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1 – 10 of 669Inani Husna Zamri, Beverley R. Lord and Natasja Steenkamp
This study aims to explore farmers’ perceptions of environmental impacts of dairying and their practices towards implementing environmental management accounting (EMA) techniques.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore farmers’ perceptions of environmental impacts of dairying and their practices towards implementing environmental management accounting (EMA) techniques.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were held with five dairy farmers in the South Island of New Zealand (NZ).
Findings
Dairy farmers perceive environmental sustainability in dairying as being able to feed people while protecting the environment so that future generations can also enjoy the natural world. Recognising the need to alter their practices to reduce environmental damage they have produced, dairy farmers use some EMA techniques, but the primary motivation is compliance with government regulations. Other motivations for using EMA techniques are high economic returns, maintaining their reputation and self-satisfaction. Barriers to implementing EMA techniques are primarily due to lack of clarity and feasibility of regulations, coercion and inadequate communication by regulators and high compliance costs.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to the current EMA literature by providing a better understanding of EMA practices of dairy farmers in NZ, barriers to implementing EMA and how those barriers could be reduced. It may also help NZ central and local government in developing environmental strategies and policies. Furthermore, this research is expected to help people in the dairy industry to find ways to educate farmers about how the measures that are required can help them to reduce both the environmental impacts and the costs of dairying, thus contributing to sustainable development globally.
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Paula Hearn Moore, Ben Le and Donna L. Paul
This paper examines how manufacturing firms impacted by the nitrogen oxides (NOx) Budget Trading Program (NBP) strategically managed working capital to release funds for increased…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines how manufacturing firms impacted by the nitrogen oxides (NOx) Budget Trading Program (NBP) strategically managed working capital to release funds for increased costs and mitigate the negative impact on firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a panel data set including 11,302 manufacturing firm-year observations listed on the US exchanges during the period 2000–2008. The authors use Tobin's Q to proxy for firm performance, and cash holding, cash conversion cycle (CCC), days sales outstanding (DSO), days sales inventory (DSI) and days payable outstanding (DPO) for working capital management (WCM). The empirical analysis is conducted using both ordinary least squares (OLS) and propensity score matching (PSM) regressions.
Findings
The authors find that firms respond to the higher utility costs imposed by the NBP by decreasing CCC, DSO and DSI. This active WCM response partially mitigated the impact of increased compliance costs on performance for firms affected by the NBP. Results are robust in PSM regressions.
Research limitations/implications
Climate change is a global issue that has attracted increasing attention in recent years. This study shows how firms can adjust short-term financing strategies to address the costs of compliance with climate change regulation.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the emerging literature on corporate finance and climate policy actions. The authors use the unique experimental setting of the NBP to examine the regulatory impact on corporate financial management. The authors demonstrate how firms used active WCM to mitigate the negative performance impact of regulatory compliance with the NBP, providing novel insight on the implication of compliance with climate change legislation.
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Rida Belahouaoui and El Houssain Attak
This study aims to analyze the tax compliance behavior of family firms by integrating social and psychological norms with legitimacy determinants, focusing specifically on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the tax compliance behavior of family firms by integrating social and psychological norms with legitimacy determinants, focusing specifically on the Moroccan context.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a qualitative research design, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 chief executive officers (CEOs) of Moroccan family firms. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis to unravel the interplay between individual beliefs and societal norms.
Findings
The findings reveal a complex interplay between the personal norms of CEOs and chief financial officers (CFOs) and wider societal and cultural expectations, significantly influencing tax compliance behavior. The study identifies the multifaceted nature of tax compliance, which is shaped by personal ethics, family values and the dominant societal tax culture.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited by its qualitative approach and focus on Moroccan family businesses, which may not be generalizable to other contexts. Future studies could use a quantitative approach and expand to other geographical settings for a more comprehensive understanding.
Practical implications
Insights from the study can assist policymakers and tax authorities in developing culturally sensitive tax compliance strategies that resonate with family business values.
