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Article
Publication date: 16 May 2008

Anne Abraham, Hemant Deo and Helen Irvine

This paper aims to focus on a number of unexpected disclosures by major Australian banks, to highlight the subjectivity of financial reports and their failure to present an…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to focus on a number of unexpected disclosures by major Australian banks, to highlight the subjectivity of financial reports and their failure to present an accurate portrayal of the underlying realities, and to propose that corporate governance disclosures are required to provide reassurance that financial reports are trustworthy.

Design/methodology/approach

Mouck's institutional framework of financial regulation portrays financial reporting as a “game” played within a set of rules. It provides insights about the subjectivity of financial reports which are illustrated with archival evidence from banks' reports and activities.

Findings

The banks' financial reports were shown, in the light of later revelations, to portray an unrealistic view of their operations. Disclosures about corporate governance practices play a strong legitimising role, enhancing perceptions that financial reports correspond with organisational realities.

Research limitations/implications

This study considers a narrow population of companies within one industry. By extending the focus, greater evidence could be provided that accounting standards and financial reporting requirements have lost their connection with business practices.

Practical implications

In spite of financial reporting reforms, financial reports are becoming less reflective of companies' activities and performance. This questions the usefulness of accounting standards, and the effectiveness of regulatory systems. Future reforms to accounting standards need to address these issues.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates the contention that the financial reports of several Australian banks fail to match the realities that lie beneath is really a broader challenge to the usefulness and credibility of Australia's system of financial reporting and regulation.

Details

Asian Review of Accounting, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1321-7348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 December 2020

John H. Bickford and Toluwalase V. Solomon

This paper explores the representation of consequential women in history within children's and young adult biographies.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores the representation of consequential women in history within children's and young adult biographies.

Design/methodology/approach

The data pool was established by developing a list of women's names extracted from common textbooks and state social studies curricula. Early-grade (K-4th) and middle-grade (5th-8th) in-print books were selected for juxtaposition because these students have the least prior knowledge and are perhaps most dependent on the text. Two researchers independently engaged in qualitative content analysis research methods, which included open and axial coding.

Findings

Early- and middle-grade biographies aptly established the historical significance of, but largely failed to contextualize, each figure's experiences, accomplishments and contemporaneous tensions. The women were presented as consequential, though their advocacies were not situated within the larger context.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations included a dearth of women featured in both state standards and biographies, limited audience (early and middle grades) and exclusion of out-of-print books. Comparable inquiries into narrative nonfiction, expository texts and historical fiction, which have different emphases than biographies, are areas for future research.

Practical implications

Discussion focused on the significance of findings for teachers and researchers. Early- and middle-grade teachers are guided to contextualize the selected historical figures using primary and secondary source supplements.

Originality/value

No previous scholarship exists on this particular topic. Comparable inquiries examine trade books' depiction of historical significance, not contextualization of continuity and change.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 October 2019

Judith Anne McKenzie, Toni Abrahams, Colleen Adnams and Sharon Kleintjes

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the history, current status and possible future directions for intellectual disability (ID) policy and practice in South…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the history, current status and possible future directions for intellectual disability (ID) policy and practice in South Africa (SA).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper was developed by academics and practitioners in the field of ID in SA. A review of the literature, accompanied by a joint writing and discussion process was carried out to identify critical issues in the development of ID services, specifically facing the challenge of moving from racially based provision towards equitable services for all citizens with ID.

Findings

Progressive policy has replaced practices of scientific racism which were previously used to support the establishment of white supremacism. This positive move is still in process and has not resulted in the immediate establishment of human rights. A vibrant civil society is engaging with this task currently.

Research limitations/implications

The findings point to the need for a human rights approach that takes into account the postcolonial context of SA.

Practical implications

There is a need for continued advocacy that is inclusive of people with ID and their families.

Social implications

Continuing engagement between government and civil society is recommended to ensure the achievement of human rights for citizens with ID.

