Craig W Furneaux

Queensland University of Technology | QUT · Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies

Enabled by the underpinnings of critical theory, this article discusses research methodology developed with the aim of empowering beneficiaries within Third Sector Organisations, through their participation in organisational evaluation processes. The discussion on methodology in this article occurs at three levels: conceptual, processual, and refle...

This paper examines how credit unions manage accountability to government in the lightly-regulated context of Indonesia. Adopting a qualitative methodology involving a case study approach, two credit unions are examined, through focus group discussions with credit union management and review of credit unions’ annual reports and strategic plans. Fin...

This multiple‐case study examines the adoption of a case management system (CMS) across two community organisations in Australia using organizational routines as a theoretical lens. Both the adopters and the vendor were interviewed to explore how the CMS was instituted in the adopting organisations. Many of the concerns or problems associated with...

Purpose - This paper aims to explore how accountability to members is practised within credit unions. In particular, this study examines formal and informal practices and underlying approaches regarding accountability to members. Design/methodology/approach - Adopting a case study approach, this study explores accountability within two credit unio...

This study examines place-based philanthropy in public ancillary funds (PubAFs) in Australia. While PubAFs vary greatly in their purposes, stakeholders, and operating models, place emerges as a strong element of foundations’ perceived identity, strategic focus, and grantmaking. This article advances the understanding of philanthropic giving by inve...

The research presented within this paper case studies two nonprofit organisations in order to gain the perspectives of beneficiaries, staff, and board members on the participation of beneficiaries in evaluating the organisation. The aim of the research is to reconsider more traditional beneficiary participative evaluation approaches through the cri...

Public Ancillary Funds (PubAFs) are grantmaking philanthropic foundations, largely held to be independent. However, some PubAFs exist in significant and exclusive relationships (dyadic partnerships) with a dominant stakeholder involving shared values, strategy, resources, and goals. This paper examines the benefits and challenges for PubAFs of bein...

This paper draws upon accountability and legitimacy theories to explore for what social enterprises are accountable, how they communicate accountability, and to what extent they publicly communicate accountability. Case study methodology was employed, examining four work-integrated social enterprises in Australia. Data collection involved interview...

Purpose Informed by the critical perspective of dialogic accounting theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the use of evaluation as a means of enhancing accountability to beneficiaries within nonprofit organisations (NPOs). As a stakeholder group frequently marginalised by traditional accounting practices, the participation of beneficiarie...

Purpose This paper aims to explore social enterprise accountability with respect to their dual social and financial objectives. Drawing on theories of accountability, stakeholders and institutional logics, this paper examines to whom and how social enterprises are accountable, focusing on the potential differences in accountability where social en...

The aim of this paper is to consider why Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs), endowed philanthropic foundations with no public reporting requirements, engage in accountability in its various forms. This exploratory, qualitative study reports on perspectives on accountability from 10 semi-structured interviews with PAF managers and/or trustees from three...

This research explores perspectives on the accountability of Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs), a type of Australian endowed philanthropic foundation. PAFs are relatively new giving structures that have experienced strong growth over the past 15 years. With limited regulatory obligations and exemptions available from public reporting, PAFs have discre...

The value of business planning to new business ventures and small firms has been the subject of debate among entrepreneurship researchers. In this paper, we examine business planning prac- tices as a function of legitimacy formation among Australian social enterprises, drawing on a mixed-methods study. We find that business planning practices are d...

In recent years, the search for innovative, locally relevant and engaging public service has become the new philosophers’ stone. Social procurement represents one approach to maximising public spending and social value through the purchase of goods and services. It has gained increasing attention in recent years as a way that governments and corpor...

This paper reports a study of the key determinants of public trust in charitable organizations, using survey data commissioned by the Australian Nonprofits and Charities Commission. Data analysis used partial least squares structural equation modelling. We examined both antecedents of trust, and the influence of trust on charitable donative intenti...

Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are major providers of services in many fields of endeavour, and often receive financial support from government. This article investigates different forms of government/non-profit funding relationships, with the viewpoint being mainly, though not exclusively, from the perspective of the non-profit agencies. While th...

PurposeThe purpose of this chapter is to analyse the deviant behaviour of individuals in organisations. Deviants are those who depart from organisational norms. A typology of perceived deviant behaviour is developed from the deviance literature, and subsequently tested. Methodology/approachStar Trek: Into Darkness text is qualitatively analysed as...

Social procurement has gained attention in modern public management; however, considerable differences exist in understanding what social procurement actually is. Divergent definitions of social procurement inhibit effective policy implementation, and can result in imprecision in empirical research. This paper develops a typology of social procurem...

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions and design documentation and to analyse construction processes. Recent advances in IT have enabled advanced knowledge management, which in turn facilitates sustainability and improves asset management in the civil construction...

‘Social innovation’ is a construct increasingly used to explain the practices, processes and actors through which sustained positive transformation occurs in the network society (Mulgan, G., Tucker, S., Ali, R., Sander, B. (2007). Social innovation: What it is, why it matters and how can it be accelerated. Oxford: Skoll Centre for Social Entreprene...

To ensure infrastructure assets are procured and maintained by government on behalf of citizens, appropriate policy and institutional architecture are needed, particularly if a fundamental shift to more sustainable infrastructure is the goal. The shift in recent years from competitive and resource-intensive procurement to more collaborative and sus...

The call for enhanced financial literacy amongst consumers is a global phenomenon, driven by the growing complexity of financial markets and products, and government concerns about the affordability of supporting an ageing population. Worldwide, defined benefit pensions are giving way to the risk and uncertainty of defined contribution superannuati...

Social procurement provides a key source of income for the Third Sector, and is vital for the sustainability of many nonprofit organisations. Social procurement involves the exchange of economic capital from one organisation, typically government (although for-profit and non-profit organisations can also purchase), with a nonprofit organisations in...

This paper undertakes a case study of procurement through a comparative analysis of the capital works procurement policies of the Commonwealth, State, and Territory Governments in Australia. Capital works procurement policies provide the mechanism by which governments manage procurement processes, and frame how individual government agencies, as cl...

Contracting-out and privatisation are key drivers of organisational and market change, which, along with technological and societal change, are ¿creating a new generation of infrastructures¿. While new institutional arrangements have the potential to improve maintenance efficiency through consistent and repeatable patterns of action - unanticipat...

The Australian Construction Industry Forum (which is a peak industry association) and the Australian Procurement and Construction Council (which is a peak government organisation) have jointly agreed on a set of KPIs for the Australian Construction Industry. The goal of such a process is to work collaboratively in order to lift industry performance...

The notion of routines as mechanisms for achieving stability and change in organisations is well established in the organisational theory literature (Becker, 2004). However the relationship between the dynamics of selection, adaptation and retention and the increase or decrease in the varieties of routines which are the result of these processes, i...

This report was commissioned by the Built Environment Industry Innovation Council and funded by the Australian Government Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

PPPs are held to be a powerful way of mobilising private finance and resources to deliver public infrastructure. Theoretically, research into procurement has begun to acknowledge difficulties with the classification and assessment of different types of procurement, particularly those which do not sufficiently acknowledge variety within specific typ...

Procuring the management and maintenance of engineering assets are key activities of government, particularly given the importance of these assets for business and society. Despite their importance, the most effective methods for procuring engineering assets are still to be determined due to the complexity inherent in such arrangements. While Compl...

Procurement arrangements for public works are highly contextualized as jurisdictions adapt and respond to local issues and constraints. Policy-makers in Australia at all levels are focused on protecting public values when procuring public works. Public values are shown here to be consistent across Australian jurisdictions, although considerable var...

