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Humour is disappearing from the workplace leading to decreased performance, lack of creativity, stress, anxiety, absenteeism, conflict and poor morale. With an understanding of basic humour theory and training, both psychological and medical research indicates people can increase their overall health and wellbeing as well as improve lateral thinking skills and creativity. Humour provides tools for developing resilience and maintaining a positive outlook, in times of rapid workplace change and debilitating stress. After 30+ years working in the humour industry and extensive research into brain function and positive psychology – we have discovered a large amount of scientific evidence which proves humour is a vital function of both future-proof organisations and individuals, alike. Humour changes our feeling, thinking, behavior and even our biochemistry, in order to help us lead healthier and happier lives. You cannot feel stressed, angry, depressed, anxious, guilty, or resentful and experience humour at the same time.
"Humour and distressing emotions cannot occupy the same psychological space." Dr Steven Sultanoff
The benefits of humour and laughter are numerous:
Humour and laughter affect a physiological response, which is actually opposite to the effects of stress, according to Lee Berk & Stanley Tan - Loma Linda University School of Medicine. In a carefully controlled study, Berk & Tan also found evidence for humour :
In short, humour and laughter stimulate the immune system, offsetting the immunosuppressive effects of stress.
“A merry heart doeth good like medicine” Proverb (17:22)
humour is the opposite of stress Not only does stress reduce our ability to think clearly, scientists say it actually kills brain cells. Humour increases brainpower! Humour assists resilience - using humour as a coping mechanism is a method of detachment. Humour enables one to distance oneself from professional and personal problems; that is, to detach or disengage mentally to put those situations into a proper perspective. Or, to put it another way; if you can joke – you can cope!
"Nothing is good or bad. It is thinking that makes it so." William Shakespeare
some stressful statistics
(National Health and Safety Commission, Better Health Channel Vic Gov July 04)
interesting facts about humour Creativity and humour are identical. They both involve bringing together two items, which do not have an obvious connection and creating a relationship. Laughter improves creativity. Laughing in response to something funny, is a very sophisticated brain function, which sweeps our entire cerebral cortex and is terrific for improving mental flexibility. A study by Cornell University found that people who had just seen a funny movie, increased their creative flexibility and were better able to find creative solutions to puzzling problems. A humourous or light-hearted approach increases happiness. Researcher David Myers of Hope College believes that "biological wisdom" is a factor for happiness. Taking note of enjoyable times each day fortifies the neurological system and stress and anxiety are less likely to capture your attention.
humour in the workplace “Humour can help convey important corporate messages in memorable ways and relieve stress.” Catherine Hudson President & CEO - Brady Corporation Harvard Business Review July/August 2001
“A survey of 480 executive officers clearly indicated that the majority of corporate leaders felt that a sense of humour was crucial to their work and believed that humour is an essential means of communication and influence in the workplace.” Pete Croft Humourversity
. Well-placed humour can get your point across at a meeting and softens criticisms of both colleagues and superiors.
“If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better. Which makes you more open to my ideas. And if I can persuade you to laugh at a particular point that I make, by laughing at it, you acknowledge its truth.” John Cleese
references
Croft, P. Take Humour into the Boardroom. Humourversity: Humour, Comedy and Laughter Training, Fun and Profit Since 1960. http://www.humourversity.com.au/services.html#The%20Business%20of%20Humour Last accessed: August 2007 Doskoch, P. Happily Ever Laughter. Psychology Today. http://cms.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php. Last accessed: 26/4/2005 Fry, William F., Jr. The physiologic effects of humour, mirth, and laughter. JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association 267(13): 1857 (1992). Hull D. and V. Read, Simply the Best Workplaces in Australia . 2003, ACIRRT - University of Sydney + Business Council of Australia: Sydney p41 Kamei, T., Kumano, H., Masumura, S. Changes of immunoregulatory cells associated with psychological stress and humour. Perceptual and Motor Skills 84 (3 pt 2): 1296-8 (1997). Kataria, D.M., Laugh for No Reason. 2002, Mumbai: Madhuri International.
Pert, C.B., Ruff, M.R., Weber, R.J., and Herkenham, M. Neuropeptides and their receptors: a psychsomatic network. The Journal of Immunology 135(2): 820s-826s (1985). Popp, C. Laughter Australia: Bringing People Together. http://www.laughterclubs.com.au/benefits.htm Last accessed: August 2007 Ramachandran, V.S. The evolutionary biology of self-deception, laughter, dreaming and depression: some clues from agnosognosia. Medical Hypotheses 47(5):347-62 (1996).
