Some initial specifications for a strategic information system

Much of the discussion and published literature on information systems to date has been about systems concerned with the internal administration and operations of an organization. Considerably less attention has been given to the information requirements of the more strategic managerial activities of planning and policy making, in which the future directions and objectives of the organization are decided. Internal information systems in many organizations have now grown to maturity. At the same time, managers have become aware of the need for an additional component of the overall information system to support their more strategic activities. This paper considers the broad characteristics of a strategic component of an organizational information system and derives some initial specifications from which a more comprehensive design can be developed.     

Domestic Outsourcing,Housework Shares and Subjective Time Pressure: Gender Differences in the Correlates of Hiring Help

We use data from matched dual earner couples from the Australian Time Use Survey 2006 (n = 926 couples) to investigate predictors of different forms of domestic outsourcing, and whether using each type of paid help is associated with reduced time in male or female-typed tasks, narrower gender gaps in housework time and/or lower subjective time pressure. Results suggest domestic outsourcing does not substitute for much household time, reduces domestic time for men at least as much as for women, and does not ameliorate gender gaps in domestic labor. The only form of paid help associated with significant change in gender shares of domestic work was gardening and maintenance services, which were associated with women doing a greater share of the household total domestic work. We found no evidence that domestic outsourcing reduced feelings of time pressure. We conclude that domestic outsourcing is not effective in ameliorating time pressures or in changing gender dynamics of unpaid work.     

A journey of embedding mental health lived experience in social work education

Abstract

The value of learning from mental health lived experience is widely acknowledged, however, the nature of lived experience involvement in Australian social work education seldom extends beyond guest lecturing. Further, few opportunities exist that build the capacity of people with lived experience to become educators within tertiary settings. In this paper we present the Valuing Lived Experience Project (VLEP), an initiative led by a Lived Experience Academic (LEA) that seeks to systematically and meaningfully embed lived experience into the social work curriculum at a Western Australian university by providing significant opportunities for the capacity building of both individuals with mental health lived experience and academics. Given the relative infancy of service user involvement in Australian social work education, the VLEP offers a number of opportunities for reflection and consideration. A long-standing partnership between a LEA and Social Work Academic is described, the activities and key learnings of the VLEP to date are outlined, and we offer our reflections on challenges encountered throughout the journey. We hope that our experiences and learnings can be drawn upon to progress lived experience participation in tertiary settings and further legitimise lived experience involvement in the education of social workers.     

Regional Tertiary Students and Living Away from Home: A priceless experience that costs too much?

For financial reasons, an increasing number of tertiary students in Australia are forced to work long hours each week, and they are becoming more likely to be living in relative poverty. This study aimed to explore and describe the economic situation of students at a provincial Australian university campus, and the role that type of residence plays in their financial well‐being. A large‐scale self report survey dealing with students' financial experiences during the 2003 academic year, was distributed to a convenience sample of students from across the courses offered on the campus. Quantitative data analysis was completed using SPSS and qualitative data was analysed thematically. Results indicate a strong relationship between type of residence and financial well‐being. Rural students may be especially vulnerable to the effects of financial distress, because of issues such as low cash‐flow on many family farms, and the long distances many travel to attend regional universities. This study indicates a number of possible avenues to protect students from living in poverty.     

Performing Femininities: Listening to White Working-Class Girls in Rural Maine

In this article, I explore the ways in which sixth, seventh, and eighth grade White girls from poor and working-class families in rural Maine understand, express, and react to dominant cultural definitions of femininity. Using a qualitative method, The Listening Guide, to interpret data gathered over the course of a year from weekly videotaped focus group conversations and individual interviews, I identify and underscore the contradictory nature of what constitutes appropriately feminine discourse and behavior for these girls—discourse and behavior that is radically different from the dominant White middle-class cultural ideal and that offers these girls a wide range of physical and verbal expression not usually considered under the rubric of conventional femininity. I then examine the girls' ambivalent relationship with middle-class propriety, as well as their anger, their longing, and, in some cases, their resistance to dominant cultural ideologies of femininity. Although such resistance may serve them well in their local community, it puts them at odds with the expectations of their teachers and other adults invested in the conventional feminine ideal and thus underscores their displacement in school and society. The Listener's Guide, I contend, provides a way to elucidate the struggles these working-class girls experience as they negotiate and contest contradictory voices and visions of appropriately feminine behavior and constructions of self vying for their attention and allegiance.     

History,The City and The Interactionist: Anselm Strauss,City Imagery,and Urban Sociology

My goal in what follows is to explore some of the questions, analyses and insights that a scholar, equipped with a sense of history and the sensitivity of an interactionist, might bring to the study of the city. But before I begin that task, I want to spend a little time laying some ground- work. I want to introduce my readers to (or remind them of) two snippets of sociological history: the first snippet has to do with the place-more accurately, the lack of place-of the interactionist perspective within the field of urban sociology; the second deals with the unique contributions of one of the few interactionists to work urban sociology: Anselm Strauss.     

Simulating involvement in complex situations

A model for the process of resolution of complex issues involving many participants with differing preferences for outcomes has recently been proposed [3]. This paper describes the use of a simulation procedure based on this model as a means of preparing those involved in a complex issue for their part in its resolution. Details of the simulation procedure are given first. Practical experience with the use of the procedure is described in the latter part of the paper.     

Sampling from multimodal distributions using tempered transitions

I present a new Markov chain sampling method appropriate for distributions with isolated modes. Like the recently developed method of simulated tempering, the tempered transition method uses a series of distributions that interpolate between the distribution of interest and a distribution for which sampling is easier. The new method has the advantage that it does not require approximate values for the normalizing constants of these distributions, which are needed for simulated tempering, and can be tedious to estimate. Simulated tempering performs a random walk along the series of distributions used. In contrast, the tempered transitions of the new method move systematically from the desired distribution, to the easily-sampled distribution, and back to the desired distribution. This systematic movement avoids the inefficiency of a random walk, an advantage that is unfortunately cancelled by an increase in the number of interpolating distributions required. Because of this, the sampling efficiency of the tempered transition method in simple problems is similar to that of simulated tempering. On more complex distributions, however, simulated tempering and tempered transitions may perform differently. Which is better depends on the ways in which the interpolating distributions are deceptive.