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Volume 4 No 8 December 2013

I balance my teaching, supervising, and research time by adopting effective time management practices. I start each week with a review of the tasks, appointments, and objectives that must be achieved in that week then prioritise and allocate time accordingly. I close each week with a review of those achievements, noting outstanding matters that must take priority the following week. Says Dr Penelope Weller recipient of the ‘Best Book by an Academic’ award at the Business Research Excellence Awards, 2013. Tell us briefly about your book and what drew you to this topic? My new book, which is entitled New Law and Ethics in Mental Health Advance Directives: The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Right to Choose, explores the development of laws relating to mental health advance directives from a variety of international

perspectives, including those that have shaped the law in Canada, New Zealand, England and Wales, and Scotland. Mental health advance directives, or ‘psychiatric advance directives’ as they are referred to in the United States and ‘advanced statements’ as they are referred to in Scotland, enable individuals with mental health problems to make future decisions about their care and treatment in anticipation of a time when they may no longer be able to make decisions for themselves. Mental health advance directives have been recognised in law in each of the international jurisdictions discussed in the book, but are yet to be recognised in Australia. Every jurisdiction, however, has taken a different approach to mental health advance directives, creating different mechanisms and legal relationships in law. While Australia has yet to join the international trend, mental health advance directives are the subject of current law reform debates in most states and territories. The aim of the book is to show how international human rights perspectives — in particular, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to which Australia is a party — are shifting the parameters of the international debate about mental health advance directives.

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RESEARCH NEWS

Business Research Office College of Business RMIT University Building 80, Level 7, 445 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000 Tel: +61 3 9925 0491, Fax: +61 3 9925 5595 Email: bro@rmit.edu.au Facebook: RMIT Business Research Twitter: @RMITBusRes

Inside this issue:

Research News 3

HDR News 6

Excellence in Research 7

Research Repository 8

Feature Profile

Contact us

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By analysing the law reform debates associated with mental health advance directives through the lens of this Convention, the book shows how international human rights law presents an opportunity to shift the focus of mental health law away from negative rights (in the sense of establishing freedom of state interference) towards recognising ‘positive’ rights. The significance of this shift is that it places obligations on governments to ensure that certain rights, such as the right to the enjoyment of the highest standard of health, are upheld.

Can you describe your research in ordinary terms? The research contributes to the active conversa-tions around mental health law reform in Australia by providing an analysis of international trends in mental health law that reflects upon the significance of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I hope the book will usefully inform national debate about mental health advance directives, and contribute to the development of new proposals in mental health legislation in Victoria that are expected to recognise mental health advance directives at least in some measure.

The book is the culmination of work undertak-en as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the ‘Rethinking Mental Health Laws’ project at the Centre for the Advancement of Law and Mental Health (Faculty of Law, Monash University), led by Professor Bernadette McSherry. What attracted you to the particular problems you have researched?

I came to this area of work through my involvement with consumer groups and mental health law reform advocates, including the Mental Health Legal Centre (who have a long-standing interest in the promotion of legally recognised mental health advance Directives). The Mental Health Legal Centre has recently relocated to the Centre for Innovative Justice here at RMIT University. The book reflects my ongoing commitment to this work. It also reflects my enduring interest in the intersection between mental health, health and the law, and its relationship to international human rights law. Exploring mental health advance directives as a particular research focus represents one theme within a larger body of work concerned with the right to health. What research problems and areas are you likely to explore in the future?

From another perspective, my research can be described as concerned with the gap between law on the books and the way law operates practice. In this instance, the ‘gap’ being investigated is the shortfall between the operation of the mental health law in Australia and the human rights approach expressed in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The book focuses on one aspect of a broader research agenda that includes an analysis of the obligations set out in the new convention with respect to mental health and disability law, including its application in the criminal Justice system.

Dr Penelope Weller (Graduate School of Business and Law)

Feature Profile (cont.)

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Book Launch of Globalization and Money: A Global South Perspective

Professor Supriya Singh’s new book, Globalization and Money: A Global South Perspective,

was launched on Tuesday, 10 December at the RMIT city campus. The book was launched by Professor Geoffrey Stokes, Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research), College of Business. Professor Stokes noted in his speech that “this book is an example of the sociological imagination as it re-thinks the nature of money”. He said that “globalisation is not just about the formal economy, but also about the money appearing in informal markets”. Professor Singh, in response, stated that her book considers “money [as] more than a market phenomenon. It is a medium of relationship, and a medium of communication. Money in the market is connected to money

in personal lives. It shapes, and is shaped, by social relations and cultural values. So, when I began writing of globalization and money, I wanted to show how markets such as banking and remittances were themselves shaped by the way people in intimate relationships managed and controlled their money”. The book shows these connections by weaving together theory, qualitative data, literature, and personal stories.

