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1 – 10 of over 3000Krishna Chauhan, Antti Peltokorpi, Rita Lavikka and Olli Seppänen
Prefabricated products are continually entering the building construction market; yet, the decision to use prefabricated products in a construction project is based mostly on…
Abstract
Purpose
Prefabricated products are continually entering the building construction market; yet, the decision to use prefabricated products in a construction project is based mostly on personal preferences and the evaluation of direct costs. Researchers and practitioners have debated appropriate measurement systems for evaluating the impacts of prefabricated products and for comparing them with conventional on-site construction practices. The more advanced, cost–benefit approach to evaluating prefabricated products often inspires controversy because it may generate inaccurate results when converting non-monetary effects into costs. As prefabrication may affect multiple organisations and product subsystems, the method used to decide on production methods should consider multiple direct and indirect impacts, including nonmonetary ones. Thus, this study aims to develop a multi-criteria method to evaluate both the monetary and non-monetary impacts of prefabrication solutions to facilitate decision-making on whether to use prefabricated products.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon a literature review, this research suggests a multi-criteria method that combines the choosing-by-advantage approach with a cost–benefit analysis. The method was presented for validation in focus group discussions and tested in a case involving a prefabricated bathroom.
Findings
The analysis indicates that the method helps a project’s stakeholders communicate about the relative merits of prefabrication and conventional construction while facilitating the final decision of whether to use prefabrication.
Originality/value
This research contributes a method of evaluating the monetary and non-monetary impacts of prefabricated products. The research underlines the need to evaluate the diverse benefits and sacrifices that stakeholder face when considering production methods in construction.
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Riccardo Giannetti, Lino Cinquini, Paola Miolo Vitali and Falconer Mitchell
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a substantial organization gradually builds a management accounting system from scratch, changing its accounting routines by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a substantial organization gradually builds a management accounting system from scratch, changing its accounting routines by learning processes. The paper uses the experiential learning theory and the concept of learning style to investigate the learning process during management accounting change. The study aims to expand the domain of management accounting change theory to emphasize the learning-related aspects that can constitute it.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides an interpretation of management accounting change based on the model of problem management proposed by Kolb (1983) and the theory of experiential learning (Kolb, 1976, 1984). The study is based on a 14-year longitudinal case study (1994‐2007). The case examined can be considered a theory illustration case. Data were obtained from a broad variety of sources including interviews, document analysis and adopting an interventionist approach during the redesign of the costing system.
Findings
The paper contributes to two important aspects of management accounting change. First, it becomes apparent that the costing information change was not a discrete event but a process of experience and learning conducted through several iterations of trial-and-error loops that extended over the years. Second, the findings reveal that the learning process can alter management accounting system design in a radical or incremental way according to the learning style of the people involved in the process of change.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the adopted research approach, results could be extended only to other organizations presenting similar characteristics. Several further areas of research are suggested by the findings of this paper. In particular, it would be of interest to investigate the links between learning styles and communication and its effect on management accounting change.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for the management of learning during management accounting change, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of this process.
Originality/value
This paper is one response to the call for an interdisciplinary research approach to the management accounting change phenomena using a “method theory” taken from the discipline of management to provide an explanation of the change in management accounting. In respect of the previous literature, it provides two main contributions, namely, the proposal of a model useful both to interpret and manage learning processes; the effect of learning style on management accounting routines change.
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Abstract
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The purpose is to market a reinterpretation of Brazilian economic history highlighting the importance of non-tradable goods to understand major historical developments such as the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose is to market a reinterpretation of Brazilian economic history highlighting the importance of non-tradable goods to understand major historical developments such as the lack of industrialization in the mining boom; the rise and contribution of industries to development in the early 20th century; indexation as hyperinflation in the late 20th century; growth and cycles in the early 21st century.
Design/methodology/approach
Section 2 introduces analytical perspectives on the relationship between non-tradables, transport costs and external shocks. Section 3 presents a historical overview of the gold and coffee cycles in the Brazilian economy, which highlights the crucial role played by transport costs in the genesis of industrialization. Thus, in a more precise way, industrialization was not an import substitution process but the substitution of non-tradables by the domestic tradable manufactures.
Findings
Section 4 shows that Brazilian statistical records and historiography disregard this characterization and, to that extent, underestimate economic growth in the primary export phase (1872–1920) and overestimate growth rates in the industrialization period (1920–1940). Section 5 shifts to the end of the 20th century to analyze the relationship between non-tradables, indexation and hyperinflation. Section 6 concludes with a brief discussion of the role played by the terms of trade and non-tradables in the unfolding of the 2014 economic crisis.
Originality/value
Distance from international markets and a continental geographic size made transport costs in Brazil historically prohibitive: the relevance of non-tradables in the Brazilian economic history. While the theme is not new, it seldom received proper attention in the historiography.
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Fredrik Tiedemann, Joakim Wikner and Eva Johansson
The purpose of the study is to describe the implications of strategic lead times (SLTs) for return on investment (ROI).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to describe the implications of strategic lead times (SLTs) for return on investment (ROI).
Design/methodology/approach
This study was part of an interactive research project and is based on the logic of theory application leading to theory building. It uses a multiple case study with five holistic single cases. Empirical data (ED) have mainly been collected from interviews and focus groups.
