The financial crisis forced many large Australian corporations to change their

Will "the Oprah effect" save Australian tourism? With A$3 million being invested in bringing – arguably – the world's most famous woman and her TV production crew to visit some of Australia's most iconic locations, all eyes are on the outcomes. Increasing exposure through celebrity glitz will certainly deliver benefits, insist tourism sector experts. But, even if more travellers book long-haul flights and are undeterred by the robust exchange rate on the Australian dollar, will they concur with a British critic's recent description of the land Down Under as the "dumb blonde" of the world, "attractive, but shallow and unintelligent"? And, can Oprah turn that around?

For global accounting firms, skills shortages are a perennial issue. The hot topic among people managers in the Big Four accounting firms is how to keep staff hanging in when there are so many opportunities to be explored worldwide. At a workshop convened by Australian School of Business researchers Steve Frenkel and Kyoung-Hee Yu, Big Four HR managers outlined the dilemmas posed by "boundaryless" international careers. Firms need more sophisticated approaches to flexibility and creative career builders for whom the role of partner, on today's terms, may hold little appeal, they determined. These days keeping talent inside the organisation definitely means thinking outside the square. 

The Australian Taxation Office is cracking down on multinationals that use complex intercompany accounting methods and valuations to avoid paying tax across borders. Audits of some of Australia's top corporations with subsidiaries in a tax haven, low-tax jurisdiction or bank secrecy country are slated to begin in November. Transfer pricing is an area of international business law that's forever evolving – and it presents major challenges for both the tax authorities and the defendants, as recent court battles have shown. But avoiding tax is not the sole motivation for companies to direct revenue offshore, in global business sometimes patriotism plays a part, suggest experts from the Australian School of Business.

It seems the time has arrived for the idea of sovereign bankruptcy.

Australian investors are asking if it’s worth paying more for active funds

After a spate of suicides by workers, Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s

The "magic moment" has arrived. The Australian and the US dollars are now one to one. It's great news for Aussie outbound travellers, but not so good for major export sectors, including resources and education. And this long anticipated parity of the currencies does not seem so magical when the weak state of the US economy is taken into account, says Australian School of Business economist, Peter Swan. Although there may be hidden benefits, he predicts, as the Reserve Bank of Australia now looks set to rest easy on interest rates.

When a foreign independent director is on the board the results may be weaker governance and higher costs – because missed meetings and an offshore director's inability to observe management and glean crucial information have a tangible impact. Companies with foreign directors are more likely to misreport their financial positions and overpay their chief executives, according to research by Ron Masulis, a professor at the Australian School of Business. So, when considering candidates for that next board vacancy, perhaps the emphasis should be less on who you know and more about where they're based.

Has green lost its sting as a sales pitch? As sustainability hits the forefront of corporate agendas, bona fide environmental claims on products are proving more of a tiebreaker than a dealmaker with consumers. To blame is greenwashing by marketers whose inflated claims have generated scepticism that's impacted the companies and products with solid green credentials. Now it's up to the marketers who caused the damage to repair it by cleaning up their acts and reconsidering their value propositions.