Search results

This presentation discusses how employment policies and provisions need to be overhauled because of the growing change in the nature of employment. Workforces are less stable than in the past, with employment becoming the prerogative of the individual rather than the employer. Issues relating to the older worker, retirement, reduction in income and pensions are particularly highlighted.

It is a great myth that knowledge is all and that the essential base for social success is knowledge. Knowledge is nothing without understanding and understanding - particularly understanding that is characterised by wisdom - is gained only after long experience and reflection. This presentation goes on to highlight the skills and benefits of older people. It suggests that older people are more likely to have had a variety of jobs and life experiences, are used to adapting to new situations, learning new skills, and outlines how they fill a complementary function alongside entrepreneurs of any age.

This presentation discusses how government policy, wireless and Internet-based technologies and changing employee expectations are combining to shape the 21st century corporation. Some of the topics covered include: Sun Microsystems vision for a networked world; Macro factors impacting the 21st century corporation, such as globalisation, government policy, technology, employee expectations; the Internet's role in streamlining work processes [and] boosting employee efficiency; and the distributed workplace and the growing need for flexibility in work schedules. Other topics include: Social changes; Characteristics of the 21st century corporation, such as a greater dependence on intellectual capital, a greater dependence on the Internet, free of geographical constrictions, and a greater focus on its core competencies; and a move to more outsourcing.

This paper traces the transformation of business organisation in the United States of America (USA) in recent decades, chronicling the move from the hierarchies and bureaucratic procedures that characterised large USA firms throughout most of the 20th century to the networked structures of today - lean corporations and 'virtual' companies - where small, autonomous groups interact in a flexible, ad hoc manner. These new organisational approaches have brought greater speed and efficiency but have also undermined the traditional employment contract. As a result, many American workers face greater economic insecurity and truncated career prospects. A solution to this problem is posited in the development of new kinds of organisations, dubbed 'guilds', which operate outside and across firms, and assume the role formerly played by large employers in providing workers with social insurance, career opportunities and a sense of belonging. Examples of recent experiments with guilds in the American setting are described.

Goolarri Media Enterprises (Goolarri) is a proprietary limited company that blends the practices of western corporatism with Indigenous philosophies of networking and reciprocity to create a unique and valuable entity in the wider media industry. Goolarri was formed as part of the Broome Aboriginal Media Association to progress the endeavours of and create opportunities for Indigenous artists and aspiring media industry participants throughout the Kimberley region. Effectively, Goolarri has become a two way medium, delivering information and entertainment to localised and regional communities and at the same time acting as a conduit to deliver a North-Western Indigenous narrative to the region, Australia wide and in international forums. This presentation covers the development of Goolarri, its relationship to the community and the burgeoning future vision of networked opportunity that belies the aspirations of the region's communities.