Monash University

While relationship building and management, or what has been labelled relationship marketing is an old idea, it is also a new focus at the forefront of services marketing/management practice and academic research. The impetus for its development has come from the globalisation of business, technological advances, shorter product life cycles and the evolving recognition of the importance of customer retention and customer relationship economics. Despite the blossoming of relationship marketing, the creation of a conceptual framework for understanding its properties and studying its possibilities is still underdeveloped. This study therefore aims to investigate the antecedents and consequences of relationship strength in the service industry. A conceptual model is proposed that provides a framework for firm-controlled antecedent conditions such as the level of service quality and customer satisfaction provided and the use of relational bonds, and tests their impact on customer trust a...

This paper proposes a conceptual model for the examination of the role of external intelligence capability in a company’s endeavour to achieve superior performance. Companies nowadays find it difficult to perform and to pursue performance in a prudent manner because the external environmental conditions have become increasingly volatile and uncertain. They are being ever more overwhelmed with loads of business information and finding it increasingly difficulty to interpret and act on them. A detailed literature review points to the employment of external intelligence capability as a keystone advantage. A conceptual framework of external intelligence capability for superior performance is developed. Research propositions are put forward with emphasis on the stages in the external intelligence capability process, and also its effect on the outcomes of strategy formulation and strategy implementation.

This thesis analyses the reasons why the transfer of global anti-corruption norms in Vietnam has not produced the expected reduction in corruption. It argues that the transfer of these global norms has had a limited influence among businesses in Vietnam because there is fragmentation in the way companies in Vietnam interpret and respond to these norms. The thesis investigates why different types of companies in Vietnam engage with and respond to these norms in different ways. This investigation aims to generate some predictive insights into how companies are likely to respond to anti-corruption regimes based on global anti-corruption norms.

This thesis explores three aspects of child growth in Sri Lanka. The first essay explores differences in child growth comparing the rural and estate sectors. The second essay evaluates the effectiveness of a nutrition intervention within the tea estate sector, and the final essay explores child growth in the backdrop of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Using various econometric techniques including innovative approaches to endogeneity, the thesis contributes both conceptually and methodologically to child malnutrition research. The thesis presents key policy prescriptions in dealing with child nutrition in the tea estate sector, and in responding to natural disasters.

Artificial intelligence in public administration is both inevitable and potentially quite beneficial. Its assistive form offers access, efficiency and convenience; while the gains potentially are even larger in its augmentive ‘machine learning’ form. Offsetting risks include disadvantaging technology poor clients, and poor design which fails adequately to reflect social welfare principles or provide adequate accountability and redress for errors; a risk heightened for machine learning. This paper reviews some of the different forms and settings for AI in social security and argues that the Australian experience to date has been very mixed due to poor or rushed AI designs, poor understanding of client characteristics, and inadequate understanding of dynamics within contracted-out government services settings.

The concept of public relations orientation (PRO) is advanced as a way of conceptualising public relations practice and transforming consultant approaches to client problems. Public relations orientation is defined as the possible philosophical stances organisations adopt when relating with publics. Public relations orientation, therefore, embraces the range of public relations goals, behaviours and transactions pursued by organisations. The three aspects of PRO were elaborated through analysis of interviews conducted with managers of a range of large Australian companies. Sub-dimensions for each category were identified and linked to the literature. The article concludes by discussing how consultants can transform the clientconsultant transaction model from an adult-child ego state to an adult-adult ego state by using PRO to develop interventions with organisation-level outcomes, rather than the usual program-level outcomes.

Farm dams are integral part of Australian agriculture and they contain a substantial fraction of inland fresh water on the Australian continent. Storage of water can alter the physical, chemical and biological processes occurring within the dam and subsequently, any downstream receiving water body. However, limited research has been directed into understanding the factors controlling biogeochemical processes in the dam and the effect of the dam on downstream water quality. In this thesis, a dam (11.8 ML) with a catchment area of 1.3 km2 on a dairy farm at Poowong East (ca. 130 km south-east of Melbourne, VIC) was studied to investigate: (1) the seasonal variations in nutrient concentrations and greenhouse gas (N2O and CH4) emissions, (2) the role of aquatic sediments in the emission of the greenhouse gases, and (3) the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen and phosphorus in the dam. Fluxes of N2O, CH4 and bioavailable inorganic nutrients (NH4+, NOx and FRP) between the sediment and the...

This thesis investigates selected social determinants that contribute to the gap in health between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults who live in Victoria. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults disproportionately experience food insecurity, psychological distress, and racism. Experiences of racism account for 34% of the gap in self-reported health status, equivalent in strength to smoking. Racism in all its forms is hypothesised to be the pivotal determinant of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and a conceptual model is proposed.

In this thesis I read Simone de Beauvoir's <i>The Second Sex</i> through the lens of her early (and only recently published) writing on Claude Bernard's experimental approach. In the 1924 essay "Analysis of Claude Bernard's <i>Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine,</i>" Beauvoir endorses Bernard's critique of "theoretical authority" and certain elements of his experimental approach. <i>The Second Sex </i>redeploys this early criticism of theoretical authority and valorisation of experimentation to produce a critique of patriarchal authority. Throughout <i>The Second Sex</i>, Beauvoir develops distinct experimental literary-philosophical strategies, namely a "proliferation" and "reintroduction" of perspectives, ideas and sources. She uses these strategies to expose the ways in which patriarchal traditions construct and maintain essentialist definitions of women. For Be...

