Research specialisations
Accounting
Accountability and performance management in the public and not-for-profit sectors
This research is concerned with the study of governance, accountability and performance management in the public and not-for-profit sectors.
Behavioural research in financial accounting and corporate governance
This area concerns with research relating to financial accounting information and how this influences and is influenced by users of accounting information and and organisations.
Behavioural research in management accounting
This research concerns with research relating to management accounting and control systems and how they affect and are affected by individuals and organisations.
Comparative international taxing systems
Australia faces challenges regarding tax evasion and avoidance this research looks at the position of the ATO and the effectiveness of agreements with tax haven countries.
Corporate disclosure; corporate governance, financial accounting; auditing, and accounting policy choice
This area concerns relations between adoption of the local and international financial reporting standards, corporate governance and accounting forecast errors.
Management accounting and organisational change
This specialisation is concerned with interdisciplinary research on management controls, accounting and organisational change, and performance management (balanced scorecard). This research aims at providing a platform for local and international researchers and practitioners from multiple disciplines to disseminate information on performance management and organizational and accounting systems change.
Social, environmental and sustainable management and reporting, environmental performance, business ethics, corporate accountability and human rights
Social, environmental and sustainable management systems have practical implications for both public and private sectors. This research is concerned with aspects of social, environmental and sustainable management, human rights, and business ethics.
Business
Asian business and culture
This research focuses on development, trade and financial markets in the Asia-Pacific region; consumer behaviour and culture.
Business ethics
The University is a leader in business ethics education and a signatory of the UN backed Principles for Responsible Management Education.
Corporate disclosure; corporate governance, financial accounting; auditing, and accounting policy choice
This area concerns relations between adoption of the local and international financial reporting standards, corporate governance and accounting forecast errors.
Event management
Finance
Asset pricing and investment
Research in this area deals with calculating theoretically, and estimating empirically, returns on different assets and the relationship with diversifiable and non-diversifiable market risks. It also covers the arbitrage pricing theory and its use for the development of different models of pricing financial derivatives, the most common examples of derivatives being European call and put options.
Corporate finance and governance
Research in this area deal with various financial and governance issues such as agency problems between different stakeholders, compensation to employees and paid off to investors, investment and financing decision, merger and acquisition, corporate ownership and governance structure.
Finance and economic development
Research in this area is mainly concerned with looking at ways of fostering economic development through the adoption of appropriate financial practices. In particular, there is an emphasis on the use of microfinance as a way to support investment in small businesses.
Financial and economic theory
Research in this area covers a broad array of topics in economics and finance that make use of modern economic theory, in particular the theory of general equilibrium, game theory, and mechanism design. Researchers in this area are specialized in the theoretical investigation of speculative trade, design of optimal financial and employment contracts, auction theory, and interaction of social norms and incentives.
Financial econometrics and time series analysis
Research in this area is mainly concerned with issues involving empirical finance, econometrics, and time series forecasting. In particular, the research aims to investigate return predictability, testing for market efficiency, capital market integration, and realized beta and volatility estimation.
Financial markets microstructure and information
This is a very broad research area. It includes asset pricing theories and observations, empirical techniques to test and verify these theories and observations, markets and institution mechanisms relevant to the determination of asset value and price.
Financial planning and literacy
Research in this area is concerned with looking at both the context and content of financial planning in Australia. It examines issues to do with a diverse range of financial planning issues including superannuation and retirement planning, risk management and insurance, aged care and taxation. Issues related to financial literacy and education are also areas of interest.
Islamic finance
Research in this area is concerned with the history of Islamic financial institutions and their performance in a modern economic environment. In particular, it studies how social norms imbedded in Islamic tradition interact with conventional capital markets and affect the performance of economic and financial institutions.
Quantitative finance
This area of research combines quantitative methods and financial data to test for established or new financial theories. The major research topics include financial market efficiency; financial return predictability; contagion; financial volatility and risk management; and option pricing.
Human resource management
Human resource management in healthcare
This specialisation looks at the management of people (employees and patients) in healthcare.
International human resource management
International human resources management looks at managing people in a multinational context.
Organisational, psychological and cultural change
Organisational Psychology and cultural change as a specialisation examines factors affected by change in the workplace.
Islamic finance
Islamic finance
Research in this area is concerned with the history of Islamic financial institutions and their performance in a modern economic environment. In particular, it studies how social norms imbedded in Islamic tradition interact with conventional capital markets and affect the performance of economic and financial institutions.
Tourism and hospitality management
Film induced tourism and tourism and media
La Trobe University is a leader in the emerging field of film induced tourism and the relationship between tourism and the media. The university co-convenes the bi-annual International Tourism and Media (ITAM) conference.
Tourism destination development and community development
Tourism destination development and community development as a specialisation looks at the complex nature of tourism development and its relationship with community.
Tourism policy and planning
La Trobe University has a long and established history of tourism research of which tourism policy and planning is a key area of focus for academic staff.
Tourist motivations
The research specialisation is concerned with understanding the factors which influence tourist motivation, behaviour and selection.
Wine, culture, heritage, cycle, battlefield, festival and event tourism
The University has a number of professors, doctors and lecturers specialising in current and emerging areas of tourism in particular those of: Culture, Heritage, Cycle, Battlefield, Festival and Event Tourism and their sub areas; rail trails, dark tourism, gastronomy, dance tourism and the effects of climate change on tourism and nature tourism.
