Beyond the call of duty : The integral role of rural local government in emergency management
- Ollerenshaw, Alison, Graymore, Michelle, McDonald, Kelsey
- Authors: Ollerenshaw, Alison , Graymore, Michelle , McDonald, Kelsey
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Rural Society Vol. 25, no. 3 (2016), p. 185-203
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: As Australian state and federal governments extol the importance of resilience-building in rural communities to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, understanding the contribution of local government in supporting communities during natural disaster is required. This research examines the role and responsibilities of rural local government following a natural disaster to identify how learnings have informed subsequent disaster response planning. Framed by the local government capability requirements for managing natural disasters [Kusumasari, B., Alam, Q., & Siddiqui, K. (2010). Resource capability for local government in managing disaster. Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, 19(4), 438–451] this study uses survey data from affected community members, and interviews with representatives from emergency response and recovery organisations. This data provides insights from the 2011 floods and landslides in the Grampians, Victoria and demonstrates the integral role of local governments in supporting the community. Participants acknowledged the outreach provided by local government as intensive, far reaching, and ongoing while human resourcing and institutional capabilities were limited. Findings provide guidance on best practice for natural disaster planning and response. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
The relationship between business incubator services and the psychological capital of tenants
- Authors: Ollerenshaw, Alison
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Business incubators (BI) provide a supportive environment for new tenant businesses to grow to independence. Incubators offer characteristic services including (a) space, physical resources, and infrastructure; (b) business support services, (c) networking; and, (d) structured selection, entry, and exit. Despite the global growth in incubator facilities, complemented by extensive research, knowledge gaps remain. Little research has examined the relationship between the characteristic services at incubators and tenants’ psychological capital; a higher-order construct representing an individual’s positive psychological state of development that includes hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. Preliminary examination of the characteristic services at business incubators show analogies with interventions for developing psychological capital. Two research studies were designed to examine these relationships. In the first study, survey (n = 30) and interview data (n = 12) were collected from incubator tenants to examine the existence of a relationship between the four characteristic services at business incubators and tenants’ psychological capital, their hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. The survey data confirmed the existence of a relationship between three incubator services – space, physical resources, and infrastructure, business support services, and networking – and tenants’ psychological capital. Tenants’ narrative experiences confirmed that these same three incubator services support tenants’ hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. This finding implies that the three incubator services contribute to, and augment tenants’ positive psychological states, which is then manifest in their positive behaviours and attitudes towards their business. To further elucidate these relationships a second study was conducted. Data from surveys (n = 75) and interviews (n = 28) with incubators managers also confirmed that space, physical resources, and infrastructure, business support services, and networking were analogous with methods that support tenants’ hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. These findings infer that incubator managers are not only instrumental in delivering these three characteristic services at incubators but are integral in optimising these services to benefit tenants’ hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. This current research provides robust evidence that three characteristic services at incubators are associated with tenants’ psychological capital, hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. These research findings are novel, and the implications for the incubator industry wide-ranging, with evidence indicating that the three characteristic services at incubators are analogous with interventions that support tenants’ psychological capital, and that incubator staff are integral to the delivery of these characteristic services. New directions for the incubator industry are proposed that include establishing a consistent approach to delivering the characteristic services at incubators that support incubator tenants’ businesses, and their positive psychological development.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Ollerenshaw, Alison
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Business incubators (BI) provide a supportive environment for new tenant businesses to grow to independence. Incubators offer characteristic services including (a) space, physical resources, and infrastructure; (b) business support services, (c) networking; and, (d) structured selection, entry, and exit. Despite the global growth in incubator facilities, complemented by extensive research, knowledge gaps remain. Little research has examined the relationship between the characteristic services at incubators and tenants’ psychological capital; a higher-order construct representing an individual’s positive psychological state of development that includes hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. Preliminary examination of the characteristic services at business incubators show analogies with interventions for developing psychological capital. Two research studies were designed to examine these relationships. In the first study, survey (n = 30) and interview data (n = 12) were collected from incubator tenants to examine the existence of a relationship between the four characteristic services at business incubators and tenants’ psychological capital, their hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. The survey data confirmed the existence of a relationship between three incubator services – space, physical resources, and infrastructure, business support services, and networking – and tenants’ psychological capital. Tenants’ narrative experiences confirmed that these same three incubator services support tenants’ hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. This finding implies that the three incubator services contribute to, and augment tenants’ positive psychological states, which is then manifest in their positive behaviours and attitudes towards their business. To further elucidate these relationships a second study was conducted. Data from surveys (n = 75) and interviews (n = 28) with incubators managers also confirmed that space, physical resources, and infrastructure, business support services, and networking were analogous with methods that support tenants’ hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. These findings infer that incubator managers are not only instrumental in delivering these three characteristic services at incubators but are integral in optimising these services to benefit tenants’ hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. This current research provides robust evidence that three characteristic services at incubators are associated with tenants’ psychological capital, hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. These research findings are novel, and the implications for the incubator industry wide-ranging, with evidence indicating that the three characteristic services at incubators are analogous with interventions that support tenants’ psychological capital, and that incubator staff are integral to the delivery of these characteristic services. New directions for the incubator industry are proposed that include establishing a consistent approach to delivering the characteristic services at incubators that support incubator tenants’ businesses, and their positive psychological development.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
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