Boards of directors and the governance of emergence risk. Australian firms systematically under-invest in innovation and other future-oriented activities. An underlying premise of this research is that, in part, this is because they do not systematically include emergence risk in their governance activities. If we find that this is the case, one impact of this research will be to contribute to a rethinking of the roles and practices of boards of directors. A consequence of this will be that A ....Boards of directors and the governance of emergence risk. Australian firms systematically under-invest in innovation and other future-oriented activities. An underlying premise of this research is that, in part, this is because they do not systematically include emergence risk in their governance activities. If we find that this is the case, one impact of this research will be to contribute to a rethinking of the roles and practices of boards of directors. A consequence of this will be that Australian corporations will become more competent in the management of innovation and other future-oriented activities. Read moreRead less
Decision support systems for the implementation of team based cellular manufacturing in adaptive organizations. Cellular manufacturing, where a family of products is produced in discrete multi-machine cells, has been adopted by many firms to increase flexibility, reduce costs and improve quality. However the implementation of cellular manufacturing is a complex process as technology, customer needs, product characteristics, enterprise goals and organisation structure can influence the effectiven ....Decision support systems for the implementation of team based cellular manufacturing in adaptive organizations. Cellular manufacturing, where a family of products is produced in discrete multi-machine cells, has been adopted by many firms to increase flexibility, reduce costs and improve quality. However the implementation of cellular manufacturing is a complex process as technology, customer needs, product characteristics, enterprise goals and organisation structure can influence the effectiveness of the implementation. This project will develop an intelligent model for the implementation of cellular manufacturing in batch production and test it in a case study. The work will contribute to Australia's contribution to the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems international research project SYMPHONY.Read moreRead less
Knowledge sharing in teams. There is considerable interest in understanding principles governing effective management and sharing of knowledge in organisations. Members of organisations acquire much knowledge from external sources, other staff, practice, and experience, which, if shared efficiently, makes a significant difference to performance. This project focuses on the team, the basic unit in modern organisations. Four studies are proposed to examine antecedents of knowledge sharing, the re ....Knowledge sharing in teams. There is considerable interest in understanding principles governing effective management and sharing of knowledge in organisations. Members of organisations acquire much knowledge from external sources, other staff, practice, and experience, which, if shared efficiently, makes a significant difference to performance. This project focuses on the team, the basic unit in modern organisations. Four studies are proposed to examine antecedents of knowledge sharing, the relationship between amount and type of knowledge shared and team performance, identification of different knowledge-sharing roles taken by team members, and the effect of several highly active knowledge sharers on team performance. The findings will add to the literature on communication and information exchange in organisations, and will point to strategies for implementing effective knowledge sharing practices.
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Organizational Innovation Adoption: The Effect of External, Technology Diffusion Agencies. Organizational innovation is imperative in maintaining international competitiveness, but less than one quarter of Australian manufacturing companies adopt innovations. While previous studies have identified a large number of organisational factors affecting adoption decisions, little research has examined the effect of external, technology diffusion agencies. Our proposed research uses advanced statistica ....Organizational Innovation Adoption: The Effect of External, Technology Diffusion Agencies. Organizational innovation is imperative in maintaining international competitiveness, but less than one quarter of Australian manufacturing companies adopt innovations. While previous studies have identified a large number of organisational factors affecting adoption decisions, little research has examined the effect of external, technology diffusion agencies. Our proposed research uses advanced statistical modelling and qualitative methods to study the interaction between organisational factors and external agencies in the adoption process. Our aim is to understand how external agencies and policy information is used in the adoption process in order to identify good practices for these agencies.Read moreRead less
Outsourcing - Leveraging productivity improvements and better performance from new approaches. Through exploring customer expectations, reasons for outsourcing, and the results obtained, this research will discover those success factors that contribute to positive outsourcing outcomes for key stakeholders, such as the labour force, the outsourcing company and the customer. It will develop models to leverage current performance and use the resulting knowledge to improve Australia's performance in ....Outsourcing - Leveraging productivity improvements and better performance from new approaches. Through exploring customer expectations, reasons for outsourcing, and the results obtained, this research will discover those success factors that contribute to positive outsourcing outcomes for key stakeholders, such as the labour force, the outsourcing company and the customer. It will develop models to leverage current performance and use the resulting knowledge to improve Australia's performance in outsourcing sectors such as Business Processes and IT. The project will lead to a robust, long-term relationship between industry and academia to produce industry relevant, theoretically sound research.Read moreRead less