Sultanoff, S. What is Humour? Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humour. http://www.aath.org/articles/art_sultanoff01.html Last accessed: August 2007 Soloman, G. Psychoneuroimmunology: Interactions between the central nervous system and the immune system. J Neurosci Res 18:1-9 (1987).
Unknown author, Stress Facts. The College of St. Scholastica www.css.edu/users/dswenson/web/Stress/stressfacts.html. Last accessed: June 2005 Unknown author. Stress Statistics. Zen at Work. http://www.zenatwork.com.au/a/42.htmlLast accessed August 2007
AIC Partnership for World Graduates 2007 SOFITEL melbourne Australia 28-30 November AH HA! Humour and Sustainability in the Development of Entrepreneurial Graduates Associate Professor Adela J McMurray Assistant Dean, Research & Innovation Director Entrepreneurship Business Portfolio RMIT University Ph: +61 3 9925 5946 Mobile: AU+61 419 829 893 Email: adela.mcmurray@rmit.edu.au
Zara Swindells-Grose HA! Humour Australia P.O. Box 586 Port Melbourne Victoria, 3207 Mobile: AU+61 411305129 Email: zara@humouraustralia.com troyandzara@humouraustralia.com.au Kathryn Burge CSD Closed System Development PO Box 27 Koonwarra Victoria Australia 3954 Email: kburge@csd.com.au Web: www.csd.com.au
All correspondence to Associate Professor Adela J McMurray
Acknowledgements Thanks go to Dr Afreen Huq, Bachelor of Business Entrepreneurship lecturer, who delivers the ‘Entrepreneurial Process’ subject, and Alan Peck, Director ‘Positive Leadership’, who delivers the Managing Your Growing Business subject. Finally, thanks go to the Entrepreneurship Students who gave freely of their time to share their thoughts on humour and sustainability. AH HA! Humour and Sustainability in the Development of Entrepreneurial Graduates ABSTRACT This study shows that humour and sustainability, although not related, offer a valuable contribution in terms of curriculum content within entrepreneurship education at the undergraduate level. Undergraduate students enrolled in RMIT’s Bachelor of Business Entrepreneurship program were surveyed to determine whether the inclusion of humour and sustainability in their curriculum were of value in the updating and development of a subject in RMIT’s Bachelor of Business Entrepreneurship (BBE) program which prepares graduates for the global marketplace. Graduates are challenged individually and collectively to meet economic, social, environmental, political and educational challenges (CSD, 2006) in today’s dynamic workplaces and globalized economies. Yet, humour is disappearing from the workplace leading to decreased performance, lack of creativity, stress, anxiety, absenteeism, conflict and poor morale (Humour Australia, Ha! 2007). Furthermore, sustainable personal and business development is central to innovation and entrepreneurship and requires a frontal assault on the existing business paradigm. The paper shows the way in which humour and sustainability are valuable inclusions within a BBE program subject. Industry partnerships with Humour Australia (Ha!) and Closed System Development (CSD) provided the BBE students with ‘hands-on’ experience, tools and techniques of study with practical application to the world of entrepreneurs and business. This study utilized a multi-method questionnaire comprised of 24 items containing 9 open items, 9 closed items, and 6 demographic items. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS (Version 15) descriptive statistics and the qualitative data was theme category analyzed. A total of 74 undergraduate students were surveyed. The results showed the majority of the respondents strongly agreed that humour and sustainability, each with their relationships to entrepreneurship, would add value to an entrepreneurship program. Not only was this result original and contributes to the education of entrepreneurs but what was significant in this finding was that the population sample was comprised of first, second and third year students who were ‘entrepreneurs’ who own or plan to own a business or start-up, ‘intra-preneurs’ who either work in a large organization or intend working in one, and social entrepreneurs who intend working in the not-for-profit sector. Hence the findings hold significance across the three major areas of entrepreneurship fields and activity. Key words: Entrepreneurship, intra-preneurship, social entrepreneurship, humour, sustainability Introduction The Australian Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) business sector constitutes the country’s fastest growing employment, innovation, and export rates representing approximately 90% of business which employs 70% of the current workforce. Hence, the Australian Commonwealth Government committed $70 million funding to support innovation and entrepreneurship through the SME ‘Building Entrepreneurship in Small Business’ grant scheme which assists with the development and improvement of SME competency and operating skills. The RMIT University 2010 Designing the Future Strategic Plan highlights the value of creativity. This value is central to entrepreneurship and provides an antecedent to innovation and entrepreneurial thought including activity. Furthermore, the School of Management’s vision statement states that it ‘…helps create sustainable and ethical business practices through education…’ The Bachelor of Business Entrepreneurship (BBE) was developed in 2000 and is a three year undergraduate degree program, which is under review, and offered through the School of Management in the RMIT Business