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Increasing competition and accreditation pressures on MBA programmes throughout the world to perform, in terms of competitive pricing and “world’s best practice” curricula, may produce outcomes inimical to the very goals being pursued. Two major themes of management education are considered in light of this trend. First, management education content and process is critically reviewed from an evolutionary non‐linear systems perspective particularly with respect to incorporating more effective yet deliberately destabilising double‐loop learning processes in the educative system. Business schools fail to incorporate such approaches because they over‐rely on single‐loop learning processes which ignore dynamic complexities in the human condition and in organisational systems. This helps explain why business schools and consultants readily incorporate management fads and fashions into their curricula. Second, the structure and delivery of management education programmes is reviewed. Conventional approaches here fail to take account of the more demanding experiential side of human learning and development which may be just as important as the rational approach which so often captures the delivery agenda. Again, the attraction of management fads and fashions is implicated as a major reason why business schools fail to incorporate double‐loop learning into their own agendas. In the words of the sages, you often get what you pay for and what you get is often simplistic, linear, de‐contextualised, and strongly prone to over‐application.

This paper aims to examine the direct and indirect effects of substitutes for leadership on performance outcomes.

A self‐report questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 177 Australian local council employees. The responses were analysed using ICLUST analysis and hierarchical multiple regression analysis.

The results indicated significant positive effects of some substitutes for leadership on performance outcomes. Furthermore, some substitutes for leadership moderated the effects of transactional leadership behaviours on performance outcomes, whereas another sub‐component of substitutes for leadership moderated the effects of social processes of leadership on performance outcomes. In addition, some substitutes for leadership partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and performance outcomes.

The cross‐sectional design of the study reduces the capacity to draw definitive causal inferences.

The current study supports the view that council leaders could have influenced the employees' attitudes, perceptions, and performance by indirectly shaping the environment in which the subordinates worked (i.e. shaping task and organisational characteristics). The study implies the need for leaders in the local councils to understand those substitutes for leadership that mediate the influence of transformational leadership (such as group and work design capacities) and how they can be managed to enhance employee performance outcomes.

This is one of the first Australian studies to comprehensively examine the influence of substitutes for leadership on performance outcomes.

This paper focuses on developing an integrative view of leadership and organisational learning in the context of dynamic and non‐linear organisational complexity. The outcome of this development is a new conceptualisation termed “learnership”. The concept and process of “learnership” is seen as an evolving meld of leadership and learning where responsibility for learning and for leading is progressively diffused from a few central individuals to a critical mass of organisational members, all of whom become mutually embedded in the learning process, leading where needed, following where needed, but always with a sensitive eye on the complex texture of the learning environment they inhabit. The usefulness of the concept of “learnership” for organisations is discussed and some diagnostic trigger questions for sensing readiness and capability for “learnership” diffusion are presented.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the separate and combined effects of transformational leadership behaviour and social processes of leadership on key organisational outcomes within Australian local councils.

A survey research methodology was used to gather quantitative data from employees from nine local councils. Data were analysed using Item clustering analysis for scale construction. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was employed to test the proposed conceptual framework.

It was found that transformational leadership predicted performance outcomes, collective efficacy/outcomes expectancies and organisational commitment. Social processes of leadership predicted performance outcomes, collective efficacy/outcomes expectancies and organisational citizenship behaviours.

Results indicate that by practising aspects of transformational leadership such as articulating clear standards and expectations for performance and showing recognition to work unit members for specific task or goal achievements, work unit leaders may establish a foundation that later leads to higher performance outcomes. Furthermore, promoting aspects of social processes of leadership such as communication, enhancing adaptability and resolving uncertainties may lead to greater clarification and subsequent higher performance outcomes.

The paper is one of the first to examine the separate and combined effects of transformational leadership behaviour and social processes of leadership on key organisational outcomes in Australian local councils.

This paper seeks to examine gender‐ and management‐ level differences in perceptions of effective leadership within a framework of new leadership models that focus on the processes of influencing self and others rather than leadership based on hierarchy.

A self‐report questionnaire was distributed to a sample of council employees. The responses were analysed using thematic matrix displays.

Males and non‐management employees (when compared with female and management) perceived effective leadership as that which emphasises fairness, equality and honesty, develops staff, fosters workplace harmony, and is trustworthy. Female employees emphasised communication, decision‐making ability, and supporting the leader as being important to how a work unit could contribute to organizational leadership effectiveness. Employees at the management level underscored vision, supporting the leader, and integrity as being important to how a work unit could contribute to organizational leadership effectiveness. Female and non‐management employees highlighted employee development, contingent reward, communication and vision as being central to how organizational leadership could contribute to the effectiveness of the work unit.

Unlike the literature that differentiates between charismatic and transformational forms of leadership, this paper views these two constructs as both being components of transformational leadership.

The present research aims to improve the measurement of consumer‐based brand equity. Current measurement of consumer‐based brand equity suffers from limitations, including: a lack of distinction between the dimensions brand awareness and brand associations, the use of non‐discriminant indicators in the measurement scales and of student samples.

