BIC and Industry Related Research

As a part of the BIC's activities in developing policy platforms for Moving People, we have developed a large library of research and studies across a whole range of industry related issues and challenges. As these research papers at times are vast and very specific we have cateogrised generally into the following areas:

Senior Research Fellowship with the Institute of Transport & Logistics Studies

The BIC runs a Research Fellowship program at the Institute of Transport & Logistics Studies (University of Sydney), which has generated our last two Moving People policy reports: Moving People - Solutions for a Growing Australia and Solutions for a Liveable Australia. These reports can be accessed from our Policies page.

General BIC Research Objective

Recognising the vital importance to Australia of developing a sustainable land transport system, BIC’s research program will provide the intellectual foundation for development of Australian bus services that:

attract a growing market share
are safe
have a rapidly diminishing ecological footprint
meet many of the mobility and accessibility needs of socially excluded groups
integrate seamlessly with other transport modes, and
support more contained settlement patterns.

It will pursue this objective through broadly supporting the capacity for public transport/bus related research in Australia and targeting specific research priorities likely to produce substantial benefits within the next five years.

Family Business Succession Research

Swinburne University is taking on a significant research project with BIC Member - Pitcher Partners: Family Business Succession Research. The Research is expected to conclude at the end of 2013. The motivation for producing this research is that it is forecast that family businesses valuing $3.5 trillion will change hands over the next decade. Couple this with the fact that over 75% of Australian businesses have no exit strategies or succession planning in place, puts a lot of pressure on businesses to remain sustainable and profitable.

The qualitative phase of the research concluded in 2012 and data suggests:

As is to be expected, there is a high degree of sensitivity around the issue of succession and a great deal of uncertainty. This leads to a lack of willingness to engage in conversations with family members that facilitate effective succession.
Although traditional thought would have dictated that the business is passed to the next generation, there is an overwhelming view that children are not expected to follow in the family business. Children are seen as having a choice, combined with the belief that they do not have a natural entitlement to ownership and control. These views create uncertainty on both the part of the exiting and new generation with neither being sure what the future holds.
However there remains a strong sense that wealth should pass along family lines, with lineal descendants being the recipients and the wealth being protected for future generations from the breakdown of relationships and marriages.
In an attempt to simplify the process, there is an uncertainty and hesitation regarding the inclusion of spouses in the succession process. This uncertainty is not about inclusion itself, but rather a difficulty in how to include and engage them in the discussion.
Husbands are inclined to want continuity of the business along family lines, while wives are more inclined to express their reservations about the impact of the business on the children’s wellbeing.
Succession is generally seen as a process of fairness, not equality, where recipients receive a fair but not necessarily equal entitlement depending on their contribution to the business.