Advances in computer and telecommunications technology areproviding logistics managers with a wide range of strategicopportunities. However, there is a widening gap between…
Abstract
Advances in computer and telecommunications technology are providing logistics managers with a wide range of strategic opportunities. However, there is a widening gap between opportunities available through technology and effective utilisation of the technology. Unless logistics managers take a broader strategic view of their role, these opportunities will be lost and their companies will fall behind in the face of increasingly intense global competition. Logistics managers who seek innovative ways to apply both existing and new technology, especially information technology, will play an increasingly important role in their organisation′s profitability.
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Advances in computer and telecommunications technology are providing logistics managers with a wide range of strategic opportunities. However, there is a widening gap between…
Abstract
Advances in computer and telecommunications technology are providing logistics managers with a wide range of strategic opportunities. However, there is a widening gap between opportunities available through technology and effective utilisation of the technology. Unless logistics managers take a broader strategic view of their role, these opportunities will be lost and their companies will fall behind in the face of increasingly intense global competition. Logistics managers who seek innovative ways to apply both existing and new technology, especially information technology, will play an increasingly important role in their organisation's profitability.
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An influential publication in business logistics is reviewed,discussing the contribution of logistics to the profitability of theorganisation, the use of information to manage…
Abstract
An influential publication in business logistics is reviewed, discussing the contribution of logistics to the profitability of the organisation, the use of information to manage logistics more profitably, the impact of technology, and human resources.
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This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management is split into six sections covering abstracts under the following…
Abstract
This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management is split into six sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Logistics and Distribution Strategy; Supply Chain Management; IT in Logistics and Distribution; Just‐in‐time Management; Accounting for Logistics; International.
SOME twenty years gone by I was inspanned into a movement to explain automation to the nation which was said to be apprehensive of its effects on full employment. In vain I…
Abstract
SOME twenty years gone by I was inspanned into a movement to explain automation to the nation which was said to be apprehensive of its effects on full employment. In vain I explained that automation was industry's response to labour shortage and that unemployment was a consequence of economic not technical policies; that it was impossible to start new industries with an only marginally increasing work force, unless it could be staffed by those deployed from industries whose productivity was rising.
The Smart Book involves the direct application of computer technology to the book marketplace. It employs speacial‐purpose equipment to simplify the user's access to information…
Abstract
The Smart Book involves the direct application of computer technology to the book marketplace. It employs speacial‐purpose equipment to simplify the user's access to information that would normally be found in a printed book. The concept invovles two distinct components: a reader unit and a book pack. The reader unit is a device that contains computer equipment, a custom liquid crystal display screen, and six user control buttons. All facilities for reading, searching, indexing, and so on can be performed using those six controls. The Smart Book Text Pack, or The Book, is currently a one‐megabyte ROM pack using conventional micro‐computer read‐only memory chips. This on‐megabyte pack contains the text of a book and its appropriate program functions. The text is held on the ROM pack in a proprietary compressed format.
Imagine books the size of credit cards — to read them all you need to do is put the card in a portable book‐sized reader. This is the concept behind the Smart Book which has been…
Abstract
Imagine books the size of credit cards — to read them all you need to do is put the card in a portable book‐sized reader. This is the concept behind the Smart Book which has been developed and tested in Australia over the last few years. The companies behind the joint venture are James Hardie Industries Limited, one of the top fifty public companies in Australia, Weldon International, one of Australia's larger book publishers, and Megaword International Pty Limited, the originator of the product concept
Lachlan McDonald-Kerr and Gordon Boyce
The purpose of this paper is to investigate public disclosures and accountability for government decision-making in the case of a major prison project delivered through a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate public disclosures and accountability for government decision-making in the case of a major prison project delivered through a Public–Private Partnership (PPP) in the State of Victoria (Australia).
Design/methodology/approach
The study explores a unique case to provide insights into public disclosures for PPPs in a jurisdiction that is a recognised leader in PPP policy and practice. The analysis is theoretically framed by an understanding of neoliberalism and New Public Management, and draws on data from case-specific reporting, media reporting and public policy, to examine interconnections between accounting, public discourse and accountability.
Findings
The analysis shows how publicly available information relating to key government decisions routinely lacked supporting evidence or explanation, even though areas of subjectivity were recognised in public policy. Accounting was deployed numerically and discursively to present potentially contestable decisions as being based on common-sense “facts”. The implied “truth” status of government reporting is problematised by media disclosure of key issues absent from government disclosures.
Social implications
Under neoliberalism, accountingisation can help depoliticise the public sphere and limit discourse by constructing ostensible “facts” in an inherently contestable arena. By contrast, democratic accountability requires public disclosures that infuse a critical dialogical public sphere.
Originality/value
The paper shows how neoliberalism can be embedded in public policies and institutional practices, and buttressed by the use of accounting. The analysis illuminates the persistence and “failing forward” character of neoliberalism, whereby crises are addressed through further neoliberalisation.
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Robyn Ramsden, Richard Colbran, Tricia Linehan, Michael Edwards, Hilal Varinli, Carolyn Ripper, Angela Kerr, Andrew Harvey, Phil Naden, Scott McLachlan and Stephen Rodwell
While one-third of Australians live outside major cities, there are ongoing challenges in providing accessible, sustainable, and appropriate primary health care services in rural…
Abstract
Purpose
While one-third of Australians live outside major cities, there are ongoing challenges in providing accessible, sustainable, and appropriate primary health care services in rural and remote communities. The purpose of this paper is to explore a partnership approach to understanding and addressing complex primary health workforce issues in the western region of New South Wales (NSW), Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors describe how a collaboration of five organisations worked together to engage a broader group of stakeholders and secure commitment and resources for a regional approach to address workforce challenges in Western NSW. A literature review and formal interviews with stakeholders gathered knowledge, identified issues and informed the overarching approach, including the development of the Western NSW Partnership Model and Primary Health Workforce Planning Framework. A stakeholder forum tested the proposed approach and gained endorsement for a collaborative priority action plan.
Findings
The Western NSW Partnership Model successfully engaged regional stakeholders and guided the development of a collaborative approach to building a sustainable primary health workforce for the future.
Originality/value
Given the scarcity of literature about effective partnerships approaches to address rural health workforce challenges, this paper contributes to an understanding of how to build sustainable partnerships to positively impact on the rural health workforce. This approach is replicable and potentially valuable elsewhere in NSW, other parts of Australia and internationally.
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Ian Kerr and Jane Bailey
This paper aims to examine some of the broader social consequences of enabling digital rights management. The authors suggest that the current, mainstream orientation of digital…
Abstract
This paper aims to examine some of the broader social consequences of enabling digital rights management. The authors suggest that the current, mainstream orientation of digital rights management systems could have the effect of shifting certain public powers into the invisible hands of private control. Focusing on two central features of digital rights management ‐ their surveillance function and their ability to unbundle copyrights into discrete and custom‐made products ‐ the authors conclude that a promulgation of the current use of digital rights management has the potential to seriously undermine our fundamental public commitments to personal privacy and freedom of expression.