Managing the risks of cross-sector R&D collaboration. One of the most interesting and dynamic forms of cross-sector R&D collaboration in Australia occurs through the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Program. This study investigates how collaboration and 'risk' is managed among CRCs and their partners. It is pioneering research bringing two aspects of cross-sector collaboration into a single, longitudinal study. The study will produce new knowledge concerning: management processes in cross-secto ....Managing the risks of cross-sector R&D collaboration. One of the most interesting and dynamic forms of cross-sector R&D collaboration in Australia occurs through the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Program. This study investigates how collaboration and 'risk' is managed among CRCs and their partners. It is pioneering research bringing two aspects of cross-sector collaboration into a single, longitudinal study. The study will produce new knowledge concerning: management processes in cross-sector R&D, organisational change and the impact of sustained collaboration on partners, and the role of public policy on collaborative R&D in Australia.Read moreRead less
Visual optimisation of patient flow in Hospital Emergency Departments. Recent policy announcements by the State and Federal Governments have centred on the need to explore the use of process management principles, normally applied to manufacturing industry, to health services management. This multidisciplinary project addresses one of the most pressing needs in health services - provision of methods to reduce patient queues and waiting times in emergency departments through interactive computing ....Visual optimisation of patient flow in Hospital Emergency Departments. Recent policy announcements by the State and Federal Governments have centred on the need to explore the use of process management principles, normally applied to manufacturing industry, to health services management. This multidisciplinary project addresses one of the most pressing needs in health services - provision of methods to reduce patient queues and waiting times in emergency departments through interactive computing simulation to visualise and plan work process improvements. This smart use of information will benefit hospital managers, patients and their carers, is transferable to other health contexts, and by optimising resource usage has the potential to help build Australian (health) business.Read moreRead less
Innovation and dynamic networks in project-based firms. Innovation is central to Australia's future prosperity but many commentators have bemoaned national performance in 'obvious' indicators of innovation such as R&D spending and patents. We argue that a lot of innovation in Australia is actually hidden in the business of projects. To compete in the international economy it is vital to know how to manage innovation in this context. The proposed research will use new methods in network analysis ....Innovation and dynamic networks in project-based firms. Innovation is central to Australia's future prosperity but many commentators have bemoaned national performance in 'obvious' indicators of innovation such as R&D spending and patents. We argue that a lot of innovation in Australia is actually hidden in the business of projects. To compete in the international economy it is vital to know how to manage innovation in this context. The proposed research will use new methods in network analysis to show how firms can be better structured to encourage innovation.Read moreRead less
Learning Mechanisms and the Development of Dynamic Capabilities within Firms. The project has the following national/community benefits: (1) a more comprehensive study of the specific and unique features of the structure and innovative process operating within a major Australian producer of commodities, (2) a greater understanding of how knowledge can be created and captured in the form of firm-level dynamic capabilities, contributing towards the creation of an effective knowledge and innovation ....Learning Mechanisms and the Development of Dynamic Capabilities within Firms. The project has the following national/community benefits: (1) a more comprehensive study of the specific and unique features of the structure and innovative process operating within a major Australian producer of commodities, (2) a greater understanding of how knowledge can be created and captured in the form of firm-level dynamic capabilities, contributing towards the creation of an effective knowledge and innovation economy, and (3) assisting regional communities by providing specific recommendations for generating learning mechanisms and more importantly, capturing value from learning in terms of process improvement and innovation.Read moreRead less
From tourist siren to technological beacon: analysing the industrial function of the Sydney Opera House thirty years after its completion. The research will show that public buildings provide fertile ground to plant industrial seeds; but to have an impact on the local economy, they must respond to specific structural conditions or be supported by political will. These findings will improve Australia's institutional understanding of the relationship between cost and investment in construction, an ....From tourist siren to technological beacon: analysing the industrial function of the Sydney Opera House thirty years after its completion. The research will show that public buildings provide fertile ground to plant industrial seeds; but to have an impact on the local economy, they must respond to specific structural conditions or be supported by political will. These findings will improve Australia's institutional understanding of the relationship between cost and investment in construction, and clarify that the evaluation of building productivity requires a long-term perspective. Government agencies should use institutional projects to define their public face but also to plan and implement industrial strategies. The research will help Australia maximise its creative and technological capability by understanding the factors conducive to innovation and its acceptance.Read moreRead less