Originality/value

This paper is of value to ID researchers and practitioners from the global South as it describes a non-western context that might have resonance with other low and middle income countries.

Details

Tizard Learning Disability Review, vol. 24 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-5474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 January 2019

Delphine Godefroit-Winkel, Marie Schill and Margaret K. Hogg

This paper aims to examine the interplay of emotions and consumption within intergenerational exchanges. It shows how emotions pervade the trajectories of grandmothers’ relational…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the interplay of emotions and consumption within intergenerational exchanges. It shows how emotions pervade the trajectories of grandmothers’ relational identities with their grandchildren through consumption practices.

Design/methodology/approach

This study analyses qualitative data gathered via 28 long interviews with French grandmothers and 27 semi-structured interviews with their grandchildren. This study draws on attachment theory to interpret the voices of both grandmothers and their grandchildren within these dyads.

Findings

This study uncovers distinct relational identities of grandmothers linked to emotions and the age of the grandchild, as embedded in consumption. It identifies the defining characteristics of the trajectory of social/relational identities and finds these to be linked to grandchildren’s ages.

Research limitations/implications

This study elicits the emotion profiles, which influence grandmothers’ patterns of consumption in their relationships with their grandchildren. It further uncovers distinct attachment styles (embedded in emotions) between grandmothers and grandchildren in the context of their consumption experiences. Finally, it provides evidence that emotions occur at the interpersonal level. This observation is an addition to existing literature in consumer research, which has often conceived of consumer emotions as being only a private matter and as an intrapersonal phenomenon.

Practical implications

The findings offer avenues for the development of strategies for intergenerational marketing, particularly promotion campaigns which link either the reinforcement or the suppression of emotion profiles in advertising messages with the consumption of products or services by different generations.

Social implications

This study suggests that public institutions might multiply opportunities for family and consumer experiences to combat specific societal issues related to elderly people’s isolation.

Originality/value

In contrast to earlier work, which has examined emotions within the ebb and flow of individual and multiple social identities, this study examines how emotions and consumption play out in social/relational identity trajectories.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 53 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1995

Stephen A. Stumpf

The University of Tampa Center for Leadership offers extensiveleadership development activities, many of which are based on conceptsderived from theories collectively referred to…

2711

Abstract

The University of Tampa Center for Leadership offers extensive leadership development activities, many of which are based on concepts derived from theories collectively referred to as “new science”. New science – those discoveries in the physical and biological sciences during the twentieth century that have challenged us to consider our world from the perspectives of quantum mechanics, self‐organizing systems, and chaos theory – have been translated into specific leadership development activities. Examples include: (1) a focus on heuristic models to guide leader behaviour; (2) the assessment of leadership competence from multiple, non‐averaged, perspectives in contrast to a top‐down or an “average” perspective; and (3) the use of live practice fields which incorporate many complex relationships among both issues and issue advocates to diagnose and learn about leadership effectiveness within organizations.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 14 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 November 2015

Rebecca J. Glover

While much of the existing research regarding moral exemplarity has focused on living individuals, examination of the lives of historical figures can also prove invaluable in…

Abstract

While much of the existing research regarding moral exemplarity has focused on living individuals, examination of the lives of historical figures can also prove invaluable in understanding moral motivation. Consequently, this paper sought to apply Frimer and Walker’s (2009) reconciliation model and methodology in examining themes of agency and communion in the motivation of Miep Gies. Frimer and Walker’s (2009) Self-Understanding Interview and the VEiN coding method (Frimer, Walker, & Dunlop, 2009) served as guides for examining published and audio-recorded interviews, biographical and autobiographical information, as well as video-recorded speeches given by Gies. Aspects of an integrated moral identity appeared evident in the personality of Miep Gies as indicated in statements reflecting an overlap of both agency and communion. The study was limited in its reliance on publically available documents about or by Gies. Further, reliance on these documents, as opposed to a “live” interview, limited the ability of the author to identify responses to all questions included in Frimer and Walker’s (2009) interview or fully utilize the VEiN coding method (Frimer et al., 2009). Exploration of life narratives of historical figures can provide insight into an integrated moral identity as well as examples of developmental crossroads Frimer and Walker (2009) cited as essential in their reconciliation model. Comprehension of this reconciliation process is critical to understanding what lies at the heart of moral motivation and action as well as the ability to promote such growth in the lives of others.