Findings
The length of and uncertainty in SLTs have implications for companies' financial performance. These implications vary in strength and can be either direct or indirect. These findings are incorporated into a framework on SLTs' implications for ROI.
Research limitations/implications
The presented array of SLTs' implications for ROI could be further investigated, focussing on their strength. Additionally, it would be interesting to substantiate the findings in the context of environmental and social sustainability (i.e. the triple bottom line).
Practical implications
The findings offer practitioners a rich description and understanding of SLTs' actual implications for financial performance in terms of ROI. This knowledge can support practitioners in analysing supply chain designs based on financial performance.
Originality/value
Using a combination of a relative financial performance measure (ROI) and a set of SLTs (systems perspective), this study focuses on SLTs' actual implications for ROI. The findings provide evidence that different sections of a supply chain can have different implications for revenue, cost and investment (i.e. the three absolute measures related to ROI).
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Jarrod Goentzel, Timothy Russell, Henrique Ribeiro Carretti and Yuto Hashimoto
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced countries to consider how to reach vulnerable communities with extended outreach services to improve vaccination uptake. The authors created an…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced countries to consider how to reach vulnerable communities with extended outreach services to improve vaccination uptake. The authors created an optimization model to align with decision-makers' objective to maximize immunization coverage within constrained budgets and deploy resources considering empirical data and endogenous demand.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed integer program (MIP) determines the location of outreach sites and the resource deployment across health centers and outreach sites. The authors validated the model and evaluated the approach in consultation with UNICEF using a case study from The Gambia.
Findings
Results in The Gambia showed that by opening new outreach sites and optimizing resource allocation and scheduling, the Ministry of Health could increase immunization coverage from 91.0 to 97.1% under the same budget. Case study solutions informed managerial insights to drive gains in vaccine coverage even without the application of sophisticated tools.
Originality/value
The research extended resource constrained LMIC vaccine distribution modeling literature in two ways: first, endogenous calculation of demand as a function of distance to health facility location enabled the effective design of the vaccine network around convenience to the community and second, the model's resource bundle concept more accurately and flexibly represented complex requirements and costs for specific resources, which facilitated buy-in from stakeholders responsible for managing health budgets. The paper also demonstrated how to leverage empirical research and spatial analysis of publicly available demographic and geographic data to effectively represent important contextual factors.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine and explain the complex interrelationships which influence the performance of politically connected firms to create value for their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine and explain the complex interrelationships which influence the performance of politically connected firms to create value for their providers of finance and other stakeholders. In doing so, it examines the interrelationships between efficiency and delivering on corporate performance of a firm with political ties.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors gathered the literature from the Scopus website. They reviewed the literature of 58 manuscripts about the efficiency and performance of politically connected firms.
Findings
The research finds that the better quality of efficiency of politically connected firms is positively related to the corporate performance of politically connected firms. The authors’ theoretical findings corroborate the political theory, agency theory, stakeholder theory, resource dependency theory and stewardship theory. These theories prove that political connections have an impact on firm performance as a politician reinforces the efficacy. To better understand the effect of political connections on solid performance due to efficiency, this study classifies various efficiencies and links them with political ties.
Research limitations/implications
Several avenues of research are suggested to examine further the interrelationships identified.
Practical implications
The authors’ conceptual findings are valuable for institutional investors, policymakers and stakeholders. To sum up, all theoretical shreds of evidence prove that politically connected firms can enhance performance via efficiency.
Originality/value
The paper conceptualizes the efficiency and performance interrelationships of politically connected firms. The extant literature comparison allows an assessment of the extent to which different efficiency contexts lead to differences in performance.
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Jamiu Adetayo Dauda, Suraj A. Rahmon, Ibrahim A. Tijani, Fouad Mohammad and Wakeel O. Okegbenro
The purpose of this study is to find the optimum design of Reinforced Concrete (RC) pile foundation to enable efficient use of structural concrete with greater consequences for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to find the optimum design of Reinforced Concrete (RC) pile foundation to enable efficient use of structural concrete with greater consequences for global environment and economy.
Design/methodology/approach
A non-linear optimisation technique based on the Generalised Reduced Gradient (GRG) algorithm was implemented to find the minimum cost of RC pile foundation in frictional soil. This was achieved by obtaining the optimum pile satisfying the serviceability and ultimate limit state requirements of BS 8004 and EC 7. The formulated structural optimisation procedure was applied to a case study project to assess the efficiency of the proposed design formulation.
Findings
The results prove that the GRG method in Excel solver is an active, fast, accurate and efficient computer programme to obtain optimum pile design. The application of the optimisation for the case study project shows up to 26% cost reduction compared to the conventional design.
Research limitations/implications
The design and formulation of design constraints will be limited to provisions of BS 8004 and EC 7.
Practical implications
Since the minimum quantity of concrete was attained through optimisation, then minimum cement will be used and thus result in minimum CO2 emission. Therefore, the optimum design of concrete structures is a vital solution to limit the damage to the Earth's climate and the physical environment resulting from high carbon emissions.
Originality/value
The current study considers the incorporation of different soil ground parameters in the optimisation process rather than assuming any pile capacity value for the optimisation process.
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