Suzanne Ryan

Collegial Entrepreneurialism: Australian Graduate Schools of Business

Abstract In recent decades, Australian universities have corporatized. Encouraged by government policies, universities adopted modernization practices that have been widely questioned. ‘Collegial entrepreneurialism’ is an approach that builds on collegial processes to protect academic values from the excesses of modernization. This paper examines the perceptions of business academics about the impacts of modernization in autonomous graduate schools of business. The research was undertaken prior to the most recent wave of higher education reform under which most of these schools disappeared. Their experience of three consequences of modernization, ‘hard’ managerialism, academic consumerism and fragmentation of work, provides insight into whether collegiality and academic values can exist within an entrepreneurial academic unit. Results indicate that overt manifestations of modernization are not threatening to ‘collegial entrepreneurialism’. However, in the absence of academic leadership, the more covert influences of consumerism and fragmentation pose a threat to the survival of ‘collegial entrepreneurialism’.

McUniversities Revisited: A Comparison of University and McDonald's Casual Employee Experiences in Australia.

The McDonaldization of higher education refers to the transformation of universities from knowledge generators to rational service organizations or ‘McUniversities’. This is reflected in the growing dependence on a casualized academic workforce. The article explores the extent to which the McDonaldization thesis applies to universities by comparing the experiences of casual academics with those of McDonalds employees. Survey and interview findings from an Australian university are compared with Goulds research on McDonalds casual employees in Australia. Aside from their employment status, the two groups have nothing in common. McDonalds employees experience routine work organization with good management and career prospects while casual academics experience stimulating work within a context of poor management and lack of career paths. This article questions the accuracy of applying the McDonaldization thesis to higher education based on the failure of the McJobs descriptor to withstand empirical scrutiny.

Interdisciplinarity in an Era of New Public Management: A Case Study of Graduate Business Schools.

In an era of rapid knowledge transmission and creation spurred on by advances in technology and globalisation, calls for interdisciplinarity to solve ‘wicked’ problems are common. In the same era, universities are increasingly adopting new public management practices. The extent to which these practices affect knowledge production is an underexplored area. Results from a longitudinal study of Australian graduate business school academics are used to examine the impact of government policy and institutional change on engagement in interdisciplinary teaching and research. While disciplinary identity is a common barrier to interdisciplinarity, the nature and culture of graduate business schools were potentially able to overcome this barrier. However, the introduction of a national research measurement exercise and a concomitant strengthening of new public management practices, with subsequent institutional restructuring, revived disciplinary silos. The case study has particular relevance to universities in other countries where new public management is established.

Australian higher education transformed: from central coordination to control

This timely and important book provides a critical analysis of the changes and challenges that currently affect European universities. Using both theoretical contributions and applied case studies, leading experts argue that universities as institutions are in need of change – although the routes that the process may take are heterogeneous.

Regional Workplace Bargaining: Evidence From The Hunter Workplace Change Survey

This paper reports on the finding of a 1992/93 survey conducted by the authors of 21 workplaces in the Hunter region of New South Wales. The purpose of the survey was to gather information on the progress, processes and outcomes associated with award restructuring and enterprise bargaining. The paper focuses on the processes of workplace reform and the associated workplace institutions, but also includes a brief discussion of outcomes. In particular there was interest in the extent to which award restructuring principles had been implemented, the extent to which employees were involved in the change process and the type of changes that were implemented. Overall the impression was one of extensive change with high degrees of trade union and employee participation. While there were differences across the workplaces in the type of change and extent of employee participation the over-riding finding was one of co-operation and active trade union involvement in the change process.

Casual academics: a new public management paradox

ABSTRACT Like most management ideologies, New Public Management, is paradoxical in practice. In the case of universities, New Public Sector Management (NPM) practices have led to a core academic workforce that is tightly controlled in conjunction with a peripheral workforce of casual academics paid on hourly contracts. We examine this paradox through the experiences of academic managers responsible for casual academic employment at an Australian university. The line management of casual academics is informally delegated to subject coordinators. We conclude that the management of casual academics not only highlights the contradictions between efficiency and effectiveness in NPM practices, but, given the increased reliance on casual academics, also threatens the future of tenured academics and the ‘idea of a university’.

