in order to more effectively attract and retain talented staff (Rousseau & Shperling, 2003). The new workforce era has been described as the 'war for talent' and this phrase depicts some of focus, and perhaps even aggression, with which organisations are pursuing new recruits and making efforts to retain them. Workforce planning has become a strategic imperative for organisations with strategies devised to attract and retain staff across the different generations. When it comes to attracting and retaining the younger generation, many organisations have either begun, or expanded existing, graduate programs in an attempt to secure employees. This is particularly the case in industries where there are critical labour shortages. Whilst graduate recruitment has become an important workforce attraction strategy for many organisations, retention may be compromised by the growing tension in workplaces between the different generations of employees. Notable differences have been espoused between the generations in terms of how they see the world and how they prefer to work (e.g. Sheahan, 2005). A topic prolific in popular literature over the recent years has been the behaviours and preferences of Generation Y in the workplace. The popular literature appears to have taken a very negative spin on these supposed differences and has labelled Generation Y members as uncommitted, flaky, self-absorbed and disrespectful. The academic literature dismisses the popular culture literature as inaccurate, empirically unfounded and caricature-like (e.g. Jorgensen, 2003; Taylor, 2005) although, due to a lack of work in the field, it offers little alternative perspective.

This paper seeks to construct a preliminary framework for considering change capability in public organisations. The framework is based on the literature on dynamic capabilities, case studies of transformational change in the public sector, and research that addresses change capability directly. The framework, which focuses on the people element of change, consists of four elements; creating collective response systems, mapping change, collective emotion management, and collective behaviour management. The framework is preliminary. The task is to devise propositions from the framework that may be tested.

Theories of knowledge management in alliances between competitors highlight the role of the alliance as a vehicle in a competition for knowledge. Vertical publicprivate partnerships face a different institutional framework where competition for knowledge gives way to cooperation. This paper reports on a case study of the evolution of knowledge management practices in a public agency engaged in vertical outsourcing partnerships. The agency evolved its contracting towards alliances as it sought better outsourcing outcomes, this translated into new organizational arrangements where arms-lengths hierarchical processes of knowledge management was progressively replaced by horizontal, democratic processes. Underpinning this evolution was a parallel shift in thinking about knowledge, from a conceptualization of knowledge as an asset to be managed, to a view of knowledge as a tool supporting knowing in practice

Government agencies in Queensland undertake a broad spectrum of policy and service delivery work and operate in different political and organisational contexts. Within this paradigm, each of these organisations will have diverse approaches to stakeholder identification and engagement. This research will show the similarities and differences in approach across nine government agencies. Given that government agencies interact with a broad range of actors in an effort to satisfy the public interest, this research will reflect on how agencies manage the large and unwieldy task of engaging with stakeholders and what mechanisms they use to achieve this. This study will also provide a snapshot of the developmental trajectory of the stakeholder approach in the agencies by revealing the shifts in how agencies now perceive and deal with stakeholders. Finally this research will provide an indication of whether or not the benefits of engaging with stakeholders outweigh the costs.

For physically asset-intensive organisations asset management processes and intervention strategies are considered a crucial element, as there is heavy reliance on optimal performance of assets in order to maximise organisational performance and business goals. There is a tendency for traditional asset management practices to concentrate on the engineering or operational performance of the assets, taking for granted governance factors which views asset management through organisational-level lens. Asset governance is a radically new way to view ownership and management of assets in a competitive and deregulated market, an innovative solution to meet the regulatory and increasingly competitive challenges faced by modern utility companies. Asset fleets provide a relevant and important context to investigate the interaction between engineering and governance views on asset management as fleets have distributed and system characteristics. This paper investigates how engineering and governance perspectives of asset management can be reconciled and integrated to enable optimal asset and organizational performance. Preliminary findings of a pilot study identifies issues in asset management process and localized understanding of governance within different organization divisions as the main challenges in asset management-asset governance integration.

An aged and ageing workforce has become a reality for the human resource (HR) professional in developed countries globally. Within the public sector, managing ageing human resources is made more complex by the myriad of legislative and policy guidelines that influence employment-related policies and practices, as well as a tradition of security of tenure. The complexity of the public service human resource environment has been further exacerbated by new public management which has decentralised and devolved HR functions to individual agencies (Coventry, 2001). While the decentralisation of HR to agencies has enabled agency HR departments to devise policies that meet the specific human resource needs of the agency, it has also resulted in a loss of centralised understanding of the composition of the workforce as a whole. This research project set out to examine the issues associated with an ageing workforce within a case study of an Australian state public service. The research highlighted a number of factors that limited an agency level HR manager’s capacity to deal with their ageing workforces, and it is these factors that are the focus of this paper. These factors include the lack of an integrated human resource information system (HRIS), the nature of the information collected within the HRIS, and the capacity of HR professionals within the agencies to obtain and analyse the data obtained from the HRIS. We argue that agency level HR professionals need a comprehensive whole of service human resource information system, and the skills to use and analyse the data derived from it to better inform their workforce planning.