Portfolio. Industry partnerships with Humour Australia (Ha!) and Closed System Development (CSD) provide ‘hands-on’ experience, tools and techniques of study with practical application to the world of entrepreneurs and business. A preliminary introduction of the theories, tools and techniques underlying humour and sustainability to over 150 first, second and third year students enrolled in the BBE program was conducted in semester 1, 2007. The positive student feedback confirmed the necessity to conduct a follow up formal exploratory research study, with ethics clearance, during semester two so as to provide quantitative and qualitative data to show why the students thought humour and sustainability may be of value in an entrepreneurship program. Educating individuals and organizations to have a sense of humour and be sustainable is an urgent challenge hence the aim of this paper was to show the way in which humour and sustainability, in their own right, are related to entrepreneurship and to determine whether the inclusion of humour and sustainability curriculum is of value in the updating and development of a BBE subject in the quest of educating generations of entrepreneurs. Hence the three research questions underpinning this study were:
Background There is no single best approach to entrepreneurship education except that the curricula should be predominantly experientially based with the content being built on solid conceptual building blocks thereby allowing students to understand the complex and culturally embedded multi-faceted nature of entrepreneurial activity (Tracey and Philips, 2007:264). Entrepreneurship is a multi-disciplinary concept and embraces ideas, creativity and innovation. The online resource, Wikipedia states, ‘Creativity, although popularly associated with art and literature is also an essential part of innovation and invention and is important in professions such as business, economics, architecture, industrial design, science, engineering and all entrepreneurial pursuits. Creativity is now a crucial skill for leaders and managers and one of the best ways to set a company apart from the competition. Creativity is characterised by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns and to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena where, according to Drucker (1985) ‘innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service’. The innovation literature may be broadly classified into either hard (outcome) or soft (process) dimensions yet to ensure innovation success, the integration of both is ideal (McMurray and Dorai, 2007). Entrepreneurship is comprised of three major fields. The first being ‘entrepreneurship’ which focuses on start-up businesses, ‘intra-preneurship’ which focuses on entrepreneurial activity within an existing organization such as a corporate, and social entrepreneurship which has it roots in not-for-profits and the community. According to DeTienne and Chandler (2004), entrepreneurship education is not about the entrepreneur but what the entrepreneur does (p254). Humour One in ten employees is estimated to be suffering from depression, anxiety, stress, or burnout in Australia, the European Union, the USA and Canada (www.beyondblue.org.au). The total cost of Australian workplace stress, is now estimated to be $1.2 billion per annum (Mansfield, 2000) with depression costing the Australian community over $600 million annually through 12 million days of reduced productivity (Mental Health, 1999). By 2020, it is estimated that depression will be the most common health problem in the workplace and society (Malkovic, 2006). These startling statistics have major implications for any society’s capacity to be innovative and engage in entrepreneurial activities. The research shows that humour is disappearing from the workplace leading to decreased performance, lack of creativity, stress, anxiety, absenteeism, conflict and poor morale (Humour Australia, Ha! 2007). Ostrower (2002) defines humour as being comprised of three components: wit, mirth, and laughter where Wit is the cognitive experience, Mirth the emotional experience, Laughter the physiological experience http://web.macam98.ac.il/~ochayo/what.htm. With an understanding of basic humour theory and training, the psychological and medical research literature shows people increase their lateral thinking skills and creativity (Granier, 2006) which are vital components of innovation and entrepreneurship. Humour provides tools for developing resilience and maintaining a positive outlook (Bioten, 1998; Fry and Rader, 1977; Fry, 2000) in times of rapid workplace change and debilitating stress (Humour Foundation, 2007). Humour is an effective tool for shifting people into the state to ‘create’ by entering the arena of more conscious and subconscious possibility. Well-chosen humour in the workplace increases employee health (Nakajima, Hirai,Yoshino, 1999) and wellbeing (Fry, 1992; Halley, 1991), improves creativity, builds resilience (Martin and Dobin, 1988), develops relationships, boosts communication, fosters innovation and, most importantly, assists people to feel better in their workplace. Innovation requires creativity and mental flexibility – the vision to see possibilities where practicalities do not yet exist. By developing a humorous perspective and avoiding negative emotions, such as stress and anxiety (Pert et al, 1985), people are able to develop more choices for creative engagement in the workplace - thus providing new and exciting entrepreneurial opportunities.
