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1 – 10 of 188Raj Singh Minhas and Everett M. Jacobs
Banks and building societies typically focus on geographic, demographic, socio‐economic, and psychological characteristics to segment the market for financial services, although…
Abstract
Banks and building societies typically focus on geographic, demographic, socio‐economic, and psychological characteristics to segment the market for financial services, although these are not efficient predictors of future buying behaviour. To correct this shortcoming, benefit segmentation by factor analysis has been used for the first time to group building society customers in relation to their particular attitudes and behaviour. Identifies eight benefits (listed in order of their popularity): personal service, investment, limited banking, accessible cash, cash card, advice, money management, and full banking. Incongruities between certain of the benefits, and the differing customer profiles for each benefit segment were analysed. Makes suggestions on how building societies and banks could use benefit segmentation to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their marketing strategies.
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Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the…
Abstract
Life studies are a rich source for further research on the role of the Afro‐American woman in society. They are especially useful to gain a better understanding of the Afro‐American experience and to show the joys, sorrows, needs, and ideals of the Afro‐American woman as she struggles from day to day.
Nuraddeen Abubakar Nuhu, Kevin Baird and Ranjith Appuhami
This study examines the association between the use of a package of contemporary and a package of traditional management accounting practices with organizational change and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the association between the use of a package of contemporary and a package of traditional management accounting practices with organizational change and organizational performance.
Methodology/approach
Data were collected based on a mail survey distributed to a sample of 740 public sector organizations.
Findings
The findings indicate that while the prevalence of traditional practices is still dominant, such practices were not associated with organizational change or performance. Rather, those organizations that use contemporary management accounting practices to a greater extent experienced greater change and stronger performance.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that contemporary management accounting practices can assist public sector practitioners in improving performance and promoting organizational change.
Originality/value
The study provides an empirical insight into the use and effectiveness of management accounting practices in the public sector. The study provides the first empirical analysis of the effect of using a package of management accounting practices in the public sector.
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Marco S. DiRenzo, Steven M. Weingarden and Christian J. Resick
Coaches from both the professional and college ranks are often put forth as archetypal examples of effective leaders – individuals’ whose behaviors, styles, and wisdom provide the…
Abstract
Coaches from both the professional and college ranks are often put forth as archetypal examples of effective leaders – individuals’ whose behaviors, styles, and wisdom provide the ever elusive playbook for how to successfully lead others. While numerous books and articles in the popular press put forth advice from leaders in the sports world, numerous empirical studies of the drivers of successful sports leadership and the factors that contribute to leader success in the context of sports have also been conducted. In this chapter, we first provide a broad review of empirical leadership research conducted within the sports world and examine how research within the sports context provides a suitable and advantageous setting for leadership research in general. Second, we offer a road map of opportunities for future leadership studies within the context of sports. The goal of this chapter is to stimulate and rally more thought-provoking research related to leadership in sports that generates insights for organizational leadership across contexts.
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Glenn Finau, Kerry Jacobs and Satish Chand
The purpose of this paper is to explore and examine the role of accounting and accountants in customary land transactions between Indigenous peoples and foreign corporate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and examine the role of accounting and accountants in customary land transactions between Indigenous peoples and foreign corporate entities. The paper uses the case of two accountants who utilised accounting technologies in lease agreements to alienate customary land from Indigenous landowners in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a case study methodology, the paper draws on contemporary data sets of transcripts related to a Commission of Inquiry established in 2011 to investigate PNG’s Special Agricultural Business Lease system. Analysis of other publicly available data and semi-structured interviews with PNG landowners and other stakeholders supplement and triangulate data from the inquiry transcripts. A Bourdieusian lens was adopted to conceptualise how accounting was used in the struggles for customary land between foreign developers and Indigenous landowners within the wider capitalist field and the traditional Melanesian field.
Findings
This paper reveals how accountants exploited PNG’s customary land registration system, the Indigenous peoples’ lack of financial literacy and their desperation for development to alienate customary land from landowners. The accountants employed accounting technologies in the sublease agreements to reduce their royalty obligations to the landowners and to impose penalty clauses that made it financially impossible for the landowners to cancel the leases. The accountants used accounting to normalise, legitimise and rationalise these exploitative arrangements in formal lease contracts.
Originality/value
This paper responds to the call for research on accounting and Indigenous peoples that is contemporary rather than historic; examines the role of accountants in Indigenous relations, and examines the emancipatory potential of accounting.
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This paper explores the value of financial statement auditing in the public sector. The study applies theory about auditing from the private sector as well as the public sector to…
Abstract
This paper explores the value of financial statement auditing in the public sector. The study applies theory about auditing from the private sector as well as the public sector to explore ways in which public sector auditing can be expected to be valuable. It shows that there are a number of complementary explanations that can be applied to examine the value of public audit, including agency, signaling, insurance, management control, governance and confirmation explanations. The evidence from research and history is generally consistent with the agency and management control explanations. There is some support for the signaling and insurance explanations, while research evidence suggests that governance has differing impact in the public sector compared to the private. The confirmation hypothesis is also potentially relevant. Reviewing the history of the development of public sector auditing functions shows that at least some developments were consistent with explanations such as agency theory and management control. Auditing in the public sector is an area where more research is valuable. The paper concludes with a discussion of issues for further investigation.
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Evelyn Suk Yi Looi, Richard Greatbanks and André M. Everett
The purpose of this paper is to examine the alignment of perceived organizational culture between Health Board chairs and Board members with that of their respective senior…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the alignment of perceived organizational culture between Health Board chairs and Board members with that of their respective senior executive teams. It compares the degree of alignment between these two groups, and analyses them against District Health Board (DHB) performance using the New Zealand Ministry of Health’s national measure “shorter stays in Emergency Departments.”
