CCCM Conversation series

Algorithmic bias in business decision making in the age of AI 

When: Thursday 18th November 2021, 11.30am-12.30pm. Add event to calendar
Format: 40 minutes presentation, 20 minutes Q&A Via Zoom (password: 600149).  

Have you wondered why Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified that the company’s algorithms are dangerous?

In this final CCCM Conversation for 2021, we are excited to host Associate Professor Shahriar Akter to share his expertise on algorithmic bias in artificial intelligence (AI).

Research on AI has gained momentum in recent years. Digital giants Amazon, Alibaba, Google, Apple, and Facebook enjoy sustainable competitive advantages using AI. However, little is known about algorithmic biases that may be present in AI processes that could result in unjust, unfair, or prejudicial decision making. Many scholars and practitioners increasingly highlight the dark sides of AI, particularly related to algorithmic bias.

This presentation will cover:

• A demonstration of neural network models using IBM Watson.
• Situations in which AI-enabled analytics systems make biased decisions based on gender, race, religion, age, nationality or socioeconomic status.
• Various approaches to overcome such biases in AI-driven decision making.

Presenter Bio:

Dr Shahriar Akter is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business and Law at University of Wollongong. He obtained his PhD from the UNSW Business School, with a doctoral fellowship in research methods from University of Oxford.  He has published in top-ranked business journals including European Journal of Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, International Marketing Review,  European Journal of Information Systems, Information & Management, International Journal of Information Management,  Journal of the Association of Information Science & Technology, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Production Research and in Electronic Markets. His research areas include AI & analytics, digital marketing & innovations, data privacy and security.

Some of Shahriar’s recent AI-related articles include:

• Algorithmic bias in data-driven innovation in the age of AI
• Understanding dark side of artificial intelligence (AI) integrated business analytics: assessing firm’s operational inefficiency and competitiveness
• Addressing Algorithmic Bias in AI-Driven Customer Management
• How to Build an AI Climate-Driven Service Analytics Capability for Innovation and Performance in Industrial Markets?
• Transforming business using digital innovations: the application of AI, blockchain, cloud and data analytics

Towards a Harvard Fellowship 

When: Wednesday, 13^th October 2021, 11.30am-12.30pm. Add event to calendar
Format: 40 minutes talk, 20 minutes Q&A Via Zoom (password: 446690).  

Are you thinking of applying for a Fellowship at a prestigious university? 

In this CCCM Conversation, we are thrilled to host Senior Professor Simon Ville to share his story of securing the prestigious Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University. Simon was also a Chandler Visiting Fellow at Harvard Business School in 2012.

Fellowship offers typically include opportunities to teach, deliver seminars and undertake academic research. This CCCM Conversation will be useful for those of us eager to undertake impactful research and develop collaborations with colleagues from prestigious universities so we can accelerate our research trajectories and careers. 

Simon will share his experience on:

• How to target fellowships that align with our research interests
• The common pitfalls to avoid when applying for fellowships
• Organising time away from your university
• How to keep motivated and be persistent to secure your targeted fellowship

Presenter Bio:

Simon is the Associate Dean of Research at the Faculty of Business and Law at UOW. He is an internationally recognised economic and business historian who has worked with scholars in a broad range of disciplines including economics, history, management, sociology, engineering, and museum science. He has published extensively on big business, foreign investment, the primary industries, the history of transportation and trading, and the Vietnam War. Simon’s research partners range across the public and private sector including Shell Corporation, the South Korean Government, the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs, the NSW Office of Women, the National Council of Wool-selling Brokers, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the Australian Museum. Simon is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and has served the Australian Research Council in various roles particularly as a member of the College of Experts. 

Self-Compassion: The need of the hour

When: 29^th September 2021, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM AEST. Add event to calendar.
Format: Experiential, via Zoom  (password: 895121)

Are we more stressed and anxious? An increasing number of research studies show that self-compassion is strongly associated with lower levels of anxiety and depression, and better emotional wellbeing. Self-compassion includes the capacity to comfort and validate ourselves—treating ourselves with the same care and concern we would extend to our best friend.

 This special CCCM Conversation is proud to host Venerable Dr. Juewei Shi from the Nan Tien Institute at Wollongong. Amidst the extraordinary times we live in, Juewei experienced a major health scare just weeks earlier. She will share ways to avoid pain and suffering by responding compassionately to our imperfections by ‘The BEST Self-Compassion’ process.