Sustainability In its simplest form, sustainability may be defined as ‘A characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained indefinitely ‘ www.jsdnp.org.jm/glossary.html. In a similar vein, sustainable development may be defined as “a dynamic process that enables organizations and people to realise their full potential and to improve quality of life in ways that protect and preserve all life support systems” (CSD, 2006) for current and future generations. Sustainable personal and business development requires a frontal assault on the existing business paradigm. The primary need is to develop a new paradigm of innovative thinking that will provide managers with the systems perspective and tools to manage sustainable development. CSD concluded that the new approach to sustainability required three fundamental components. The first being the incorporation of holistic and systems thinking where the inter-relationships of people and business were involved in all aspects of decision-making. The second component related to the adherence to the natural principles underpinning healthy, growing and productive eco-systems providing the only long-term basis for sustainability; and the third component embraced the synergy between business and economic sustainability and personal sustainability so as to ensure that the benefits to individuals and social groupings are shared. Environmental entrepreneurship is based on fundamental issues of ecological sustainability presenting an alternative solution to environmental issues (York and Venkataraman, 2007) The first research question ‘In what way are humour and sustainability of value to entrepreneurship education? ’ was confirmed in that humour and sustainability had a relationship to entrepreneurship. In summary, elements of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship overlap in the humour and sustainability literatures and are anchored to commonly shared concepts such as decision making, lateral thinking, flexibility, adaptability, engagement and change. Based on the literature review findings, it was decided to introduce a humour and sustainability session in two different BBE subjects and then survey the BBE students for their views as to the value of humour and sustainability in entrepreneurship curricula. Research Method The study’s first research question ‘In what way, are humour and sustainability of value to entrepreneurship education?’ was addressed in the literature review. The study’s subsequent two research questions Q2 ‘Do BBE students see any value in the inclusion of humour in an entrepreneurship program?’ and Q3 ‘Do BBE students see any value in the inclusion of sustainability in an entrepreneurship program?’ were addressed through a survey which utilized a multi-method questionnaire comprised of 24 items containing 9 open items, 9 closed items, and 6 demographic items. Multi-method research not only overcomes the weaknesses of each of the individual approaches, but also enhances theory building, hypothesis testing, and generalizing (McMurray et al., 2004). A total of 74 semester 2 students enrolled in either the Managing the Growing Business or Entrepreneurial Process subject in the BBE program completed the anonymous survey. The participants, who were not in a direct dependent relationship with the researchers, were requested to complete the questionnaire after they experienced a curriculum session addressing ‘humour’ in the ‘Managing a Growing Business’ subject and sustainability curricula in the ‘Entrepreneurial Process’ subject. A plain language statement providing information about the research and a consent form accompanied the questionnaire. Humour Analysis and Findings The population sample of 52 students was comprised of first, second, and third year respondents enrolled in the BBE program and represented entrepreneurs, intra-preneurs and social entrepreneurs. Thirty five respondents indicated that they are either currently in business/employment or when they graduate they plan to own their own business, these are entrepreneurs; fourteen respondents indicated they will work in a large organization, these are intra-preneurs; and five respondents intended working in the not-for-profit-sector, these are social entrepreneurs. The ‘humour’ population sample enrolled in the Managing Your Growing Business subject was comprised of 57% male respondents with the remainder being female. Sixty nine percent of the respondents were enrolled in the first year of their studies, 6% in their second year and 20% in their third year with the remaining 5% being unidentified. Overwhelmingly 82% were aged between 16-24 years which is understandable in view of the fact that 69% were enrolled in the first year of their studies and the subject was a first year core subject. Twenty percent of the respondents owned a business. Question 2 ‘Do BBE students see any value in the inclusion of humour in an entrepreneurship program?’ was addressed through statistical and theme analysis. Quantitative Analysis of Humour Data The quantitative data addressing the nine closed items was analyzed descriptively using SPSS (Version 15) and shows the percentages in terms of agreement and disagreement with each item and is summarised in Table 1 below. Table 1 Responses to closed humour items
Source Authors Of note, thirty two percent of the students stated they did not use humour in their personal life. This is worthy of further exploration in terms of personal life balance. In addition, the ‘neutral’ category in Table 1 findings is an area that requires further investigation. However, generally, the table shows that the respondents either strongly agreed or agreed that humour and creativity are closely related; gives you a sense of perspective and can create greater resilience when handling rejection; builds relationships and confidence; enhances problem solving activities; is important for team morale; can help networking opportunities, a good sense of humour and entrepreneurship are related. Qualitative Analysis of Humour Data The qualitative data, generated by the nine open items, was theme category analysed and indicated that the majority of the respondents believed humour as being an important component in the development of entrepreneurial graduates. Further analysis showed that humour provided a better workplace environment with a relaxed work environment, less stress, and improved relationships with co-workers. Humour created an atmosphere which helped in reducing people’s boring and stressful states and assisted in advancing their creativity. In summary, the respondents believed that humour assisted a person’s resilience, persistence, openness and broadened their network. When asked ‘Is there any value to including humour training in an entrepreneurship course? Yes…No…Why?’ All the respondents agreed that, the inclusion of humour in an entrepreneurship subject would increase its value. The respondents expressed that when humour was added in pitching a concept, it made the concept more interesting and relaxed the audience hence others would be more interested in the concept or idea that was being pitched. The respondents cited the most important physical and emotional benefits of being good humoured included, but were not limited to, were being in good mental and physical health, stronger creativity and being happy and vibrant. Humour was identified as reducing stress, refreshing the mind, bringing enthusiasm, and increasing workplace productivity. The majority of the respondents agreed that they would prefer to employ a person who possessed a good sense of humour over one that did not and cited reasons such as ‘the person would be easier to work with’, ‘ more likely to get along with others’, the person would ‘lighten up the environment’, and ‘increase morale’. Hence, question two Q2 Do BBE students see any value in the inclusion of humour in an entrepreneurship program? was confirmed in the affirmative and was overwhelmingly supported by the quantitative and qualitative data analyses. Sustainability Analysis and Findings The ‘sustainability’ population sample of 22 students enrolled in the Entrepreneurial Process subject. Ten respondents indicated that they are either currently in business/employment or when they graduate they plan to own their own business, these are entrepreneurs; ten respondents indicated they will work in a large organization, these are intra-preneurs; and two respondents intended working in the not-for-profit-sector, these are social entrepreneurs. The sample was predominantly male (73%) with the remainder being female. Forty one percent of the respondents were enrolled in the second year of their studies with 32% enrolled in the third year. The respondents were aged between 16-24 years (91%) with ten percent owning a business. Question 3 ‘Do BBE students see any value in the inclusion of sustainability in an entrepreneurship program?' was addressed through statistical and theme analysis.
