Conducting business in Australia: Prospects and strategies for international managers
Australia, with a competitive, modern economy, an educated workforce, modern communications, and its positioning on the doorstep of Asia, has attracted many international businesses that have enjoyed success there. Some companies that immediately come to mind are Nokia and Optus (Singtel) in the case of telecommunications, IKEA in home design, the global accounting firms, and well-known brands such as Google, Yahoo, and FedEx. Australia has attracted to its shores well-known food franchises, such as McDonald's, KFC, Starbucks, and Baskin-Robbins. It has airlines, including Virgin Blue; the big agriculture and mining equipment companies such as Rio Tinto; Rivers and other big clothing companies; computing companies such as Hewlett-Packard; and manufacturers such as Toyota. Looking to the future, Australia offers significant investment and business opportunities for international managers seeking a presence there for their firms. This article provides an overview of the Australian business, government, and legal scene and offers some practical guidance for managers who decide to venture there. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Toyota Moto Corporation Australia: a case study
This article presents a case study which describes the quality improvement initiatives undertaken by the Toyota Motor Corporation Australia which resulted in it's winning the 1991 Australian Quality Award. Based on extensive interviews with managers and employees, the case study discusses the formation of the Quality Administration Division and it's role in Toyota's quality improvement programme. Also discussed are Toyota's quality policy, customer orientation, supplier quality assessment system, standardization and quality control, training, employee involvement and quality performance. The substantial improvements made by Toyota Australia in product quality and productivity have resulted in additional investment in a greenfield manufacturing plant in Melbourne.
Heritage Languages: In the 'Wild' and in the Classroom
Heritage speakers are people raised in a home where one language is spoken who subsequently switch to another dominant language. The version of the home language that they have not completely acquired – heritage language – has only recently been given the attention it deserves from linguists and language instructors. Despite the appearance of great variation among heritage speakers, they fall along a continuum based upon the speakers’ distance from the baseline language. Such a continuum-based model enables researchers and instructors to classify heritage speakers more accurately and readily. This article discusses the results of research on lower-proficiency speakers, identifying recurrent features of heritage languages in phonology, morphology, and syntax. Preliminary results indicate that different heritage languages share a number of structural similarities; this finding is important for the understanding of general processes involved in language acquisition. The article also presents implications of the main findings for language education and identifies areas needing further study.