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Book Launch…(cont.) Professor Singh further noted that “when studying money in a global context, we have to note upfront that half the people in the world are unbanked. And women are more unbanked than men. Hence the important question for globalization and money is: ‘How can people in a global world, in different cultural contexts, use money in ways that empower them?’” The launch was well attended by RMIT academics and Professionals, scholars and academics from other Melbourne universities, and industry. The launch was supported by the Eltham Bookshop For further information, please visit: https://rowman.com/.

A range of panel discussions and workshops were also held, covering topics such as ‘Critical perspectives in e-health’; ‘Using Nvivo for a literature review’; and ‘Introduction to survey design’. The conference was hosted by the School of Business IT and Logistics and sponsored by National Australia Bank, GS1 Australia, Australian Council of Professors and Heads of Infor-mation Systems (ACPHIS), Association for Information Systems (AAIS), Australian Computer Society (ACS), Citrix, and ACS Foundation. Source: Ainslie Logsdon (Marketing and Business Development Unit)

24th ACIS hosted by RMIT The School of Business IT and Logistics recently hosted the 24th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS), 4-6 December. The conference covered technical, organisational, business, and social issues in the application of Information Technology (IT). The theme of the 2013 conference was “IS: Transforming the Future.” More than 285 delegates participated in the conference, and they hailed from more than 20 countries. These included Germany, Sweden, USA, South Africa, Malaysia, and Portugal. Researchers and scholars presented more than 170 research papers across 80 sessions.

Research News

Professor Supriya Singh (Graduate School of Business & Law) at the book launch Photo Courtesy: Dr Heather Horst (Design & Social Context) via Twitter

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Reverse Engineering Writing Workshop Dr Angela Dobele (School of Economics, Finance and Marketing), leader of the Networking Business Education cluster within the Centre for Business Education Research (CBER) hosted a highly successful Reverse Engineering Workshop on 14 November, 2013 Professor Rebekah Russell-Bennett (QUT) led attendees through a ‘reverse engineering’ approach to increasing their chances of publication success by using the: principles of efficiency

(‘don’t reinvent the wheel’);

effective use of limited resources (write it on a shoestring); and design your own object

(‘build it and they will come’).

The workshop received positive feedback from attendees, who thought the de-construction method

helped break down the journal-writing process into more do-able stages. This meant the process was less overwhelming overall, and very useful in thinking about different ways of approaching the writing task. Angela is considering a follow- up workshop for this concept in 2014. Consideration will be given to whether this reverse engineer-ing approach could be used to tackle reviewers' feedback, and whether the workshop may be spread over several days or at a writing retreat. Source: Professor Sandra Jones (School of Management)

Innovative Management Practice Trial The RMIT Report for a project focused on implementing an innovative approach to management education has been accepted for inclusion in a report to the Department of Education. The management education project was funded by the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC). The RMIT Report is entitled Developing managerial skills for the complex inter disciplinary interface: management education as an experiential living Laboratory. It provides Strategic Management undergraduate students with the cognitive and creative skills —and the intellectual independence — to

The report also identifies the need to recognise the additional demands upon academics and students when designing similar innovative approaches to management education. RMIT has been invited to present the findings to the ABDC meeting, the Department of Education, and the ABDC Learning and Teaching Network in February 2014, together with Swinburne and UTS (two other universities that were awarded grants). Source: Professor Sandra Jones

exercise critical thinking and judgements in identifying and solving problems. The project was jointly led by Professor Sandra Jones (School of Management) and Professor Roger Hadgraft (College of Science, Engineer-ing, and Health), and involved collaboration with Jason Downs and Dr Jacinta Ryan (School of Management). It was designed as a partnership between RMIT and representa-tives of the Riddles Creek Land Care Group. The Report identified important outcomes including: the success of the Living

Laboratory partnership, positive student feedback

on the new skills they developed, and

positive industry feed-back on the engagement opportunity.