Quantitative Analysis of Sustainability Data The quantitative data addressing the nine closed items was analyzed descriptively using SPSS (Version 15) and shows the percentages in terms of agreement and disagreement with each item and is summarised in Table 1 below. Table 2 Responses to closed sustainability items
Source Authors Table 2 shows that the respondents either strongly agreed or agreed that sustainability and creativity are closely related; gives you a sense of perspective and can create greater resilience when handling issues; builds relationships and confidence; enhances sustainability problem solving activities; sustainability in the workplace is important for wealth creation; and that sustainability, a good sense of humour and entrepreneurship are related. The ‘neutral’ category in these findings is an area that requires further investigation and would benefit from more in-depth exploration with a larger population sample. Qualitative Analysis of Sustainability Data The qualitative data, generated by the nine open items, was theme category analysed and indicated that sustainability in essence was an essential ingredient in making a business more successful and doing business in a way that reduced damage the environment. Further analysis uncovered that sustainability enabled organizations to operate more efficiently with a good business environment and provided the ability to provoke change in future business dealings in order to sustain natural and social resources. The incorporation of sustainability into a business created a ‘sustainability’ awareness at all organizational levels which would be beneficial for a society, the environment and its economy. When asked ‘Is there any value to including sustainability training in an entrepreneurship course? Yes…No…Why?’ The majority of the respondents agreed that including sustainability in an entrepreneurship program provided huge potential for assisting entrepreneurs in pitching a more grounded view of the effects of their ideas and being in touch with current world issues. The most important benefits of sustainability practices were identified as helping the environment, making society equal, and improving the quality of life. When the respondents were asked ‘Two people are equally qualified, one has knowledge about sustainability and one doesn’t – who would you employ and why?’ All the respondents stated that they would employ the person who had the knowledge about sustainability. Examples of reasons why, ranged from ‘it shows a person is aware of current issues and potential hurdles…because sustainability plays an important role in business and in people’. Hence, question two Q3 ‘Do BBE students see any value in the inclusion of sustainability in an entrepreneurship program?’ was confirmed in the affirmative and was overwhelmingly supported by the quantitative and qualitative data analyses. In summary the study’s findings addressing the two research questions Q2 ‘Do BBE students see any value in the inclusion of humour in an entrepreneurship program?’ and Q3 ‘Do BBE students see any value in the inclusion of sustainability in an entrepreneurship program?’ were addressed in that there was overwhelming support for the inclusion of a segment addressing humour and sustainability curricula in the entrepreneurship program. This was supported by both the qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Conclusion The study’s three research questions were answered and clearly showed that humour and sustainability, although not related, were valuable additions to the Bachelor of Business Entrepreneurship program. The findings from the 74 respondents in this study confirmed the informal results from the 150 respondents in the previous semester who stated that humour and sustainability were related to entrepreneurship and hence were worthy inclusions in an entrepreneurship program. Therefore, justification to include humour and sustainability curricula in the BBE program was confirmed by the literature review, and all three cohorts of first year, second year and third year BBE students who participated in this study. The results in this study showed the majority of the respondents strongly agreed that humour and sustainability, each with their relationship to entrepreneurship, would add value to an entrepreneurship program in their own right. Not only was this result original and contributes to the education of entrepreneurs but what was significant in this finding was that the population sample was comprised of first, second and third year students who were ‘entrepreneurs’ who own or plan to own a business or start-up, ‘intra-preneurs’ who either work in a large organization or intend working in one, and social entrepreneurs who intend working in the not-for-profit sector. Hence the findings hold significance across the three major areas of entrepreneurship fields and activity. Future research would benefit by being conducted with a larger population sample in a variety of contexts comprised of different organizational and national cultures. It should be noted that humour is culture specific hence is an area for future studies to address particularly in terms of cultural sensitivities and contexts. In addition, future studies may consider exploring the concepts of humour and sustainability separately and in further detail in terms of the way in which they are related to entrepreneurship as both concepts provide a substantiative topic for further investigation in their own right. Partnerships involving government, educational institutions, industry, and the community are integral in advancing a holistic approach to business and academic cultural change. RMIT is committed to preparing entrepreneurial graduates with the attributes and capabilities to build and manage new entrepreneurial business forms in a wide range of contexts within a changing globalized economy. Finally, the importance of high-profile leaders, pioneers, and entrepreneurs who could champion a positive and sustainable organizational culture in their