Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research - Research Publications
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ItemIndustrial relations reform: who are the pro-reformers( 2003-04)There have been considerable changes in the industrial relations landscape in Australia over the past 15 years. This paper utilises a recent survey of large Australian organisations to investigate the characteristics of the organisations that have embraced the industrial relations reform agenda. We find evidence that certain industries, such as Mining, have embraced the reform agenda. We also find that organisations who have embraced the reform agenda tend to have rather different human resource management practices to those who have not
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ItemIndustrial relations reform at the enterprise and workplace( 2003-03)This paper compares attitudes and perceptions to industrial relations reform between senior management at large Australian organisations on the one hand, and their associated workplace managers on the other. We find that significant differences exist in the opinions and policies of workplaces and enterprises. In particular, marked differences exist in the attitudes towards human resource management and industrial relations reform. These results suggest that we may conclude that in terms of human resource management and industrial relations it appears there is no corporate culture that is carried over from head office to the workplace
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ItemCost focussed firms and Internet usage( 2002-12)This paper looks at Internet usage by Australian firms that have a cost focussed competitive strategy. The data source for this analysis is the Melbourne Institute Business Survey, conducted by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research. The survey was conducted in late 2001, and targeted large Australian firms. Instrumental variables estimation found that cost-focussed organizations utilised the Internet more intensively for both internal organizational activities and external market activities than organizations that did not have a high focus on costs. However, this impact appeared greater for internal organizational activities, suggesting that these firms possibly believed that there were greater cost savings and efficiency gains-at least in terms of Internet usage-to be had in using the Internet as part of the internal operations of the organization.
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ItemBusiness use of the Internet in Australia( 2002-10)This paper provides summary statistics of Internet usage by Australian businesses using several data sources. Aggregate statistics are provided from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Business Use of Information Technology. More detailed information on firm characteristics and Internet usage are provided from the Melbourne Institute Business Survey, conducted by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research. Despite being a relatively new phenomenon, the academic research to date has already generated some general observations. The first of these is that Internet use is only beneficial to the organisation if it is incorporated into an overall strategy. Evidence from the Melbourne Institute Business Survey shows organisations that were strong in at least one competitive strategy (that is, operational excellence, customer intimacy or product leadership) were more likely to use particular features of the Internet than the rest of the sample. The academic research also indicates that there are significant differences in Internet adoption depending on the type of industry the organisation operates in. Again, the Melbourne Institute Business Survey shows that Internet usage does indeed vary across industries, with manufacturers more likely to use the Internet for the co-ordination of delivery arrangements, whereas the service industries are more likely to use the Internet for customer self-service and personnel benefits.