Based on the recommendations of extant research, the scale constructed to measure consumer‐based brand equity in this study included brand personality measures. Brand associations were measured using a different set of items. Unlike many of the previous studies that had used student samples, the present study used a sample of actual consumers from an Australian state capital city. Confirmatory factor analysis employing structural equations modelling was used to measure consumer‐based brand equity in two product categories and across six brands.

Results support the hypothesised four‐dimension model of consumer‐based brand equity across two product categories and six brands. Brand awareness and brand associations were found to be two distinct dimensions of brand equity as conceptualised in the marketing literature. The present study contributes to the understanding of consumer‐based brand equity measurement by examining the dimensionality of this construct.

The principal contribution of the present research is that it provides empirical evidence of the multidimensionality of consumer‐based brand equity, supporting Aaker's and Keller's conceptualisation of brand equity. The present research also enriched consumer‐based brand equity measurement by incorporating the brand personality measures, as recommended by previous researchers. While earlier studies were conducted using US and Korean samples, the present study also used a sample of Australian consumers.

The objective of the present research is to examine the impact of the country of origin of a brand on its consumer‐based equity.

Brand equity was conceptualized in this paper as a combination of brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality and attitudinal brand loyalty. A doubly multivariate design was incorporated in a structured questionnaire to collect data via mall intercepts in an Australian capital city.

Multivariate analysis of variance of the data indicated that consumer‐based brand equity varied according to the country of origin of the brand and product category. This impact of country of origin on brand equity occurred where consumers perceived substantive differences between the countries in terms of their product category‐country associations.

An important direction for future research would be to examine how the consumer‐based equity of a brand would be affected, if the country of origin were changed from a country with weaker association with the product category to a country with strong association with the product category. The results would be useful to MNCs contemplating international manufacturing.

Marketing managers operating in the international context must identify the sources of brand equity, and understand the importance of incorporating country of origin into their brand equity measurement. Further, the results suggest that, when a brand offers a variety of product categories, brand managers should monitor and track the brand's consumer‐based equity for each product category.

The present study is one of the first to empirically examine and confirm the impact of country of origin on the consumer‐based equity of a brand.

In Australia, the vocational education and training (VET) sector accounts for approximately A$8 billion of public spending, of which around A$6.6 billion is spent on government providers that include Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes. The TAFE institutes in Australia are large, public VET providers, generally funded and managed by state government. Measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of TAFE institutes is of great interest to policy makers, regulators, consumers and to the institutions themselves. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In this study the authors use data relating to student cohort demographics, institutional characteristics and educational outcome data, while employing stochastic frontier analysis, to develop two distinct efficiency measures and models. The first model examines institutional efficiency in the transformation of financial resources into teaching loads. The second model evaluates efficiency in the transformation of institutional resources into post-study employment outcomes. K-means cluster analysis is used to establish groupings of similar institutes and subsequent canonical discriminant analysis is employed to develop a typology of these clusters.

In both models the authors find significant inefficiencies in the Australian TAFE system. The relationship between both efficiency measures is then assessed. While there is no direct linear relationship, a distinct pattern could be detected. Finally the authors develop a typology of efficient institutions.

This study contributes to the existing research by defining efficiency in vocational education in two distinct ways and by the utilisation of the derived efficiencies in the development of a typology of efficient institutes. In doing so, this research makes an original contribution to the understanding of the drivers of efficiency in vocational education.

This study investigates the influences of social media marketing activities (SMMAs) on brand preference by focussing on the mediation influence of brand recognisability and the moderator influence of brand signature in higher education institutions in Germany. A total of 257 students were surveyed and the data gathered were tested through partial least squares structural equation modelling. The findings demonstrated that higher-education institutions’ SMMAs had a significant effect on both brand recognisability and students’ brand preference. The findings also empirically proved the significant mediator influence of brand recognisability and the moderator influence of brand signature upon the association of higher education institutions’ SMMAs and students’ brand preference. It is anticipated that the findings of this research could be utilised as a significant solution in the improvement of higher education institutions’ SMMAs, specifically focussing on the significance of each component of SMMAs.

Despite the over-representation of stepfamilies in the clientele receiving protective services, there is still very little information about the different forms of the parental commitment of stepfathers in those families. However, the characteristics of families receiving child protective services (CPS) are likely to influence the way that the stepfathers’ commitment is expressed.

Taking into account the viewpoint of mothers (n = 10), stepfathers (n = 10), and adolescents (n = 10), this study attempted to document, using the free association method and semistructured interviews, the following: (1) the representations that the members of these stepfamilies had of the stepfathers’ parental commitment; and (2) the way in which engagement was expressed in daily life.

While the participants agreed that the stepfather had a parental role to play, that is to take care of the children, they did not necessarily agree about which dimensions were the most important. Whereas the adults emphasized the child-rearing dimension of this role and the necessary cooperation with the biological parents, the adolescents insisted on the relational aspect. The results likewise indicated that these men were very committed to their partners’ adolescents and showed that even in families challenged by problems that lead to involvement with CPS, stepfathers can play a positive, supportive role.

This study represents an important addition to the existing literature on the role of stepfathers in that it uses multiple measures and direct reports from father figures allowing us to explore the main dimensions of stepfather commitment.