Details

The Ethical Contribution of Organizations to Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-446-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2015

Lynn Allyson Kelley and Lee Freeman

Although there is a lack of research on instruction that aims at facilitating students’ use of questioning with peers, many early childhood social studies textbooks and resources…

Abstract

Although there is a lack of research on instruction that aims at facilitating students’ use of questioning with peers, many early childhood social studies textbooks and resources, include activities and lessons recommending students conduct interviews with an explicit assumption that young students are capable of formulating and using questions in the context of an interview. In these instances, no suggestions or ideas are given to teachers regarding instruction that will encourage and facilitate students’ questioning. The purpose of this study was to determine if the levels of social studies interview questions second graders formulate and use can be increased with questioning instruction in terms of quality, which is defined as depth of response, and in terms of quantity. This study generated research hypotheses that could be investigated in future research on instruction aimed at increasing young children’s questioning abilities as demonstrated in social studies.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 September 2018

John H. Bickford

History-based trade books have an important and expanding role in various curricula. Contemporary education initiatives urge English and language arts educators to spend half…

Abstract

Purpose

History-based trade books have an important and expanding role in various curricula. Contemporary education initiatives urge English and language arts educators to spend half their time on non-fiction and history and social studies teachers to include diverse sources starting in the early grades. Diverse professional organizations annually make financial commitments to promote new trade books. Research indicates misrepresentations abound in history-based trade books, yet few empirical studies have been completed. The purpose of this paper is to research examine the historical representation of Abraham Lincoln, arguably the most consequential nineteenth-century American.

Design/methodology/approach

Data samples included trade books intended for early grades and middle grades students. These grade ranges were selected because these students have the least prior knowledge and are perhaps most dependent on the text. Qualitative content analysis research methods were employed.

Findings

Misrepresentations emerged regarding Lincoln’s poverty, actions, motivations for actions, and implications of his actions as seemingly necessary historical content was minimized, vaguely included, or omitted. Findings are juxtaposed across and between selected grade ranges.

Practical implications

Discussion focused on the significance of findings for teachers and researchers. Teachers are guided to supplement trade books with primary sources to position students to distinguish historical misrepresentations.

Originality/value

This research builds on previous scholarship on Lincoln-based trade books by expanding grade range, data samples and research questions.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2022

Anne Fortin and Sylvie Héroux

The purpose of this study is to examine how financial analysts deal with cybersecurity information in their investment analysis process and whether they find cybersecurity…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how financial analysts deal with cybersecurity information in their investment analysis process and whether they find cybersecurity disclosures in companies’ financial reports useful.

Design/methodology/approach

Investment managers/financial analysts and chief information security officers (CISOs) at seven institutional investors were interviewed.

Findings

Not all financial analysts consider cybersecurity risk in their investment analyses. Those who do look at company strategy, how the company integrates cybersecurity into its processes and whether it has certified its cybersecurity information. The financial analysts use this qualitative information to adjust the results of their quantitative analysis. They do not find boilerplate or cursory cybersecurity information in financial reports to be useful. In fact, they view it as unreliable and prefer drawing on other information sources to assess the company’s cybersecurity risk.

Practical implications

The results of this study highlight to securities regulators that reported cybersecurity information is of limited usefulness. Regulators are challenged to revisit their disclosure requirements. Companies wishing to improve the usefulness of their cybersecurity information should provide more company-specific information.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to look at financial analysts’ perception of cybersecurity-related information. It complements findings from prior market studies by adding new insights into the way influential market participants deal with this information in their investment analysis process.

Details

Information & Computer Security, vol. 31 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4961

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1476-9018

1 – 10 of 181