Management and Marketing - Research Publications
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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.
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ItemCreating a high performance leadership culture: The case of a leading Australian financial services firm(Centre for Workplace Leadership, The University of Melbourne, 2016)The Centre for Workplace Leadership was invited by a leading Australian financial services firm to conduct research on the firm’s capacity to adapt and innovate in a rapidly changing economic environment. The research took place between 2014 and 2016. It involved analysis of proprietary documents, surveys, and interviews with employees and managers from frontline business to senior managers, the executive team and board members. Key Findings: The analysis of the firm’s systems for innovation and decision-making found the following factors were affecting the firm’s ability to innovate. These were: • Employees’ shared commitment to a strong, values-based culture created a stable and rewarding informal culture; • However, the firm’s culture was a ‘double-edged sword’: although it was a major strength in building cohesion, it also tended to block innovation and change; • In particular, ‘bureaucratic brakes’ impeded the spread of internal innovation and development; • Strong risk aversion tended to be used defensively against the possibility of change; • Positive examples of innovation highlighted the need to develop better mechanisms for knowledge diffusion and organisational learning. Each of these findings is described in more detail in the report, along with quotes from the interviews.
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ItemMiddle Managers - Leading for Performance The case of a major Australian retail business(Centre for Workplace Leadership, The University of Melbourne, 2016)The Centre for Workplace Leadership was invited by a major Australian retail business to conduct research on the company. The CEO wished to have a solid basis of evidence on which to improve communication, innovation and decisionmaking in the company. The research took place over a year between mid-2014 and mid-2015. It involved interviews with staff at all levels, from CEO to frontline business staff. Key Findings: The analysis of communication, innovation and decision-making processes found three main issues that were impacting organisational effectiveness. These were: • shifting to hierarchical leadership had reduced employee engagement; • increased bureaucracy had reinforced organisational silos; • top-down decision-making had crowded out collaboration and innovation. Each of these findings is described in more detail below, along with quotes from the interviews.