organizations cannot be overstated. It is vital to not only the survival of the successful entrepreneur, but to the Australian workforce. Adopting humour and sustainability in the workplace will not be an innovative concept in the future, but a necessity. References Bioten, F.A. (1998). The Effects of Emotional Behavior on Components of the Respiratory Cycle. Biological Psychology, 49 (1-2), pp 29-51. Closed System Development (2006). http://www.csd.com.au Closed System Development (2007). http://www.csd.com.au DeTienne, D., Chandler, G. (2004). Opportunity Identification and its Role in the Entrepreneurial Classroom: A Pedagogical Approach and Empirical Test. Academy of Management of Learning and Education, 3(3), pp242-257. Drucker, P.F. (1985). Innovation and Entrepreneurship. New York: Harper & Row. Fry, William F., Jr. (1992). The Physiologic Effects of Humour, Mirth, and Laughter. Journal of the American Medical Association, 267(13), pp18-57. Fry, W. (2000). Laugh for No Good Reason – it’s Good For You. Humor: An Antidote for Stress, (originally in Holistic Nursing Practice, 1996, Vol.10 #2). Fry W.F., Rader C. (1977). The Respiratory Components of Mirthful Laughter. Journal of Biological Psychology, 1, pp39-50. Granier, D. (2006). Buzan Centre Australia. http://www.buzan.com.au/training/corporate.html Halley, F.M. (1991). Self-regulation of the Immune System through Biobehavioral Strategies. Biofeedback and Self-regulation, 16, pp 55-74. Humour Australia Ha! (2007). http://www.humouraustralia.com.au/humour.htm Humour Foundation (2007). http://www.humourfoundation.com.au/ Malkovic, T. (2006). Mental Health, Keeping Well in the Workplace, Curtin Business School Review, Autumn, pp35-43. Mansfield, B. (2000). ACTU, May. Mental Health Branch. (1999). Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, Australia. Martin, R.A., Dobbin, J.P. (1988). Sense of Humor, Hassles, and Immunoglobulin A: Evidence for a Stress-moderating Effect of Humor. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 18(2), pp 93-104. McMurray, AJ., and Dorai, R., Unveiling the Workplace Innovation Scale. Submitted to Sloan Management Review (MIT), July, 2007 (under consideration). McMurray, A. J., Pace, R. W., and Scott, D. (2004). "Research: A commonsense approach," Thomson Learning Social Science Press, Melbourne. Ostrower, C. (2002). What is Humour? http://web.macam98.ac.il/~ochayo/what.htm Pert, C.B., Ruff, M.R., Weber, R.J., and Herkenham, M. (1985). Neuropeptides and their Receptors: A Psychsomatic Network. The Journal of Immunology, 135, (2), pp 820-826. Tracey, P., Philips, N. (2007). The Distinctive Challenge of Education Social Entrepreneurs: A Postscript and Rejoinder to the Special Issue on Entrepreneurship Education. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 6(2), pp 264-271. Web Definitions of Sustainability (2007). www.jsdnp.org.jm/glossary.html. York, J., Venkataraman, S. (2007). The Entrepreneurship – Environment Nexus: Uncertainty, Innovation, and Allocation. Academy of Management (AOM) Meeting, August 3-8, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Appendix 1 Presenters’ BiosAssociate Professor Adela J Murray is Assistant Dean, Research and Innovation, RMIT Business and the Director of Entrepreneurship in the School of Management and has both academic and industrial experience gained through her business, research and consulting activities in both manufacturing and service industries. Her work in the area of culture and cultural diversity, innovation and learning is recognised internationally resulting in over 60 refereed publications. She has attracted over $2.5 million in research and industry funding and is the recipient of three Australian Research Council grants. She is the Chair Management Consulting Stream for the International Federation of Scholarly Associations of Management IFSAM, the International Entrepreneurship Chair for ANZIBA, is an Editorial Advisory Board member of the Journal of Management History, the Journal of Small Business & Enterprise Development, and the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research. Adela reviews for the Academy of Management and is a Committee member of the International Themes Committee for the Carolyn Dexter Best International Symposium and Emerald Best International Paper Awards. Zara Swindells-Grose holds an ADAT from Brisbane's QUT and an award-winning actor, singer, presenter and radio host who now is co-Director of the Melbourne-based Humour Australia, or HA!. They work on powering people and performance and inspire positive change and healthy working relationships. Zara has appeared on television shows like Good News Week and Rove and is one of the most in-demand corporate presenters in the country. Zara and her husband, Troy appeared as guests for RMIT's School of Business BBE in 2007 - gleaning much of the research that appears here. Kathryn Burge has worked for over five decades to facilitate cultural change in Health Education, Personal Development, Schools Education and Sustainability Education. Her background was as a health practitioner and manager of her own successful business in training and development for the corporate sector and secondary and tertiary education for six years. She has worked as a Change Consultant in three states of Australia and was the lead facilitator for two successful organizations specializing in Transformational training for six years. Kathryn and her team designed and marketed the ‘Life Skills for Students’ training package into hundreds of schools and tertiary institutions around Australia. Kathryn worked for international organizations ‘The Pacific Institute’ and ‘The Natural Step’ to market and facilitate their education programs throughout Australia and Internationally in the 1980’s and 1990’s. She is a founding Director of Closed System Development Pty Ltd and has designed and delivered a wide range of holistic education and cultural change programs throughout industry and the business sector. |
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