Management and Marketing - Research Publications
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ItemPaper Promises? Evaluating the early impact of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act(Human Rights Law Centre, Uniting Church in Australia, UNSW Sydney, University of Melbourne, RMIT University, 2022)The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (MSA) was widely hailed as a critical first step by Australia towards tackling the global problem of modern slavery, with the government proclaiming that it would transform the way businesses respond to modern slavery by prompting a business-led ‘race to the top’.
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ItemHappier workers, healthier patients: An analysis of healthcare worker engagement and health service outcomes in Victoria(Safer Care Victoria, Victorian Managed Insurance Authority., 2022-01-21)
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ItemThe ‘good, bad and merit’ arguments in Australian news coverage of workplace gender diversity(The University of Melbourne and VicHealth, 2020-09-30)Research aims: In this study, we used the machine learning technique of topic modelling, as well as qualitative content analysis, on a large sample of articles published in high-circulation Australian printed media with the objectives to: 1. Explore the ways workplace gender diversity issues are discussed. 2. Identify the most common types of arguments for and against striving for greater workplace gender diversity. 3. Evaluate whether the year and month of publication, the type of diversity discussed and the sex of the author are related to the types of arguments for and against workplace gender diversity. Research contribution: Our findings indicate that the analysed articles were more likely to: • Focus on high-profile women (e.g., politicians, actors and influencers) and their life-styles, including trade-offs they had to make, rather than on discussions of the policies and practices organisations implement to manage workplace gender diversity, or on quantitative descriptions of the extent of gender inequality and lack of gender diversity. • Focus on discussions of sexism in the media industry and in particular high-profile workplace sexual harassment cases. • Present a narrow range of reasons for and against workplace gender diversity initiatives. • Focus on arguments in favour of increased workplace gender diversity when written by women (compared with men) and focus on risks to merit when written by men (compared with women).
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ItemImproving Access and Inclusion in Employment for People with Disabilities: Implementation of Workplace Adjustments in ‘Best-Practice’ Organisations(Centre for Workplace Leadership, The University of Melbourne, 2019)The Centre for Workplace Leadership (CWL), in consultation with the Australian Network on Disability (AND) and with funding from the Hallmark Disability Research Initiative at the University of Melbourne, embarked on research to: disseminate information about best practice in implementing workplace adjustments; make a meaningful contribution to disability rights advocacy in the employment sphere; facilitate meaningful engagement between academic enquiry and business practice; and aid the pursuit of self-determination and full and equal participation in society by people with disabilities. To achieve these aims, we conducted interviews of managers and employees with disabilities in ‘best-practice’ organisations in Australia.
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ItemResearch Insights: Improving access and inclusion in employment for people with disabilities(The Centre for Workplace Leadership, 2017-04-01)The inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce is a social and economic imperative for Australia. However, barriers to employment and retention persist, as reflected in low workforce participation rates among people with disabilities. Key barriers to access and inclusion in the workplace include: (1) lack of access to education and training, (2) misconceptions and stigma, (3) non-inclusive workplace environments, and (4) discrimination. Some barriers may be addressed through various activities, including training and education programs for people with disabilities and for people without, the systematic provision of workplace adjustments, and the implementation of more inclusive organisational practices. The Centre for Workplace Leadership has established a research program to promote more inclusive workplaces for individuals with disabilities.
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ItemLeadership at Work: Do Australian leaders have what it takes?(Centre for Workplace Leadership, The University of Melbourne, 2016)Fuelled by the resources boom, the Australian economy has enjoyed an unprecedented 25 years of economic growth, more than doubling in real terms over that period. But, now, the Australian economy is slowing. Productivity is sluggish, employment growth is weakening, and consumer confidence is faltering. Many economists are now predicting an extended period of slow economic growth and recovery. Organisations need to adapt and adjust to this unfolding reality, improve productivity and reduce costs. However, this is just one of a number of critical challenges that Australia faces. Slower economic growth globally has intensified competitive pressures. The rate of technological change is accelerating and is having increasingly disruptive consequences. Automation is destroying jobs at a faster pace and is beginning to hollow out middle-skill jobs across sectors as diverse as manufacturing, professional services and financial services. Technological advances are leading to an unprecedented rate of innovation in products and services, creating new sources of competitive pressure – as well as enormous potential for future growth, profitability and cost reduction. Technology is spawning a new class of business models, which are disrupting established ways of working and doing business – from Uber in the taxi industry, AirBnB in accommodation services, and the emerging FinTech sector, to the spread of online training in education services and an array of service providers able to offshore increasingly complex work. At the same time, organisations have contended with a seismic shift in the competitive and regulatory environment - from competition policy and consumer protection, to the decentralisation of industrial relations and enterprise bargaining. These fundamental changes in the way organisations organise and compete will impact Australian workplaces of all shapes and sizes – small and large, private and public, for-profit and not-for-profit, and across industries. If Australia is to maintain national competitiveness and generate growth and jobs, organisations need to navigate through a phase of increased uncertainty and ambiguity, disruption and change. To survive, organisations need to innovate and adapt, and to develop new capabilities and new sources of growth. A critical question is whether Australian organisational leaders are ready to meet these new challenges. Or whether the extended period of economic growth driven by the resources boom has made Australian organisational leaders complacent and unprepared for the future? Have Australian organisations invested adequately in their leadership and management capabilities to navigate through these complex and uncertain times? If not, will these various changes have adverse and lasting effects on future growth and prosperity? These questions have informed the surveys developed for this study.
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ItemWorkplace Gender Equality Strategy Project - Final Report(Centre for Workplace Leadership, University of Melbourne, 2015)Progress towards workplace gender equality is a national priority. For Australian organisations, closing the gender gap and maximising the potential of both male and female employees is crucial for increasing productivity and securing future growth. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s (WGEA’s; 2014) gender equality indicators have found that while 45% of Australian employers have policies on flexible work, and family and caring responsibilities, only about 13% have a strategy for implementing such policies. Over half of organisations have a standalone gender equality policy, but only 7% have a gender equality strategy. Women’s representation is low at management levels, with women comprising around 26% of the top three layers of the management hierarchy in Australian organisations with 100 or more employees. Pursuit of flexible work practices and promotion of gender equity needs to be implemented in a more strategic, integrated and sustainable way in order to have real effect at the workplace level.
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ItemDeveloping Leaders in Business Schools: A Case Report on First Year Student Leaders(Centre for Workplace Leadership, The University of Melbourne, 2016)Developing leadership capabilities in young people comes with the territory of being in a business school. The Faculty of Business and Economics at The University of Melbourne offers a First Year Leaders Forum on a voluntary basis to all students. Centre for Workplace Leadership researchers surveyed two groups of first year students – those who took part in the Forum, and those that chose not to. The survey was administered immediately before the Forum and repeated six months later. Testing for four leadership competencies and two leadership attributes, they established that the intervention in the form of the Forum, improved first year students motivation to lead. Further they found that those who joined student groups or associations, volunteered or had served internships demonstrated higher levels of motivation to lead. The study showed that even small interventions can develop leadership attributes and as a result increase the levels of motivation to lead.