Encouraging entrepreneurship has been advocated as the most promising avenue for economic development of Indigenous communities in Australia. Unfortunately, the number of Indigenous people engaged in small businesses in Australia is low compared with participation rates in other countries. One explanation suggested for this low participation rate i...

the built environment. The planned successor to this CRC – the Sustainable Built Environment Centre will further progress environmental sustainability for the built environment as the Centre’s future is confirmed in early 2009. We would like to thank the Senate Committee for the opportunity to make a submission to that Senate. The Inquiry focuses o...

As regulators, government are often criticised for over-regulating industries. The research project seeks to examine the regulation affecting the construction industry in a federal system of government. It uses a case study of the Australian system of government to focus on the question of the implications of regulation in the construction industry...

Construction Innovation supports the notion of the establishment of a Sustainability Charter. A number of challenges to the implementation of such a charter have been identified, together with possible responses by a future Sustainability Commission: • Achieving coordination between jurisdiction • Gaining political attention • Establishing the nati...

This chapter undertakes a case study of procurement in Australia and compares the capital works procurement policies of the federal, state and territory governments of Australia. A typology of approaches is advanced, following comparative analysis of the policies. The assumptions inherent in these policies, concerning the assessment of the capabili...

Throughout the 1990s, government reports such as the Competitive Tendering and Contracting Report (Industry Commission1996) and the Report of the Independent Commission to Review Public Sector Finances (McCarrey 1993), suggested that the contracting-out of government services would improve the delivery of public goods in Australia. This article rep...

Australian Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) regulatory regimes are fragmented across differing systems and compliance requirements in multiple jurisdictions. We argue that harmonisation offers a way of establishing adaptive OH&S which may facilitate better OH&S outcomes within the construction industry. Three initiatives which sought to improv...

It is evident that information technology has affected changes to the methods, purpose and the perceived potential of education. While various authors differ in their opinion on the degree, desirability and destiny of these changes, all agree that change processes have certainly been underway. However, the process of change is far from over. Numero...

Multimedia has potential to provide great value to educational experiences. This value can be seen in the development of new resources; the capacity to facilitate deep situated learning and transfer to real life situations; and meeting the needs of individuals. Against this, a number of factors inhibit the realisation of the potential of multimedia...

This report has been prepared at the request of the Queensland Funeral Industry Regulation Working Party. The working party was established at the request of the Honourable Rod Welford,Attorney General and Minister for Justice, and aims to: · summarise the issues and problems facing the funeral industry; · identify possible solutions to these probl...

Non-profit organisations are major providers of services in many fields and often receive financial support from government. This paper investigates a number of different forms of government/non-profit relationships, with the viewpoint being mainly, though not exclusively, from the perspective of the non-profit agencies. Research methods included c...

The need to ‘reduce red tape’ and regulatory inconsistencies is a desirable outcome (OECD 1997) for developed countries. The cost normally associated with regulatory regimes are compliance costs and direct charges. Geiger and Hoffman (1998) have noted that the extent of regulation in an industry tends to be negatively associated with firm performan...

The CRC for Construction Innovation supports the Economic Development Plan, for Brisbane City Council. However a number of challenges exist that need to be addressed as they have the capacity to negatively impact upon the plan. These include: o The increased population growth in the local government areas surrounding Brisbane is likely to place c...

Over time the provision of public works has changed from the construction and delivery of public infrastructure by internal public sector processes and labour market; to the commissioning and procurement of public works by the public sector with construction and delivery by external third parties. The main reason for this change was the adoption of...

The Australian construction industry is moving towards the implementation of a voluntary code of practice (VCP) for occupational health and safety (OHS). The evidence suggests that highly-visible clients and project management firms, in addition to their subcontractors, will embrace such a code, while smaller firms not operating in high-profile con...

This paper is an initial conceptualisation of a PhD project which would seek to develop a infrastructure procurement framework – a policy document which would detail how, and under what conditions, infrastructure procurement contractual arrangements are successful. As it is an initial conceptualisation, the paper will focus on the research problem,...