Green supply chain management practice adoption in Ugandan SME manufacturing firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advance enviropreneurial orientation (EO) as a new internal driver for green supply chain practice adoption. Because manufacturing supply chains are major contributors to environmental pollution, green practice adoption is a means of reducing environmental pollution. However, why owner/managers adopt green practices remains uncertain. The concept of EO is a potential and important motivation for adoption of green supply chain practices that has yet to be explored. The study investigates the relationship between EO and green supply chain practice adoption. Design/methodology/approach – Cross-sectional survey design was employed to collect data from owners/managers of SME manufacturing firms in Uganda. The structural equation modelling was used to analyse results on the influence of each of nine EO on green supply chain practice adoption and the influence of EO dimensions on green supply chain practice adoption. Findings – Findings show that EO positively influences...

Enviropreneurial orientation in SME supply chains: construct measurement development

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a new model that is inclusive and practical because of the deficiencies in models for construct measurement. Further, the authors demonstrate the value of the proposed model by describing its application to the development and validation of a multi-dimensional construct, enviropreneurial orientation. Although used in the literature, enviropreneurial orientation had not been developed nor tested as a construct. The paper provides detailed explanation of development and validation processes exemplified by experiences of research into the factors that motivate individual enviropreneurial orientation among owner/managers in supply chains. Design/methodology/approach The authors review models of construct development and propose an eight step model to overcome the deficiencies in the existing models. The eight steps are: defining the construct; identifying its dimensions; generating measurement items for each dimension; pretesting the measurement items; collecting data; constructing scales; analysing reliability; and evaluating the relationships. Each step is explained through examples based on the authors’ experience in using the model to develop the new construct – enviropreneurial orientation. Findings All correlation results were positive and significant as were the multiple regression results with one exception, competitive aggressiveness. Originality/value The authors provide a practical model to guide new construct measurement development which can be used by researchers and research students for multi-dimensional constructs, especially they are constrained by time and financial resources. By using an example to demonstrate the applicability of the model, the authors go beyond the usual description of construct development models to make the proposed model more comprehensible and thus useful.

Green supply chain practice adoption and firm performance: manufacturing SMEs in Uganda

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between five green practices and firm performance. In addition, this paper investigates the influence of each green practice on environmental performance, economic benefits, and economic costs.,Data were collected based on a cross-sectional survey of owner/managers of 200 manufacturing SME firms in Uganda, Africa. SPSS was used to find descriptive means and test relationships between green practices and performance outcomes. Structural equation modelling was used to test for the influence of each practice on performance outcomes. The structural equation modelling results were obtained using the Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modelling software. Results were compared with similar studies conducted in developing countries.,Different green practices affect different performance dimensions in different ways across different industries. For example, eco-design and internal environmental management practices significantly influence environmental performance; green purchasing and internal environmental management practices significantly influence economic benefits; and internal environmental management practices affect economic costs. Overall internal environmental management is the key to positive outcomes across the three performance criteria. The authors show how the results obtained vary from similar studies conducted in developing countries and explain possible reasons for the difference.,Africa is a rapidly industrialising nation faced with difficult choices between economic growth and increased pollution. Because SMEs represent the majority of manufacturing firms, they are the main polluters. Hence, better understanding of the costs and benefits, both environmental and economic, is important to encourage green practice adoption for the betterment of community health and prosperity.,Despite numerous studies on the relationships between green practice adoption and performance outcomes, only a few studies include both economic costs and benefits in addition to environmental performance. The study covers five green supply chain practices, whereas most similar studies are limited in the number of practices examined. The African context is unique and important because industrial development and environmental protection goals are in conflict. Similar studies are predominant in an Asian context which is more developed than Africa. The findings and comparisons raise important questions for further research in relation to the roles of national regulations, geographical markets and industry types in furthering green practices in manufacturing.

Collaborative risk management: a systematic literature review

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse collaborative risk management (CRM) literature to establish its current position in supply chain risk management (SCRM) and propose an agenda for future research. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review of 101 peer-reviewed articles over a 21-year period was employed to analyse literature and synthesise findings to clarify terminology, definitions, CRM capabilities, and underlying theory. Findings CRM as a field of research is in its infancy and suffers from imprecise definitions, fragmented application of capabilities, and diverse theoretical foundations. The term CRM is identified as a more representative description of relational risk management arrangements. Six capabilities relevant to CRM are identified: risk information sharing, standardisation of procedures, joint decision making, risk and benefit sharing, process integration, and collaborative performance systems. Originality/value The paper provides a new definition for CRM; proposes a holistic approach in extending collaboration to SCRM; identifies a new capability; and provides a range of theories to broaden the theoretical scope for future research on CRM.