Social implications
The research underscores the importance of considering sociocultural dimensions in tax compliance, fostering a more cooperative relationship between family businesses and tax authorities.
Originality/value
The study contributes a novel perspective by synthesizing social, psychological and legitimacy factors in understanding tax compliance in the unique context of family businesses.
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Vartenie Aramali, George Edward Gibson, Hala Sanboskani and Mounir El Asmar
Earned value management systems (EVMS), also called integrated project and program management systems, have been greatly examined in the literature, which has typically focused on…
Abstract
Purpose
Earned value management systems (EVMS), also called integrated project and program management systems, have been greatly examined in the literature, which has typically focused on their technical aspects rather than social. This study aims to hypothesize that improving both the technical maturity of EVMS and the social environment elements of EVMS applications together will significantly impact project performance outcomes. For the first time, empirical evidence supports a strong relationship between EVMS maturity and environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected from 35 projects through four workshops, attended by 31 industry practitioners with an average of 19 years of EVMS experience. These experts, representing 23 organizations, provided over 2,800 data points on sociotechnical integration and performance outcomes, covering projects totaling $21.8 billion. Statistical analyses were performed to derive findings on the impact of technical maturity and social environment on project success.
Findings
The results show statistically significant differences in cost growth, compliance, meeting project objectives and business drivers and customer satisfaction, between projects with high EVMS maturity and environment and projects with poor EVMS maturity and environment. Moreover, the technical and social dimensions were found to be significantly correlated.
Originality/value
Key contributions include a novel and tested performance-driven framework to support integrated project management using EVMS. The adoption of this detailed assessment framework by government and industry is driving a paradigm shift in project management of some of the largest and most complex projects in the U.S.; specifically transitioning from a project assessment based upon a binary approach for EVMS technical maturity (i.e. compliant/noncompliant to standards) to a wide-ranging scale (i.e. 0–1,000) across two dimensions.
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Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) are having a major impact on banking (FinTech), health (HealthTech), law (RegTech) and other sectors…
Abstract
Purpose
Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) are having a major impact on banking (FinTech), health (HealthTech), law (RegTech) and other sectors such as charitable fundraising (CharityTech). The pace of technological innovation and the ability of AI systems to think like human beings (simulate human intelligence), perform tasks independently, develop intelligence based on its own experiences and process layers of information to learn ever-complex representations of data (ML/DL) means that improvements in the rates at which this technology can undertake complex, technical and time-consuming tasks, identify people, objects, voices, patterns, etc., screen for ‘problems’ earlier, and provide solutions, provide astounding benefit in economic, political and social terms. The purpose of this paper is to explore advents in AI, ML and DL in the context of the regulatory compliance challenge faced by financial institutions in the United Kingdom (UK).
Design/methodology/approach
The subject is explored through the analysis of data and domestic and international published literature. The first part of the paper summarises the context of current regulatory issues, the advents in deep learning, how financial institutions are currently using AI, and how AI could provide further technological solutions to regulatory compliance as of February 2023.
Findings
It is suggested that UK financial institutions can further utilise AI, ML and DL as part of an armoury of solutions that ease the regulatory burden and achieve high levels of compliance success.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to specifically explore how AI, ML and DL can continue to assist UK financial institutions in meeting the regulatory compliance challenge and the opportunities provided for financial institutions by the metaverse.
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Fabian Maximilian Johannes Teichmann and Chiara Wittmann
To construct effective compliance programmes, the phenomenon of non-compliance and variations in its abidance must be elucidated. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the…
Abstract
Purpose
To construct effective compliance programmes, the phenomenon of non-compliance and variations in its abidance must be elucidated. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the social reality of ethical decision making, which examines the internalisation of moral norms and realities of social behaviour and, therefore, the general non-compliance with everyday laws (Tyler, 2006).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper makes use of several social theories, including social proof theory, traditional social theory and social control theory. Humans are social beings, and decision-making in ethics is strongly influenced by herding behaviour (Roy, 2021). The behaviour of others and normative ethical standards inform the compliance of behaviour to an undiminishable degree.