Research News

Professor Rebekah Russell-Bennett (QUT) [left] and Dr Angela Dobele (RMIT)

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Melbourne Women in Business Luncheon Dr Caroline Tan (School of Management) delivered a keynote presentation at the

11th annual Melbourne Women in Business Lunch-eon held on 17 October, 2013.Hosted by the City of Melbourne and attended by 500 delegates, the event was organised to acknowledge the achievements of women and their important role in Melbourne’s business community. The theme of the luncheon was “Entrepreneur: Learn or Instinct?”, and Dr Tan was asked to share her views on this issue, and whether she thought of herself as an entrepreneur. She spoke about her experience of applying the theoretical content of Applied Entrepreneurship course that she teaches at RMIT to her ‘Malaysian Fried Rice Noodles and Malaysian tea’

food stall at the Chinatown Night Markets (Heffernan Lane). Caroline’s passion for collecting cow paraphernalia, reflected in her food stall, is also inspired by Seth Godin’s book, Purple cow: transform your business by being remarkable. In this book, Godin urges everyone to include a Purple Cow in every-thing they build to create something truly noticeable. Thus “Ninja Cow Malaysian Cuisine” is purple, carries a wok of prawns, eggs, and bean sprouts in one hoof, and a spatula in the other. To view the Ninja Cow video, click here: https://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/bus/public/ninjacow/ Source: Dr Caroline Tan

New faces on the Business Research Committee (College of Business) Dr Angela Dobele is the new Deputy Head of School, Research & Innovation in the School of Economics, Finance and Marketing. Professor Clive Morley is the new Deputy Head of School, Research & Innovation in the Graduate School of Business and Law. Professor Steven Dellaportas recently joined the School of Accounting as its new Deputy Head, Research & Innovation. Professor Adela McMurray has been leading the School of Management as its Deputy Head, Research & Innovation since the beginning of 2013.

Win five double-passes to the movies by completing this online survey! With the aim of making research-related content easier to find on the staff website, RMIT’s Research and Innovation team is conducting an online user-testing exercise. Please click the staff survey link to take this survey. The survey will help make research information easier to find through improved grouping of information. Source: Josephine Naughton, (Research and Innovation)

Research News

RMIT and KPMG showcase RMIT University and KPMG have brought together representatives in industry, government, and academia to consider the future of business in Australia. The inaugural Industry Research Showcase was led by Professor Aaron Smith, Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Industry Engagement in the College of Business. The event brought together more than 60 industry and government representatives, and leading academics to debate their vision for business in the longer-term. Read more at: Business Research News.

Dr Caroline Tan (School of Management) Photo courtesy: City of Melbourne

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PhD candidate Khalid Hossain shortlisted in Victorian International Education Awards HDR student Khalid Hossain (School of Management) was shortlisted as one of only four students in the category of International Student of the Year – Postgraduate in the inaugural Victorian Internation-al Education Awards. The award ceremony was held at Government House on 11 November, 2013 where the Premier of Victoria, Dr Denis Napthine, and Governer of Victoria, Mr Alex Chernov AC QC, were present. Khalid received a certificate in recognition of his achievements as an outstanding international student in Victoria.

Khalid is in his third year of doctoral study and researches the cross-country and cross-sectoral climate change adaptation strategies of multi-national corporations.

More information can be found at: RMIT News Source: Md. Khalid Hossain

RMIT University Higher Degree by Research Publication Excellence Prize PhD candidate Ashkan Khalili (School of Manage-ment) is the 2013 research award recipient for the University’s Higher Degree by Research Excellence Prize. Ashkan has published a number of papers on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in high quality journals. Ashkan’s broad research interests include HR management, organisational behaviour, and entrepreneur-ship. Click the link to find information about the RMIT University Higher Degree by Research Publication Excellence Prize.

Winning accolades for the PhD Candidate Dr Thao Trinh (School of Business IT and Logistics) has won an Australian Council of Professors and Heads of Information Systems (ACPHIS) Doctoral award this year. Supervised by Associate Professor Alem Molla and Dr Konrad Peszynski, Thao is the first from RMIT to win the ACPHIS award. The award was presented on the night of Thursday, 5 December, during the ACIS Conference dinner. Further information about the award can be found at: ACPHIS Information Systems Doctoral Thesis Award. Thao also won the RMIT University Doctoral Research Excellence Prize that was presented on 28 November, 2013.

Thao’s research investigates the role of enterprise systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relation-ship Management, Supply Chain Management in organi-sational agility, and examines the underlying mechanisms of how enterprise systems make an impact on organisational agility. Click the link to find information about the <RMIT University Doctoral Research Excellence Prize >. Source: Professor Caroline Chan (School of Business IT and Logistics)

HDR News

Khalid Hossain (first from right at the front row) at the Government House.