Design/methodology/approach
Primary survey data were collected across eight DHBs using a modified version of the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument and utilizes a sample of both higher and lower performing DHBs as defined by the “shorter stays” measure.
Findings
Many health organizations cite Ovseiko and Buchan’s (2012) preferred culture as an ideal model. However, this study’s findings indicate that most DHBs scored higher than the preferred score for “Hierarchical” and “Rational” cultures, and lower for “Clan” and “Developmental” cultures, and therefore calls into question the validity of this organizational profile as the “preferred” cultural state.
Research limitations/implications
This research considers perceived organizational culture from the perspective of the Board members and their respective senior executive teams. It uses a relatively small sample size and excludes potential interactions of national culture.
Practical implications
The findings indicate that healthcare organizations should de-emphasize the dominant “Hierarchical” and “Rational” cultures, and promote “Clan” and “Developmental” cultures within their organizations as a means of potentially improving healthcare performance.
Originality/value
Organizational culture has been highlighted as a major component of performance within healthcare organizations, yet very few studies examine how organizational culture is perceived by governance and executive groups. This study empirically counters prevailing knowledge regarding the most appropriate organizational cultures for healthcare organizations.
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Fiona Edgar, Nancy M. Blaker and André M. Everett
For some years, human resource management (HRM) scholars have sought to understand how the high performance work system (HPWS) impacts performance. Recently, attention has turned…
Abstract
Purpose
For some years, human resource management (HRM) scholars have sought to understand how the high performance work system (HPWS) impacts performance. Recently, attention has turned to developing knowledge about the more micro-level aspects of this relationship, with the ability–motivation–opportunity (AMO) framework providing a useful lens. Empirically, these studies have produced mixed results. This study explores whether context is useful in explaining these anomalous findings.
Design/methodology/approach
This study considered the effects of context across two levels – the descriptive (situated demography–gender) and the analytical (societal–national culture) – on employees' behaviour in the HPWS–job performance relationship using survey data obtained from a sample of New Zealand organisations.
Findings
Results indicate that the employee demographic of gender may play an influential role, with ability found to be the most significant predictor of job performance for males and opportunity the strongest predictor of job performance for females. Given the importance of cultural context when examining employees' gendered behaviours, this study also considers the influence of New Zealand's national culture.
Practical implications
By describing the interaction between trait expressive work behaviours and job features, this study dispels the myth of universalism. In line with a contingency view, practitioners are encouraged to ensure alignment between features of their organisational context and the behavioural outcomes sought from their HPWS.
Originality/value
This study suggests HPWS research designs would benefit from analysing the full effects of contextual variables, rather than considering them purely as controls.
Sanjaya Chinthana Kuruppu and Sumit Lodhia
The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of accountability as it relates to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) evolving through a period of considerable change in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of accountability as it relates to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) evolving through a period of considerable change in Sri Lanka.
Design/methodology/approach
An in-depth single case study of a large NGO working in Sri Lanka is presented. Data collection involved conducting semi-structured interviews with a range of NGO employees and stakeholders, undertaking participant and non-participant observation and document analysis.
Findings
This paper shows how accountability is a contested notion that is shaped by struggles among stakeholders within a field. The authors explore how the “widespread field” consisting of the aid context in Sri Lanka and internationally is rapidly shifting. This creates unique pressures within the “restricted field” of the case NGO and its constituents. These pressures are manifested in the contest between the different capitals held by various stakeholders to shape the NGO. The nature of access to these capitals is important in the way that the NGO is shaped by external forces, and also by the individuals within it.
Research limitations/implications
This study adds fresh perspective to the growing body of work in NGO accountability. The paper highlights the tensions NGOs face through a holistic application of a Bourdieusian conceptual framework. The authors show how the habitus of the organisation is shaped in such a way that conceptions of accountability were captured by powerful external and internal constituencies. Ultimately, the nature of an organisation’s agency is questioned.
Practical implications
The authors present a more nuanced understanding of forces which shape accountability in an NGO setting which is of practical relevance to NGOs and their stakeholders. The authors highlight the struggle for an NGO to maintain its agency through resisting external forces that impact on its operations.
Originality/value
This study presents a comprehensive and holistic application of Bourdieu’s concepts and their interactions in an organisational setting. The struggle to harness various forms of capital in the field, shapes doxa and the habitus of NGO actors, illuminating the role of symbolic violence in the creation of an organisational identity.
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This chapter identifies issues in the development and marketing of culinary tourism experiences with the goal of determining the value of collaborative forms of product…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter identifies issues in the development and marketing of culinary tourism experiences with the goal of determining the value of collaborative forms of product development and marketing.
Methodology/approach
A literature review examines approaches to marketing of culinary experiences identifying a gap in the study of collaborative approaches such as networking, partnering, and alliances. A case study investigates these themes.
Findings
Through the analysis of an in-depth case study of an experiential culinary tourism event in a small city in Eastern Canada (a Restaurant Week) it is determined that informal collaboration in the form of partnership is essential to building and marketing collaborative culinary tourism products and experiences.
Practical implications
This investigation has value for academics studying culinary tourism development and for practitioners implementing collaborative forms of the development and marketing of such tourism offerings and experience.
Originality/value
In the context of culinary tourism, a case study illustrates the value of collaboration in developing and marketing experiential culinary products. Findings indicate informal collaborative partnerships are essential to building and marketing culinary tourism products and experiences, addressing a gap in the literature and providing value for practitioners.
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