Paul is currently leading a major new research project on the history of Christian moral teaching about usury (i.e. lending money at interest). The project involves a partnership between AC and Charles Sturt University’s Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. Some 20 leading economists and theologians are collaborating on the project, under Paul’s leadership, to explore what can be learned from traditional Christian teaching about abuses of financial power and the role of financial regulation.

Unlocking the Motivation of Gen Z at Work: An Empirical Approach

One of the critical issues with which workplaces must contend is generational changes in the workforce, particularly attitudinal changes associated with demographic generational differences. Gen Z are the youngest cohort currently in the workforce. There is considerable discussion in the business community about this generation's attitudes, expectations and “work ethic”, and significant energy and resources are being invested in attempting to attract and engage Gen Z talent in the workplace. While there is an emerging body of research on Gen Z, there is a gap in the literature on what specifically motivates Gen Z at work. This thesis seeks to investigate the question: “What qualities of organisational culture motivate Gen Z in the workplace?” Using a mixed-methods approach, a series of focus groups was conducted of Gen Zs in three workplaces in Australia and New Zealand, and thematic analysis was used to identify the qualities of a workplace culture that motivate Gen Z. To contextualise these findings within the broader body of research on organisational culture and motivation, and to allow for cross-generational comparisons, a quantitative survey using three existing instruments was deployed across four participating organisations. The instruments used were the OCAI, the MWMS and the GACS-24. Seven themes were identified through thematic analysis. Key results showed Gen Z strongly prefers a relationally focused and supportive culture, that they desire to make a meaningful contribution in an area related to their competence, that they desire approachable leaders, and that they want to feel trusted and to have a clear learning and development pathway. The supporting quantitative data from the OCAI showed that the culture focused on relationships (the “Clan Culture”) is the preference across generations in the workplace. The MWMS showed that while the stages of identified regulation and intrinsic motivation were the most motivating types across the generations, Gen Z were more likely also to be motivated by extrinsic social and extrinsic material rewards than the other generations in the workplace. The GACS-24 provided additional context around the character and personality traits that the different generations valued, which underpin many of the results from the thematic analysis. For example, the trait most prominent for Gen Z was “Love of Learning” which has a direct relationship to their desire for learning and development in their workplace culture to facilitate their motivation at work. The implications of these findings will be significant in equipping HR departments and business leaders, specifically across Australia and New Zealand, in understanding the core motivation drivers of Gen Z at work.

Current leadership influence processes within Australian Pentecostal congregations

This qualitative study investigates the nature of leadership as a social and relational process (Parry, 1998) within Australian Christian Church congregations using grounded theory methodology and critical realism epistemology. Grounded theory contributes toward a more comprehensive and integrative view of the affective mechanism of leadership influence and the leadership influence processes within church congregations. Parry’s description of leadership shifts the focus of investigation from the leader to the context of leadership and the participants. Employing a categorisation of leadership theories based on the two principles of; the locus and mechanism of leadership (Hernandez, Eberly, Avolio & Johnson, 2011), this study will incorporate other loci of leadership, investigate the affective mechanism of transformational leadership, and build on Fogarty’s (2013) concern that an implicit theory of transformational leadership held commonly by congregational volunteers might have inflated ratings of senior pastors’ transformational leadership behaviours. This study will provide a “more comprehensive leadership system” (Hernandez et al., p. 1166, 2011) that informs the theory of where leadership comes from and how that leadership is transmitted.