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The traditional realm of information systems has been the management of data and information. For the past few years information systems researchers and practitioners have been increasingly concerned with the management of knowledge. Knowledge management, however is not the sole concern of the information systems community but is also the concern of management and accounting researchers. According to much of the literature on knowledge management a conducive organisational culture is a prerequisite for the effective management of knowledge. In particular, organisations which emphasise the role and importance of the individual, often in a competitive arena, are less likely to foster sharing of knowledge. Much attention in the information systems community has been focused on the types of organisational knowledge and the usefulness of information technology in managing it. This paper rather than addressing these themes examines the context for knowledge management. The issue of appropriate organisational cultures for effective knowledge management is the main theme. A study of a university is used to examine the influence of organisational culture and climate on proposed knowledge management initiatives. The University in the study is operating in a climate of rationalisation, corporatisation and marketisation; these characteristics having a profound influence on the organisational culture. The staff felt that the competitive environment, the lack of trust and the formality of many business practices would work against knowledge sharing. It is argued that in the future that most corporate cultures will transform to better accommodate a number of features that combine to form a view of the “new organisation”. The effective management of knowledge is just one of the requirements of this new organisational form. Unfortunately, until organisations as a whole begin to transform many IT driven knowledge management practices will flounder on the rocks of outdated management practices and organisational culture.

The paper's aim is to present a personal viewpoint of the state of the information systems discipline in Australian universities and hence provoke useful discussion in academia and industry.

Informal interviews with Australian information systems academics, were carried out, along with inspection of university web sites and conference mailing lists, using biology as a reference discipline.

It would seem that the information systems discipline in Australian universities is close to collapse unless action is taken.

The paper represents a personal viewpoint, the methods employed are such that the paper is indicative rather than definitive.

The paper is relevant to information systems academics, university managers, government and employers in Australia. It provides a useful referent for the consideration of education and immigration policies.

It has been some time since a paper considering the state of the art of the information systems has been published. No published paper has taken this perspective.

Based on a case study of the ‘regeneration’ of the ‘Five Estates’ of Peckham, a neighbourhood located in south-east London, this chapter considers the social implications of urban ‘regeneration’ processes from an anthropological perspective centred on concepts of waste and value and highlights the emotional turmoil and personal disruption that individuals affected by regeneration plans routinely experience.

An ethnographic approach is used based on participant observation, unstructured and semi-structured interviews as well as limited archival research. Life histories are central to the methodology and these result in the substantial use of long quotes from respondents, to highlight the ways in which they framed the issues as well as their opinions.

The chapter shows how urban regeneration processes that involve displacements and demolitions deeply affect the lives of estate residents. In juxtaposing the voices and experiences of local politicians, officers and residents it sheds light on the ways in which the values and interests of some individuals — those invested with more power, ultimately — ended up shaping regenerated landscapes. At the same time, the homes and communities valued by the residents who lived in them were demolished, removed and destroyed. They were wasted, literally and symbolically, erased from the landscape, their claims to it denied and ultimately forgotten.

The chapter highlights how while the rhetoric of regeneration strives to portray these developments as improvement and renewal, the ethnographic evidence shows instead the other side of urban regeneration as wasting both communities and urban landscapes resulting in ‘state-led gentrification’.

Thinking about regeneration and recycling through waste and value allows us to consider these processes in a novel way: at a micro level we can look at the ways in which individuals attribute to and recognise value in different sets of objects and social relationships. At the macro level we can then observe how the power dynamics that shaped the situation resulted in only a specific view and set of values to be enacted and respected, while all others were silenced, wasted and literally expelled from Peckham.

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from an empirical research project designed to enhance knowledge of the current extent and nature of abuse in contemporary care homes for older people.

A self-completion, postal questionnaire was used to elicit both numerical and textual data that was subsequently subjected to both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The questionnaire was distributed to newly appointed care staff in six participating care homes providing care to older people to determine the nature of any abuse they may have witnessed in the homes in which they had previously worked.

A significant proportion of respondents described instances of predominantly psychological and physical abuse and neglect.

Though the research draws upon the experiences of only 194 anonymous questionnaire respondents, of whom 140 had witnessed abuse; data suggest that abuse continues to occur in some care homes for older people.

The research has revealed staffs’ recent experiences of a range of abusive acts and practices. Findings suggest that changes are required to current methods of external scrutiny and investigation of practices in care homes.

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a research project designed to enhance knowledge of the current extent and nature of abuse in contemporary care homes for older people.

A self-completion, postal questionnaire was used to elicit both numerical and textual data that were subsequently subjected to both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The questionnaire was distributed to newly appointed care staff in five participating care homes providing care to older people to determine the nature of any abuse they may have witnessed in the homes in which they had previously worked.

A significant proportion of respondents had witnessed numerous occurrences of primarily psychological and physical abuse and neglect, perpetrated against the older people living in the care homes in which they had previously worked.

Although the research draws upon the experiences of only 197 anonymous questionnaire respondents, of whom 180 had witnessed abuse, data suggest that abuse continues to occur in some care homes for older people.

The research has revealed staffs’ recent experiences of a range of abusive acts and practices. When combined with two previous studies using the same or a similar methodology, the research also confirms the enduring presence of abuse in care homes. Findings again suggest that changes are required to current methods of external scrutiny and investigation of practices in care homes.

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of some of the fundamental theoretical and contextual components of commissioning and regulatory processes as applied to care home services, revisiting and examining how they impact on the potential prevention of abuse.

By revisiting a number of the theoretical bases of commissioning activity, some of which may also be applied to regulatory functions, the reasons for the apparent limited impact on the prevention of the abuse that occurs in care homes by these agencies are analysed.

The paper demonstrates how the application of commissioning and regulatory theory may be applied to the oversight of care homes to inform proposed preventative strategies.

The paper offers strategies to improve the prevention of abuse in care homes for older people.

A factual and “back to basics” approach is taken to demonstrate why current strategies that should contribute to tackling abuse in care homes are of limited efficacy.

This case study describes an attempt to use cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to treat anger problems in a young man with mild learning disabilities. The skills necessary to engage in CBT were assessed in addition to an assessment of support available, motivation to engage in therapy and belief in ability to make changes. Despite this assessment environmental factors undermined the therapy, which was not completed. Some of the difficulties and dilemmas involved in delivering CBT in ‘ordinary’ community services are discussed, concluding with learning points for consideration by other practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from two research projects undertaken between 2015 and 2019 that reveal continued underreporting and sometimes active concealment of abuse in private sector care homes for older people in England.

An anonymously completed questionnaire was used among newly appointed staff in 11 newly opened care homes to elicit both quantitative and qualitative data relating to the reporting of occurrences of abuse within the care homes in which they had previously worked. In total, 391 questionnaires in total were returned, 285 of which indicated that respondents had witnessed the perpetration of abuse on at least one occasion.

A significant number of respondents indicated their awareness of acts of abuse that had not been reported within the care home(s) in which they had worked, or externally to the appropriate authorities. Some respondents were aware that where occurrences of abuse had been reported within care homes no subsequent action was taken, or that external authorities were not always involved in responses to abuse. A significant number of respondents described strategies that had been used to deter reports of abuse to external agencies and to conceal its occurrence from the statutory regulator and service commissioners.

Though the research draws upon the experiences of only 285 questionnaire respondents who had witnessed episodes of abuse, data suggest that a significant proportion of abuse in care homes remains unreported.

The research has revealed experiences of continued underreporting and concealment of abuse among staff in private sector care homes. Findings indicate that a strengthening of incentives and protections extended to the staff who should report abuse are essential, and that changes to current methods of external scrutiny to which care homes are subject are required.