Management
Branding and professional sport
A wide variety of associations are formed in team allegiance many of which are experiential and intangible, this specialisation is concerned with understanding these associations so that branding of the sports product reinforces positive association.
Business ethics/ corporate social responsibility
La Trobe University is a leader in Corporate Social Responsibility, supported through research into this specialisation and also through the University’s memberships of; the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education; the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility and; the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative.
Cross-cultural management
Cross-cultural management is not only a specialisation of the management faculty it is the reality of our multi-cultural University.
Data mining; pattern recognition
Data mining is concerned with uncovering patterns, associations, anomalies, and statistically significant events in data, that may be used to further knowledge and understanding or be turned into business intelligence and used for competitive advantage.
Film induced tourism and tourism and media
La Trobe University is a leader in the emerging field of film induced tourism and the relationship between tourism and the media. The university co-convenes the bi-annual International Tourism and Media (ITAM) conference.
High performance work systems
The specialisation of high performance work systems is concerned with implementing systems which enable decision making, flexibility, innovation and skills sharing across an organisation.
Human resource management in healthcare
This specialisation looks at the management of people (employees and patients) in healthcare.
International human resource management
International human resources management looks at managing people in a multinational context.
Managerial psychology and decision science
Managerial psychology looks at psychological insight for a whole organisation’s behavior from the management perspective and is concerned with identifying the optimal decision based on rationality and taking into consideration; values, uncertainties, and other issues.
Organisation processes and performance issues
The purpose of process and performance is to establish and maintain a quantitative understanding of an organisation’s performance and processes to meet objectives, and provide data, baselines, and models for managing an organisation's projects.
Organisational, psychological and cultural change
Organisational Psychology and cultural change as a specialisation examines factors affected by change in the workplace.
Social capital
Social capital from a sport context concerns the ways in which sport contributes to the creation, development, maintenance and, in some cases, diminution of social capital. The Faculty hosts a number of scholars who are leading figures in this area of study.
Sport development
This research specialisation looks at the key role of sport development in fostering participation in sport.
Sport facility management
The growth and professionalisation of sport has driven changes in the consumption and production of sport and in the management of sporting organisations and facilities.
Sport policy
La Trobe University’s Centre for Sport and Social Impact is a key research centre in the study and development of sports policy across Victoria and is currently involved in a $2 million project funded by Vic Health.
Strategic alignment of information systems/ information systems governance
Current research within this specialisation centres on the governance of knowledge management strategies.
Strategic management
Research in Strategic Management have been active in developing frameworks that explain the dynamics of exogenous regulatory control on the extent of Information Systems-based differentiation strategies, employed by the stockbroking and other regulated industry sectors in Australia.
Tourism destination development and community development
Tourism destination development and community development as a specialisation looks at the complex nature of tourism development and its relationship with community.
Tourism policy and planning
La Trobe University has a long and established history of tourism research of which tourism policy and planning is a key area of focus for academic staff.
Tourist motivations
The research specialisation is concerned with understanding the factors which influence tourist motivation, behaviour and selection.
Wine, culture, heritage, cycle, battlefield, festival and event tourism
The University has a number of professors, doctors and lecturers specialising in current and emerging areas of tourism in particular those of: Culture, Heritage, Cycle, Battlefield, Festival and Event Tourism and their sub areas; rail trails, dark tourism, gastronomy, dance tourism and the effects of climate change on tourism and nature tourism.
Management information systems
Data mining; pattern recognition
Data mining is concerned with uncovering patterns, associations, anomalies, and statistically significant events in data, that may be used to further knowledge and understanding or be turned into business intelligence and used for competitive advantage.
High performance work systems
The specialisation of high performance work systems is concerned with implementing systems which enable decision making, flexibility, innovation and skills sharing across an organisation.
Organisation processes and performance issues
The purpose of process and performance is to establish and maintain a quantitative understanding of an organisation’s performance and processes to meet objectives, and provide data, baselines, and models for managing an organisation's projects.
Strategic alignment of information systems/ information systems governance
Current research within this specialisation centres on the governance of knowledge management strategies.
Marketing
Consumer behaviour
This specialisation focuses on predicting consumers’ behaviour as key to designing effective marketing.
Cross cultural cognition
Research examining this phenomenon draws from the disciplines of psychology, anthropology, political science and sociology and aims to understand the influence of culture and values on perceptions, motivation and selection.
Destination marketing and competitiveness
This specialisation centres on differentiating products and developing partnerships between the public and private sector locally to enhance co-operation and co-ordinate destination marketing which is key to delivery of strategic marketing and management of destinations.
International marketing
This specialisation looks at marketing from a global perspective with relation to the disintegration of barriers to trade and the convergence of markets.
Sport management
Branding and professional sport
A wide variety of associations are formed in team allegiance many of which are experiential and intangible, this specialisation is concerned with understanding these associations so that branding of the sports product reinforces positive association.
Social capital
Social capital from a sport context concerns the ways in which sport contributes to the creation, development, maintenance and, in some cases, diminution of social capital. The Faculty hosts a number of scholars who are leading figures in this area of study.
Sport development
This research specialisation looks at the key role of sport development in fostering participation in sport.
Sport facility management
The growth and professionalisation of sport has driven changes in the consumption and production of sport and in the management of sporting organisations and facilities.
Sport policy
La Trobe University’s Centre for Sport and Social Impact is a key research centre in the study and development of sports policy across Victoria and is currently involved in a $2 million project funded by Vic Health.
