2005 Sydney projects
| Farida Fleming |
Supporting knowledge sharing amongst Australian based development workers |
| George Casti | Cross Cultural Communication video interviews |
| Daniel Loffi | "Identifying a Corporate Morality" |
| Bree Nicholas | Due Diligence Checklist for Overseas Partner Institutions |
Farida Fleming
Project: Supporting knowledge sharing amongst Australian based development workers
This project aims to facilitate a series of situations for Australian based development workers to collaborate and share knowledge to increase professional competence and engagement in technical and country based issues.
Development workers in the NGO sector are well networked and have a number of active environments which foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. As the commercial environment is dominated by a competitive culture there are fewer situations to share knowledge.
In collaboration with the Knowledge Sharing Taskforce of the International Development Contractors (representing the majority of the most active AusAID contractors the IDC is a voluntary not-for-profit association whose principle aims are the enhancement of the effectiveness of Australia's ODA through policy dialogue with AusAID and the NGO community) developed a concept of a forum to facilitate knowledge sharing in our sector. The concept is to be trialed in Sydney, for consideration before disseminating to other cities.
For more information regarding this project please contact:
Farida Fleming
TAFE Global
George Casti
Project: Cross Cultural Communication video interviews
The project was to develop a series of messages that address the issue of cross-cultural communication and screen them on RPAtv, the in-house TV channel at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) in Sydney, of which I am the Executive Producer.
The objective was to dilute the complex subject of cross-cultural communication to an essence or a series of essences. The outcome being greater awareness that culture plays a part in how we receive and impart information and to try and take this into account when we communicate.
What actually developed?
Most people only considered their poor English as the only barrier to good communication. Most did not even consider that their cultural background had anything to do with communication.
I soon concluded that to try and dilute the complex subject of cross-cultural communication to an essence or 30-60 sec grab was beyond the scope of my current resources and timeframe. This was reinforced by an interview I did with an Indonesian artist called Jumaadi. Born in Java he came to Australia 10 years ago when he was 23. Back home was a poet and writer then in Australia trained at the National Art School.
He gave me an articulate understanding of the question and a frank analysis of his perceptions and judgments. Therefore, I reworked the project into a longer form to allow the story to unfold. The final length of 7.5 minutes works easily into my channel scheduling and is I believe a good length to maintain the attention of the general public. Project was titled "Another Point of View" and now sreens daily on RPAtv.
For more information regarding this project please contact:
George Casti
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Daniel Loffi
Project: "Identifying a Corporate Morality"
Australian corporations operate within a rules based framework within which statements of value or morality serve only to augment legally defined behavioural boundaries. As those same corporations move into the International sphere, the rules based component of that environment can become much less clear.
Particularly in developing nations, or command style economies, there may be a considerable incompatibility of values. However, Australian corporations do not specifically define their behaviours from their values. Their behaviours are designed to accord with Law and regulatory requirements. How then, does an Australian corporate employee, working in a vastly different culture and legal system determine the relative rightness or wrongness of their decisions. Particularly where those decisions will be of a type subject to review in both the international and Australian jurisdictions.
This project seeks to identify a rules based decision model which addresses these issues. It is based on an application of International Law and Jurisprudence in a basic/applied form. It aims to deliver a transparent, reviewable and utility based model. One which addresses market imperatives without yielding ground on issues of morality, to such a degree as to threaten the standing/reputation of the corporation.
For more information regarding this project please contact:
Daniel Loffi
Insurance Australia Group (IAG)
Bree Nicholas
Project: Due Diligence Checklist for Overseas Partner Institutions
This project related to the business of developing new offshore commercial opportunities for the University of Wollongong and Wollongong University College, targeting the Asian markets of China and Indonesia. Key to this type of activity is the developing of partnerships with overseas education institutions for the offshore delivery of UOW and WUC curriculum.
This project addressed the failure in existing due diligence procedures to capture key data that would satisfy Education Committee needs for approving new business; any new education program is subject to approval by relevant Faculty Education Committees before implementation. The type of data required related to the quality and reputation of the potential partner institution.
The aim then was to standardise a due diligence approach to assessing the quality and reputation of potential overseas partner institutions. The key tangible output was a checklist, with supporting guidelines, which could be applied practically by business development staff and agents in Australia and in-country. Other outputs included monitoring and evaluating the practical application of this tool, mentoring and supporting local and overseas staff and agents in applying this new tool, and gaining high-level support for this tool to ensure its procedural entrenchment not only within ITC but also throughout the broader University.
For more information regarding this project please contact:
Bree Nicholas
Illawarra Technology Corporation