This thesis is about social work field education in PNG, including the role of global social work field education standards, from the perspectives of social work educators and students in PNG. The central theme of connectedness emerged as an important from the data, highlighting three key areas to address to ensure the development of a culturally relevant field education curriculum. These are: connecting global-local issues; connecting global-local policies and standards; connecting universities and local communities; and connecting contemporary and local teaching and learning approaches.

This research in literary and cultural studies has developed a new approach to reading postcolonial literature, named 'corporate ingression.' I have analysed three English literary texts by looking at how they explore the influence of corporate power over local communities worldwide and throughout time. Corporate ingression describes, firstly, how a major corporation can influence the social, economic and political structure of a community, and secondly, how it can influence the culture of such a society. In my research I show how this concept is relevant for analysing the communities and processes these novels explore.

The Vygotskian preschool education program (VPEP) is built around mediation in the context of preschool age-specific activities such as sociodramatic play, constructive play, listening and retelling fairy tales, playing with dollhouses, motor activities, and some others. We used the VPEP as part of the daily curriculum in two pre-K classes at PS 197 in Harlem, New York, to promote the development of children’s self-regulation and symbolic thought. Another pre-K class at PS 197 was used as the control group. For pre- and posttests, we administered the Coding and Symbol Search subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence–III (WPPSI-III), which target the ability to self-regulate, and the Block Design subtest of the WPPSI-III, which targets the ability to exercise symbolic thought. The results of the study demonstrate that the VPEP promotes the development of preschoolers’ self-regulation and is beneficial for the development of their symbolic thought.

Background Available data indicate that urinary incontinence (UI) is a condition in women, which adversely impacts on quality of life and daily activities. It affects women of all ages, but is particularly common in older women. It has been associated with significant physical morbidities, lowered well-being, loss of independence as well as sexual difficulties. It also causes a considerable financial burden on both individuals and the healthcare system. A detailed understanding of UI in terms of its prevalence, incidence and risk factors in women is an essential step in reducing the impact of this condition. However, the reported prevalence of UI among women varies widely between studies, with most studies reporting a prevalence of any UI in the range of 25 to 50%. This range is a result of the different definitions used for UI, the heterogeneity of study populations and the different data collection procedures applied for this sensitive health issue. UI is commonly viewed as a perm...

This thesis focuses on the films of contemporary Palestinian filmmakers that have gained a considerable following among arthouse and commercial cinema audiences since the 1980s. Developing а concept of minor transnationalism, the thesis concentrates on the feature and documentary films of Michel Khleifi, Rashid Masharawi, Elia Suleiman, Hany Abu Assad, Najwa Najjar, Annemarie Jacir, Cherien Dabis, Azza El-Hassan, and Jumana Manna. This thesis investigates how we think about the evolution of Palestinian transnational cinema in the post-1980 period, and specifies the ways in which transnational film production engages with the minor form in the works of Palestinian film directors.

This exegesis tests the proposition 'The artist's practice as always already-made'. Its focus is not the legacy of the Duchampian readymade. Rather, it investigates modes of appropriation in relation to my studio practice, particularly the generation of new work through the accumulation of materials and the process of remaking. The exegesis opens with a survey of select historical precedents of appropriation practice to establish a framework for rethinking appropriation in relation to my work. These approaches fall into two categories: appropriation as accumulation and appropriation as remaking. Discussion of these categories using specific examples provides a context for the examination of my practice. Appropriation as accumulation points to the activity of gathering material — my previous works, found objects and studio detritus — that resource my ongoing practice. Appropriation as remaking — drawing on my back catalogue of past works to generate a continually unfoldin...

International Association of Music Libraries, Archives & Documentation Centres (Australian Chapter) Conference Melbourne 2019

The Vera Bradford Collection: A Digitisation Project

Vera Bradford (1904-2004) was a celebrated Australian pianist, and contributed much to Australian music as a performer, a teacher and a promoter of Australian composers. She won a scholarship to study with Percy Grainger in Chicago, gave the first Australian performance of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto and was the first woman to perform the Brahms D minor Piano Concerto in Australia.

Vera Bradford donated her music collection to the State College of Victoria in 1978, which later became Monash University Library’s Peninsula branch. The collection was named the Vera Bradford Music Collection and contains books on the history of music, scores and sheet music, librettos, and orchestral sets. The collection has continued to grow, with donations from local Peninsula music groups, Defence Force Bands and other materials purchased by the State College of Victoria.

In 2018 Monash University Library commenced reordering and digitising the Vera Bradford Collection, comprising scores donated by the pianist in 1978 as well as donations from individuals and musical groups in the Frankston area to make these items available to the wider research community and general public.

This short talk outlined the digitisation plan and processes involved, touching upon the constraints, the solutions adopted, and the opportunities to make these valuable and unique items more accessible to students and researchers, and thereby contribute to making Vera Bradford better known to the worldwide community.

The Vera Bradford Collection online: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.1/1404337

Kamala Kanta Dash is the newest faculty member of the Faculty of Good Governance and Public Policy at the Sri Sri University.
He is pursuing a Ph.D on community engagement in public policy from the Monash University in Australia. Kamala also holds a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Political Science from Utkal University, a Master’s degree in Political Science and World Affairs from Ravenshaw University, and an M.Phil in International Relations from JNU.
He is also an Ambassador at the Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, and Carnegie New Leader at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.

Sri Sri Univeristy (SUS), a new age global university in the Eastern Indian state of Odisha has recruited Monash University researcher Mr. Kamala Kanta Dash to strengthen the university’s forthcoming Masters Programme in Good Governance and Public Policy. Kamala is currently an Australian Ambassador at the Parliament of World’s Religions (PWR) Chicago and a Carnegie New Leader (CNL) at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, New York.