Findings
Although there is a host of factors to consider, the success of compliance can largely be attributed to people’s perception and reception of authority. The perception of authority and legitimacy plays a vital role in appreciating the complexity of rule following. Legitimacy, and its embodiment by persons in public roles, is a cornerstone of the subsequent discussion.
Originality/value
This paper uncovers the underlying motivations of non-compliance as well as the social psychology involved in the ethics of compliance. Cross-disciplinary connections are made between the private and public sector and practical compliance recommendations. The significant impact of integrity culture and value-based compliance emerges from the dissection of the social reality.
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This study aims to explore a range of institutional, environmental and policy conditions that influence the creation of “bossless” or “flat” companies, i.e. firms with little or…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore a range of institutional, environmental and policy conditions that influence the creation of “bossless” or “flat” companies, i.e. firms with little or no formal hierarchy.
Design/methodology/approach
The author builds on the theory and evidence presented by Foss and Klein (2022) in their study of the costs and benefits of organizing without hierarchy. The author also draws on a variety of related theoretical insights and empirical evidence. The paper is exploratory and anecdotal though and is intended to motivate further research rather than provide a definitive account of bossless organizing.
Findings
The paper develops nine propositions. It suggests that high levels of economic freedom create maximum scope for entrepreneurs to experiment with different organizational forms (1). Likewise, a lack of economic freedom increases the scope for the government to experiment (2). Markets characterized by technological innovation and uncertainty are likely to discourage bossless organizing (3 and 4), while stagnating industries with major capital requirements are likely to encourage it (5). Labor market interventions that increase the cost of employment contracts sometimes encourage firms to flatten (6), but more generally, these interventions encourage expanding management layers (7). In environments with strong intellectual property (IP) laws, companies with more modular and knowledge-based work are more likely to flatten (8). The creation of low-hierarchy firms such as cooperatives is encouraged by public subsidies, access to cheap credit and preferential tax treatment (9).
Originality/value
Studies of bossless or flat firms focus almost exclusively on describing their internal organization and evaluating their performance; little attention is paid to the conditions that encourage or discourage the emergence of these firms. This paper focuses on the latter, with a view to encouraging more scholarly interest in this field.
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Gustavo Anríquez, José Tomás Gajardo and Bruno Henry de Frahan
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the impacts that the recent proliferation of private and overlapping standards is having in the trade of agricultural products…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the impacts that the recent proliferation of private and overlapping standards is having in the trade of agricultural products from developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
In a first stage industry experts in the Chilean fresh fruit trading industry were interviewed to understand the perceived impact that private standards are imposing in the industry. These interviews allowed to identify the market case study, table grapes, the landscape of private standards and their prevalence in different countries. In a second stage, a gravity trade model for trade in table grapes was estimated, with a focus on the more stringent countries identified by experts in the first stage.
Findings
We show evidence that the proliferation of private standards required by large European retailers has diverted trade away from more stringent countries that require more certifications (and into less stringent European markets). We also show that the costs of these additional certifications have been shared by trading partners, via an increase in direct sales, as opposed to consignment (the traditional marketing mode), which is associated with higher prices.
Research limitations/implications
The impacts of the recent proliferation of private and overlapping standards in international trade needs to be better understood both by the legal and economic literature. While the use of private standards has been growing since the 1990s, there is a recent trend of large European retailers imposing their own and overlapping standards that needs to be better understood to inform policy.
Originality/value
While there is a thin literature on the impact of private standards on trade, most of this has studied the effects of the now de facto mandatory GlobalGAP certification. However, there is a recent trend by large European retailers of demanding their own private certifications, together with other already existing overlapping private standards. This study describes and analyzes the impacts of this rather new trend.
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