Yes, we can easily learn to practice self-compassion daily.

In this session, you can expect to:

• Apply skills in real time to help bring self-compassion into your daily life and motivate yourself with kindness rather than criticism
• Participate in a guided meditation session
• Deepen your understanding of self-compassion to handle difficult emotions with greater ease, and
• Personalize and apply practices to stop being too hard on yourself.

Presenter Bio:

Venerable Dr Juewei Shi holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies, Master of Business Administration (Cranfield University), Master of Arts in Buddhist Studies, and a Master of Science in Computer Science and Engineering. Juewei began her career as an applied research and development engineer in Artificial Intelligence systems in the 1980s and moved on to management positions in Singapore’s statutory bodies. She made her millennial decision to join the Fo Guang Shan order when she realised that she could be of the best service to humanity through promoting humanistic values in an increasingly-divided world. Juewei is the Head of Program for Humanistic Buddhism, Director of the Humanistic Buddhism Centre, and Senior Lecturer at Nan Tien Institute. She teaches subjects related to Humanistic Buddhism (HB) and Chinese Buddhism, supported by her research on acculturation and application of Buddhist teachings in the modern world.

Doing Precarious Research: Mitigation Strategies to Minimise Risks when undertaking Controversial and Dangerous Topics

When: 18^th August 2021
Format: Open Forum via Zoom (password: 213646)

Have you been weighing the pros and cons of conducting research on a controversial and dangerous topic due to potential ethical and legal risks? As social science researchers striving to develop impactful research careers, we need to strike a balance between upholding academic responsibility and the well-being of others.

This CCCM Conversation will be useful for those of us who are undertaking or eager to undertake impactful research projects that can help our research trajectories and careers but are challenged by the potential ethical and legal risks of the project.

This is an open forum CCCM Conversation where you can share your stories on the topic. I will set the scene by sharing the thrills and challenges I experienced during a research project examining corruption in the public sector. After 10 years and several journal submission rejections, the research was finally published in 2020 in an ABDC A ranked journal. I will share how ethical and legal aspects of the research impacted on the quality of the research design, methods and dissemination outcomes, and also the risk mitigation strategies that worked from the constructive roles played by UOW’s Human Resource Ethics Committee, the Legal Services Unit, senior scholars, and the journal publisher.

If you have a story to tell at this CCCM Conversation, you are welcome to raise your hand in the chat room at the start of session so we can all have a chance to share our stories.

AoM 2021 CCCM HDR Student Presentations

When: Wednesday 21 July 2021
Format: Zoom (password: 439457)

We are thrilled to announce that four of our CCCM HDR Student conference paper submissions to the Annual Academy of Management (AoM) Conference (2021) have been accepted!

The annual AoM conference is a premier event for scholarly engagement around management and organization research. This year and in its virtual format, the conference is due to host over 7000 delegates. To provide a valuable opportunity for our HDR students to get experience and feedback prior to their conference presentations, CCCM’s 17^th Conversation will feature their presentations in a 4x10-minute presentation format followed by 20 minutes of Q&A at the end.

1. Title: Resource depletion as a significant issue for junior medical officers - A case study of a regional hospital in Australia
   
   Junior medical officers (JMOs) report many mental health concerns, including stress and overall poor wellbeing. Given that they are often considered the 'public face' of the medical frontline, it is essential to examine the issues they face during their training program. This study applied the Conservation of Resources (COR) approach to examine the factors that influence the resource depletion of JMOs and organizational practices that mitigate resource loss of the JMOs within an Australian public hospital. The study used 49 semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals, including 11 junior medical officers working in an Australian regional hospital. The findings suggest that the resource loss of JMOs occurred due to 'job-related challenges' and 'person-related challenges’.
   
   Presenter: Afshan Rauf is a doctoral candidate and researcher at the School of Business, University of Wollongong. She is actively involved in research about the wellbeing of healthcare workers. Afshan’s thesis supervisors are Dr. Shamika Almeida and Dr. Laura Rook.
   
