Research activities
The School of Business is actively committed to research of regional, national and international significance in all areas of business. The impact of our work is becoming evident in a number of fields, including law, accounting, eCommerce, marketing, strategy and management.
Members of the School’s academic staff have published high-quality papers in prestigious national and international journals. Staff members also act as external examiners of theses and serve on editorial panels of several journals.
Our primary objective is to advance knowledge of business, management and the surrounding social world. Examples of the research being undertaken by staff of the School of Business are provided below.
Accountability and Governance
Contemporary and Historical Perspectives grouping within the School of Business brings together researchers who are concerned with exploring the nature, role and effectiveness of accountability relationships and governance systems in business, public and social institutions. Accountability relationships and governance systems are increasingly important, diverse and complex features of society. Investigation of these relationships and systems, and identification of ways in which they can be made more effective, may yield significant economic and social benefits. Historical research which traces the origin and evolution of accountability concepts and governance mechanisms and identifies the effects of their application is a key method for understanding and advancing their contemporary relevance. Inquiries of this kind may also provide insights for addressing the problems of the future.
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Action learning methodologies
The School of Business has a distinguished history of Action Learning and Action Research. Recent work has studied the role of change agents in encouraging the process of creativity and learning within the organisation. Our research interests include the implementation of changing business paradigms through action research methodologies, and the weaving of technology with sustainable economic, social, environmental and governance practices toward building viability and innovation in regional Australia.
Business strategy
The role of business strategy is crucial to planning for the future in any type of firm or non-profit organisation. This area of research concentrates on the forms and specific actions that entail business strategy. The emphasis is on small business, family business and third (non-profit) sector organisations. Our research has examined strategy options and their effectiveness in non-profit organisations, and the role of technology and knowledge transfer in strategy development.
Clustering
Clusters are co-located groups of businesses, institutions and other organisations that generate increasing returns because of their proximity and the interactions between cluster members. These increasing returns arise through transfer of knowledge, attraction of capital and customers, common infrastructure and factor supply. Our research has examined clustering in relation to importance of place and industry, role of entrepreneurs, and impact of the internet on clustering. A recent project has investigated micro-clusters within and between regional wine and tourism businesses, addressing the important question of how clusters complement one another and whether the strength and structure of regional wine clusters have an affect on the strength and structure of co-located regional tourism clusters.
Contemporary economic ideas and policies
Our research has investigated Australian economic policy from a historical perspective in order to appreciate the cultural, structural and philosophical elements of the past that provide direction to the way the public, private and third sectors make their strategic decisions. The focus of this work is on the impact of economic policy decisions at national, state and regional levels. The aim of this research is to identify the rate of take-up of these policies in the Australian economy. The role and effectiveness of economic research and education in this process is a central element in this research.
Economics: Systems and policies
The systems perspective in economics is the major theme of this area of research. Societies have developed various economic systems to manage the dynamic market processes that interact between business and individuals. Governments form and implement policies on the basis of such systems. A recent project has modelled the economic forces that impact on the demographic and environmental systems, while another project is identifying the systems that sustain economic processes within governments, the media and the economics profession.
Gender and organisations
A management discipline team within the School is conducting major research on the role of gender in business and community services. A current project is investigating gender and participation in industrial democracy in public sector agencies by recruiting a collaborative research team from interested employees of both sexes to develop skills and understanding to renegotiate gender relations and industrial democracy practices within such organisations. Another research project has examined the experience and needs of women owners and operators of small businesses.
History in business
A forum in history in business has been recently formed in which members examine the history of business development in Australia. The development of business as a result of the Gold Rush of the 1850s in the Goldfields Region of Victoria is of particular interest to this research group. Research in this area examines how history fashions the culture, institutions, policies and processes that currently impact on business and economics, at a theoretical level and also within the particular context of the Australian economy. Professionalism and the role of accounting rules are examined from a historical perspective.
Indigenous peoples, cultural heritage, and indigenous policy development
A major research project has examined the role of indigenous history and anthropology, exploring cultural heritage and the type of policies developed in relation to the Australian Aboriginal people. Specific interests include native title and connection to country, Aboriginal spatial organisation and languages, indigenous tourism, Aboriginal toponymy, and the economic history of Aboriginal people and gold mining.
Industrial relations and human resource management
The links between industrial relations and human resource management (HRM) is the focus of this research group. Aspects of employers’ processes for recruitment and maintenance of staff have significant impacts on the structure of industrial relations at the micro and macro levels. A recent project has examined executive recruitment practices and their implications for industrial behaviour, as well as monitoring the development of contemporary industrial relations practices. Another project is exploring the way HRM and industrial relations strategies outside of capital cities impact on regional labour markets.
Information communications technology and ecommerce
Information Communications Technology (ICT) and electronic commerce (eCommerce) form a strong research focus in the School, focusing on how communities and organisations can develop creative computer-based operations which significantly improve outcomes, leading to stronger sustainable economic development. Specific areas of research include ICT adoption, e-strategy development, information security, business to business marketing and consumer behaviour on the internet. One project has studied the ways regional and rural communities have developed and sustained community-based internet services for socially and economically beneficial purposes.
Marketing in society
The role of marketing is critically examined to identify how the process impacts on society in terms of customer value, firm growth, new product development and the cultural environment. A recent project has investigated how customer relationship and commitment builds financial value for an organisation.
Regional and rural development
The role of business in the economic and social development of rural and regional Australia is investigated from diverse angles within the School. Through entrepreneurship, innovation and strategic alliances, businesses established outside major capital cities play a significant part in local community development. Many aspects in the regions are examined, such as the regional innovation systems developed (including ability to adopt new information technology), new venture creations, community capacity building and social cohesion. The resilience and viability of small country towns is an important new area of research for the School.
Small-medium sized enterprises
Growth of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) is a significant area of research within the School. The question of what inhibits and promotes growth from small firms into medium-sized organisations has been little understood, and the development of appropriate models from this research will help inform public policy and private strategies, particularly in regional Australia where SMEs contribute the bulk of private sector employment. A current project is examining regulatory compliance of micro and small business in regional and rural Victoria with a particular focus on negligence and Occupational Health and Safety reforms, analysing the reasons for the reforms, and how small business deals with legal complexity. Another project is exploring the use of resources in rapid growth SMEs and evaluates the impact of the industry, entrepreneurial and life cycle context on the marketing strategies used to sustain growth.
Third sector research
The third sector makes an important economic, social and political contribution in many countries. Organisations within the third sector are diverse, but share some common characteristics. Typically, they are formal, private organisations and are prohibited by law from distributing profit to owners. They are often community-based and rely significantly on volunteer labour. Research within the School is focusing on such questions as: What is the impact of these organisations? How can their impact be measured? How can third sector organisations more effectively manage challenges to their sustainability?
Tourism in regional Australia
Research in this field focuses on the way the tourism industry contributes to the development of regional Australia. Areas of research interest and expertise are regional tourism planning, community consultation, visitor services and public policy, with particular focus on integrated tourism destination management. Recent work has contributed significantly to research on the use of internet technologies in regional tourism networks. A current project focuses on innovative ICT-enhanced skills training for small tourism businesses in regional Victoria.
Water resource management
Water is a crucial resource in our dry continent. One of the School’s research teams is examining the demand and supply of water usage with respect to environmental issues in regional environments. Extensive experience has been developed in the application of survey methods to study the demand and usage of water in regional communities. The aim of this research is to identify how water can be more effectively distributed and used in communities so that the water resource can be better managed.
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