Leadership, culture and management practices of high performing workplaces in Australia: The high performing workplaces index

People at work are the engine of Australias productivity performance. The workplace is at the heart of the productivity debate because it is the performance of people at work that determines much of the economic performance and output rates of the Australian economy. Not since the 1995 Karpin Report and Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS) has Australia undertaken a comprehensive study of the leadership, culture and management practices that prevail in Australian workplaces. This research report aims to open up the black box of management and provides insights into the leadership, culture and management practices that higher performing workplaces deploy and benefit from. It also illustrates the productivity and profitability benefits that accrue to higher performing workplaces. It is part of a 2.5 year project funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to the Society for Knowledge Economics in December, 2009