Encouraging entrepreneurship amongst Indigenous people, and fostering the development of small businesses, has been advocated as the most promising avenue for economic development amongst Indigenous communities (Fuller et al., 2003). Unfortunately, the number of Indigenous people engaged in small businesses in Australia is quite low when compared b...

Under the Constitution the Australian states joined together to form one indissoluble Commonwealth – a federation of states. A federation is a form of government in which power is divided between national governments and smaller regional governments, often referred to as states. This is an arrangement which combines "strong constituent units of gov...

Recent initiatives around the world have highlighted the potential for information and communications technology (ICT) to foster better service delivery for businesses. Likewise, ICT has also been applied to government services and is seen to result in improved service delivery, improved citizen participation in government, and enhanced cooperation...

Recently released research reports into the construction industry in Australia argued that improved consistency in the regulatory environment could lead to improvements in innovation (Manley 2004; Price Waterhouse Coopers 2002), improved productivity (Productivity Commission 2004) and that, research into this area should be given high priority (Ham...

Development application (DA) assessment processes have traditionally been paper based, and assessed according to planning systems unique to each Local Government. Fragmented and inconsistent DA assessments resulted. Consequently, local government approvals of DA have been criticised as being slow, difficult to negotiate, and to lack transparency. R...

Australian Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) regulatory regimes are fragmented across differing systems and compliance requirements in multiple jurisdictions. We argue that harmonisation offers a way of establishing adaptive OH&S which may facilitate better OH&S outcomes within the construction industry. Three initiatives which sought to improv...

The Australian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) (2001) noted that Australian government assets, such as buildings, roads, rail and utilities, are valued at around $371billion and approximately $18 billion is spent annually by state, territory and commonwealth governments on acquiring and maintaining these assets. Ferguson (2007) estimate...

Government is a major client of infrastructure projects and can exert considerable influence on the industry sector through the government’s regulatory power and the sheer scale of procurement of public works currently underway in Australia at the moment. Government can also seek to satisfy a range of different interests in the delivery of infrastr...

Procuring engineering asset management is a critical activity of all types of government, with optimal approaches to procurement still in need of identification. This paper advances a novel approach of exploring the procurement of engineering assets across a number of dimensions: Project rules, organisational interaction rules and complexity. The d...

As regulators, governments are often criticised for over‐regulating industries. This research project seeks to examine the regulation affecting the construction industry in a federal system of government. It uses a case study of the Australian system of government to focus on the question of the implications of regulation in the construction indust...

The Australian construction industry, reflecting a global trend, is moving towards the implementation of a voluntary code of practice (hereafter VCP) for occupational health and safety. The evidence suggests that highlyvisible clients and project management firms, in addition to their subcontractors, look set to embrace such a code. However, smalle...

While the procurement of public works such as schools, bridges, train stations and roads is a well accepted contract management role of government in most OECD countries, the management of the provision of public art as part of such activities is not as well known. This paper provides an in depth analysis of the specific case of public art embedded...

In August 2005, House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage released the Sustainable Cities report which recommended in part that the Australian government establish national sustainability objectives (a sustainability charter) together with reporting mechanisms for progress towards those targets. In September 2007, the...

The CRC for Construction Innovation is committed to progressing environmental sustainability in the built environment across the country. We would like to thank the Queensland Department of Infrastructure and Planning for the opportunity of making a submission to the Discussion Paper – Improving sustainable housing in Queensland. The paper raises a...

Engineering assets such as roads, rail, bridges and other forms of public works are vital to the effective functioning of societies {Herder, 2006 #128}. Proficient provision of this physical infrastructure is therefore one of the key activities of government {Lædre, 2006 #123}. In order to ensure engineering assets are procured and maintained on be...

As ‘The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice’ (cited by Riskus (2007) suggests, Building Information Modelling, or BIM, is “the use of virtual building information models to develop building design solutions, design documentation, and to analyse construction processes”. We would suggest such a definition, while useful, should be extended t...