   
2. Title: Borderline Machiavellians - A Call for Reclassification of High and Low Machiavellianism
   
   The MACH IV scale is the primary tool used to measure Machiavellian personality. It labels individuals scoring 60+ Mach IV into high Mach and below 60 Mach IV into low Mach.  While this classification has been useful, the arbitrary nature of classifying low and high Machiavellians on the cut-off point of 60 is leading to confusion and ambiguity. The findings show that contrary to the current understanding, ‘borderline’ high Machs express both high and low Machiavellian characteristics and their behavior may be influenced by cultural values. The study calls for a reclassification of the MACH IV scale to include those who project characteristics of both low and high Machiavellians.
   
   Presenter: Nelly Liyanagamage is a doctoral candidate and researcher at the School of Business, University of Wollongong. Her doctoral study focuses on Machiavellian leadership in business organizations. Her research interests are on ‘dark’ leadership and relational theory, emotions and work–life balance. Nelly’s thesis supervisors are Professor Mario Fernando and Dr. Belinda Gibbons.
   
   
3. Title: Equity, Equality and Digital Inclusion - Evidence of Practice from an Australian University
   
   With the global pivot to remote working, the learning and education sector has highlighted the importance of improving students’ access to technology to reduce digital exclusion. Applying Adams’ Equity Theory, this study examines perceptions of fairness and justice to achieve digital inclusion in higher education. Twenty three interviews with learning and development specialists, librarians, information technology specialists, peer support leaders, course coordinators, teaching staff and undergraduate students at an Australian university reveal that digital inclusion policies must be communicated clearly and then linked specifically to equity or equality goals to achieve digital inclusion.  
   
   Presenter: Geraldine Hardie  is a doctoral candidate in the School of Business, University of Wollongong. Her research is on inclusion in higher education and to develop support systems to promote inclusion in higher education. Geraldine’s thesis supervisors are Professor Mario Fernando and Dr. Jan Turbill.
   
   
4. Title: Emotional Distancing Identity Work by Sri Lankan Skilled Immigrant Women in Australian Workplaces
   
   The identities of skilled immigrant women are often challenged and threatened as they enter the host country workforce. Skilled immigrant women hence seek avenues to stabilize their identities to acquire a more socially acceptable self as they navigate the host country workforce. This study draws on 31 in depth interviews of Sri Lankan skilled immigrant women in Australian workplaces to understand the identity work strategies employed in the sensemaking process. We contribute to identity scholarship by furthering the understanding of identity work strategies employed by skilled immigrant women in their early stages of the migration and propose a future research agenda on immigrants’ identity work in host country work places.
   
   Presenter: Gayani Gunasekera is a third year doctoral student at the School of Business, University of Wollongong. Her research interests include identity, intersectional identities of multiply identified individuals, doctoral student and international student learning experience, and peer learning. Gayani’s thesis supervisors are Professor Mario Fernando and Associate Professor James Reveley.

Tips to accelerate your research: Unleashing the power of NVivo

When: Wednesday 22 June 2021
Format: Zoom (password: 667889)

As researchers most of us face a challenging problem: “I need to develop high-quality research that has impact to publish in high-ranking journals. The problem is, I just don’t have as much time as I really need.” This CCCM Conversation aims to present a few practical solutions to this problem. NVivo is a tool for research and writing that is poorly understood and seldom used to its full potential. It is a valuable tool for both qualitative and quantitative researchers. This session will provide a practical demonstration of some of the more advanced and subtle features of NVivo that will add value to your research and writing. Features covered include conducting advanced literature reviews, hypothesis testing, data-mining and enhanced presentation of data.

To maximise available time, please forward any burning NVivo related questions you may have to mario_fernando@uow.edu.au prior to the session so that we can address these during the presentation.

Presenter

Michael Jones (B. Comm Hons-1^st Class, PhD) is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Business and Law, University of Wollongong. Michael has been using NVivo for research and training across Australia, and overseas for the last 15 years. Michael has research strengths in qualitative analysis and in the areas of organisational behaviour and organisational psychology. In particular, he has expertise in commitment, motivation, group dynamics, organisational culture, leadership and retention of volunteers. From 2013 to 2017, Michael was the Project Leader of the Australian Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre entitled “Improving the retention and engagement of volunteers in emergency service agencies”. He led a team of interdisciplinary academics to develop a leadership development course which has been delivered to volunteers at emergency services around Australia, contributing to the practice and management of emergency volunteers. Michael currently has over 90 peer-reviewed published papers.