PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to begin the process of exploring the intersection between entrepreneurship and HRM by developing an understanding of the nature of HRM in growth‐oriented small firms.Design/methodology/approachA survey of 600 small Australian businesses, conducted by CPA Australia in March 2002 to explore employment issues, is analysed by the authors.FindingsThe analysis shows that growth‐oriented small firms are more likely than non‐growing ones to use formal HRM practices where that means that they are written down, regularly applied or assured to take place.Research limitations/implicationsThe data are a single snapshot of small firms in time (March 2002) and therefore, while non‐growing small firms can be identified amongst the sample, it is not correct to assume either that they have not grown in the past to reach their current size (with the exception of the single person firms) or that they will not grow in the future. Moreover it is not known whether the growth, which the growing small firms indicate they undertook, was or is sustained.Practical implicationsThe result suggests that small firms seeking growth should reconsider their HRM practices in light of their business plans to ensure that there is a good “fit”.Originality/valueThe authors examine small firms in Australia, which are much smaller than their international counterparts, to see whether conclusions from overseas studies are relevant.
There are many reasons to develop closer links between research and teaching. To do this, we argue the need to move beyond university rhetoric that fractures the engagement of teaching with research and instead focus on the development of what is necessary to bring these two core academic activities closer together. Opening with a review of the current literature on research-led teaching, the paper then highlights the various debates about whether or not the divide between research and teaching can be broached. We then explore a number of often contradictory myths that we argue universities subscribe to in their efforts to bring teaching and research together as they simultaneously create structures to separate them. The paper seeks to better 'marry' research and teaching activities in higher education settings, concluding with a set of principles that could be used by university leaders to guide the implementation of research-led teaching. IntroductionOur purpose in this paper is to shed light on why, despite wide recognition of a reciprocal relationship between universities' core activities of research and teaching, relations between them are often experienced by academic staff as quite distinct and differentially rewarded activities. We do this by reviewing the literature on researchled teaching to then analyse our experience of institution-wide efforts to bring research and teaching closer together. We then interrogate a range of myths around research-led teaching that not only deny the complexity of the issue but then come to operate as accepted assumptions that guide subsequent policy development on research-led teaching. We, along with Brew (2006) and Healey (2005), argue that research-led teaching relations are complex, disciplinary-based and universitycontextual. In recognition of this we conclude with a set of guiding principles for university leaders that acknowledges the role of disciplines and the institutional environment that shape the relationship between research and teaching.We start our discussion with the catchy 'sound bites' recently articulated by two of the most senior academics at Monash University, an Australian, research-intensive university. The first is the phrase 'the twin peaks of excellence' to describe the aspirational goals for teaching and research to be pursued by academic staff at Monash. The second is the description of teaching and research as 'the two solitudes'. Although
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of internationalisation on academic work within a department of management in a large Australian university. It has been argued elsewhere that internationalisation strategies have transformed the nature and demands of academic work through the massification and commodification of educational curricula. Drawing on one of our university's projects to develop and deliver internationalised common curricula to students in Asia, South Africa and Australia we contend that internationalisation strategies have contributed to what we identify as the "Taylorisation" of teaching and learning. Frederick Taylor's principles of scientific management, exemplified by the growing trend towards standardisation of delivery and curricula, are readily identified in the pedagogical processes and expected academic practice in higher education. This paper draws on the work of others who highlight the complexity of internationalisation issues in the development and delivery of curricula and suggests a comprehensive programme of internationalisation that more effectively addresses the economic and social demands of the current global competitive environment. We argue for a programme of internationalisation that is counter-hegemonic, ongoing, comprehensive, multifaceted and integrated and we offer some practical suggestions to redefine the principles and practices of internationalisation within an Australian university.
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