Grainne Oates

Corporatized Public Land Development Bodies in Australia: Who Are the Stakeholders and Why Are They Important?

This study examines post-corporatization activities of public sector organizations, which are expected to act according to commercial principles, but, at times, are also asked to undertake projects that are not profitable: community service obligations (CSOs). Managers of government-owned corporatized entities in land development are interviewed, and a focus group at a state Treasury department conducted. We determine, when undertaking CSOs, who are the stakeholders, as perceived by management, and why they are considered important. The stakeholders are government, community, treasury (as separate from government) and the relevant private sector. Values, in addition to power, urgency and legitimacy, influence stakeholder prioritization.

Using a gamified mobile app to increase student engagement, retention and academic achievement

This study investigated whether the use of a gamified mobile learning app influenced students’ academic performance and boosted their engagement in the subject. Created to better engage students in lecture content, the app was used to deliver multiple-choice content-based quizzes directly to students’ personal mobile devices post-lecture and pre-tutorial. After measuring the relationships between students’ app usage and their engagement, retention and academic achievement in the subject, it is suggested that following the app’s introduction, student retention rates and academic performance increased, and there was a positive correlation between students’ scoring highly on the app and achieving higher academic grades. While the app’s affordances for learning are promising, the causal relationship between the app usage and improved student outcomes requires further investigation. Conclusions made in the context of the wider scholarship of mobile app enhanced learning and applied game principles in HE.

Including ethics in banking and finance programs: teaching “we shouldn’t win at any cost”

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify whether ethics is incorporated into the curriculum in postgraduate banking and finance programmes. There is growing concern that moral failure preceded the global financial crisis with waves of ethical scandals overwhelming the global banking industry highlighting a lack of integrity. Consequently, banking and financial institutions have received much criticism for focusing on higher financial returns that bring personal rewards with significant costs to the majority of society. Design/methodology/approach – The population for this study is Australian universities offering banking and finance postgraduate programs. The data for this study were collected from information available on university websites. The study uses content analysis to examine course content in 897 courses offered within banking and finance programmes. Findings – Findings reveal that 809 (90 per cent) out of 897 courses do not incorporate ethics into banking and finance programmes. Most...

Is voluntary disclosure of environmental performance associated with actual environmental performance? Evidence from Victorian local governments, Australia

ABSTRACT This article identifies the level of voluntary disclosure of environmental performance of 76 Victorian local governments in Australia, and examines whether superior environmental performers with higher diversion rates disclose more information on their environmental performance. To better capture the rate of disclosures of environmental commitments of sample city councils, a content analysis index based on the environmental section of the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines is developed. The results indicate that the level of environmental disclosure among Victorian local governments is very low, with an average score of only 13.72 out of 100. In addition, the results reveal a positive association between environmental disclosure and underlying environmental performance, as predicted by voluntary disclosure theory.