Dr Thao Trinh (School of Business IT and Logistics at ACIS Conference) [right]. Photo courtesy: Dr. Paul Mercieca (BITL)

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ARC grant successes for 2014 funding

ARC Discovery project grant of $485,000 over three years (2014-2016) for "Unions and Regional Regeneration". Awarded to Professor Peter Fairbrother (lead chief investi-gator), Dr Ruth Barton and Professor George Cairns (School of Management), Professor George Wright (Graduate School of Business and Law, Warwick University) and Professor Kevin Morgan (Cardiff University). The project examines the consequences of involvement and non-involvement of unions. ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award(DECRA) of $380,364.00 over three years (2014-2016) for

"Exceptional upward mobility against all odds: Non-cognitive skills and early-childhood disadvantage": Awarded to Dr Stefanie Schurer (School of Economics, Finance and Marketing). Stefi’s DECRA is the first ever for the College of Business.

Source: Dr Tseen Khoo (Business Research Office) RMIT University Research Excellence Award

Professor Prem Chhetri (School of Business IT and Logistics) has received the 2013 RMIT Research Excellence Award. Prem’s research focuses on urban modelling, tourism analysis, emergency management, and application of Geographic

Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) in transport, infrastructure and logistics planning. Click the link to find information about the <RMIT University Research Excellence Award>. Internal Grant recipients from the College of Business The College of Business congratulates the following researchers on their 2014 Research Grant Scheme awards. Dr Larissa Bamberry (School of Management): Funding: $9,792 Project: Restructuring gender relations: labour markets, communities and households.

Internal Grant ..(cont.) Dr Marcus Banks (School of Economics, Finance and Marketing) Funding: $9,692 Project: What is the scale, scope and business model of the Australian online payday industry. Dr Shahadat Khan (School of Business, IT and Logistics) Funding:$9,844 Project: International migrant remittances to India and Bangladesh from Australia and Singapore: a focus on migrant remittance supported small and micro enterprises.

utilisation: an econometric study. Dr Ha Le Thai & Dr Alberto Posso (School of Economics, Finance and Marketing) Funding: $9,270 Project: Economic distance and the flows of trade and foreign direct investment. Dr Stuart Thomas & Dr Mark Stewart (School of Economics, Finance and Marketing) Funding: $9,633 Project: Why does sports equipment sometimes get too sophisticated and expensive? An economic analysis and application of the overshooting hypothesis.

Source: Danielle Annese (Business Research Office)

Dr Larry Li (School of Economics, Finance and Marketing) Funding: $9,672 Project: Efficient operational losses: a model and estimation Procedure. Dr Kaleel Rahman (School of Economics, Finance and Marketing) Funding: $10,000 Project: Designing brand architecture strategies: insights from cutting-edge experts. Dr Pratima Srivastava (School of Economics, Finance and Marketing) Funding: $9,993 Project: Dental health, Insurance, and service

Excellence in Research

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College of Business (Research) Internal Funding Scheme recipients Dr Linda Robinson (School of Economics, Finance and Marketing) Funding: $5,000 Scheme: College of Business Early Career Researcher Publication grant The grant is awarded to support the preparation and submission of Linda’s paper ‘We think we can: sources and antecedents of team efficacy’.

Ms Sonia Magdziarz (School of Accounting) Funding: $20,000 Scheme: College of Business Staff Doctorate Completion award The grant is awarded to support the completion of her thesis titled ‘The impact of threshold concepts on the context of learning in the accounting discipline’ . Source: Danielle Annese

Excellence in Research (cont.) Research Repository

The RMIT Research Repository is an open access institutional repository providing free, searchable access to research publications authored by RMIT University staff and students. To view the recently added publications, visit: http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/.

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Professor Geoffrey Stokes Deputy PVC Business (Research)

Dessie Panayi

Personal Assistant to Professor Geoffrey Stokes

Tania Tambiah Senior Manager, Research Development

Dr Tseen Khoo Senior Advisor,

Research Grant Development

Danielle Annese Research Coordinator

Monica Lui

Resource Coordinator

Kristina Tsoulis-Reay Ethics Coordinator

Prue Lamont

Administrative Officer – Research

Aastha Swaroop Administrative Officer – Research

Marita Shelly

Research Coordinator (Accounting & Graduate School of Business & Law)

Esther Ng

Administrative Officer — Research (Economics, Finance & Marketing)

Priyanka Erasmus

Administrative Officer—Research (Business IT & Logistics)

Sherrin Trautmann

Administrative Officer -Research (Management)

Business Research Office (BRO)