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Recent literature in the field of knowledge management (e.g. Nonaka and Takeuchi, 2021) asks for new, future-oriented approaches to strategy that allow us to deal with an increasingly complex world. Thus, this paper aims to build an approach to exploit aesthetics (human’s sensory perceptions and their felt meanings) to sense an organizations purpose and realize it by means of organizational strategy.

Conceptual paper, providing a new perspective on the perception of Organizational Purpose. The abductive argument follows Weick’s notion of Disciplined Imagination (Weick, 1989).

The main argument of this paper is that aesthetics contribute to the identification of organizational purpose. Thus, aesthetic perceptions can inform strategy to implement a stakeholders’ sense of purpose into strategy.

The argument presented is grounded in recent literature on the concepts of purpose and aesthetics and abductive in nature. Thus, empirical research to validate the argument would be beneficial and worthwhile to be undertaken.

The paper presents the idea to integrate the sense of organizational purpose into a corporate strategy to address stakeholders’ value expectations and build more sustainable organizations. By emphasizing aesthetics, the study takes a stand for the inclusion of nonrational knowledge in organizational decision-making.

As far as the author’s knowledge goes, the concepts of aesthetics and organizational purpose have not theoretically been connected to each other. However, due to the implicit nature of purpose, aesthetics may serve as the matching knowledge tool to work with organizational purpose.

Built on the socioemotional selectivity theory, the purpose of this paper is to analyze elderly female consumers’ consumption of environmentally sustainable apparel (ESA) according to their time perspective (TP) (expansive vs limited) and different types of advertising appeals (emotional vs rational and positive vs negative emotional appeals).

The study conducted a survey and experiments with 154 US female consumers who were 65 years of age or older. Data were analyzed through regression and ANCOVA.

The results showed that older female adults with an expansive TP tended to consume ESA, with their fashion consciousness moderating the results. Rational and either positive or negative emotional advertisements with environmental messages were found to encourage the higher purchase intentions of elderly consumers more effectively than advertisements with no environmental messages.

Apparel retailers are recommended to consider the factor of TP when encouraging environmental consumption. Environmental messages containing rational information and eliciting positive and negative emotions are suggested to promote purchase intention toward ESA among elderly consumers.

This study addressed an under-studied segment in ESA consumption – elderly female consumers – built on the socioemotional selective theory, and confirmed that this group’s ESA consumption can be explained by their perspective on time. In addition, this study confirmed which advertising appeals would effectively encourage their ESA consumption, and provided theoretical explanations for these findings.

This paper aims to extend and contribute to prior UK research on the association between information asymmetry and dividends propensity. It seeks to investigate the impact of the number of analysts following firms, a proxy for information asymmetry, on dividends propensity.

Using a 282 UK FTSE‐All Share non‐financial/non‐utilities firms with fiscal year ends on 2007, the paper uses a multiple regression model to investigate the association between dividends and analysts following.

The paper finds that after controlling for firm‐specific characteristics, there is a significant negative association between the number of analysts following firms and dividend propensity. The finding suggests that higher coverage of financial analysts for UK firms reduces levels of information asymmetry between managers and shareholders, which results in lower dividend propensity. These findings are consistent with agency theory and pecking order theory, but inconsistent with signalling theory.

The paper contributes to prior research related to the drivers of dividend propensity by being the first UK study to examine the association between dividend propensity and information asymmetry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent and in what forms loan applications from small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in a risk averse banking environment can be assessed defensively by lending officers (LOs). The paper also identifies triggering mechanisms behind defensive SME loan assessment behaviour and its' possible effects on the bank and the LOs.

The paper relies on a case study of a major Swedish commercial bank undergoing strategy and control system change during the recent financial crisis. The empirical evidence was collected through interviews with 76 LOs in three branch offices and a focus group interview session.

In a risk averse banking environment, LOs can be prone to assessing SME loan applications defensively to a noteworthy extent. Such defensiveness comes in different forms: denial of loan applications, granting of loans with collateral or high interest rates, or granting of loans only to clients with most of their financial affairs in the bank. External and internal mechanisms jointly trigger defensive loan assessment behaviour. The possible effects include fewer Type II errors and more Type I errors for the bank, while LOs avoid change and blame.

Overall, this study contributes to the literature by revealing triggering mechanisms, forms and effects related to the multifaceted construct of defensive loan assessment behaviour among LOs in a commercial bank, who handle applications from SMEs.

This study makes a critical examination of the present accounting standard setting process and current issues and practices of corporate financial reporting (CFR) in an Indian context by referring to 95 annual reports of large sized companies. It is found that Indian accounting standards have many alternative accounting choices which make financial statements of companies less comparable. The Accounting Standard Board (ASB) has issued 12 definite accounting standards, yet none of them has been reviewed. The membership of ASB lacks proper representation particularly from the users side. The standard setting process has deficiencies in the absence of public hearing and the machinery for enforcement of accounting standards is not apparent. While a review of CFR shows a strong tendency for companies to follow strict legal requirements in the disclosure and preparation of financial statements, there is much diversity in voluntary reporting practice particularly with respect to value added accounting, reporting by segments, inflation accounting, human resource accounting, and corporate social performance reporting, and there has been a tendency towards minimum disclosure. The study suggests that, to improve standards the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India should establish a Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to oversee ASB and to prepare a conceptual framework for financial reporting purposes.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework to examine the relationship between contextual factors, management accounting system (MAS) and managerial performance within the health care industry. In particular, it aims to uncover the contextual factors influencing the design of MAS that would enhance managerial performance in Egyptian hospitals.

The premise of contingency theory is utilized to identify the contextual factors that may influence the use of MAS; namely organizational strategy, technology, structure, external environment, and size. The mediating role of MAS on the impact of managerial performance is examined through the extent to which managers use the four information characteristics associated with the design of MAS: scope, timeliness, aggregated, and integrated.

This framework provides clarity in linking the perceived usefulness of MAS information characteristics to managerial performance that has been viewed as problematic by past studies.

The Egyptian hospital industry is chosen as the ideal setting to investigate the relationship between contextual factors, MAS and managerial performance because of its complexity and continuous inept administration despite years following its reform.

This framework helps practitioners develop new approaches in designing MAS within the health care sector.

This framework adds invaluable insights to the existing literature regarding performance implications of MAS design and functionality, especially within the health care sector.

The development of information technology has made it possible for companies to get access to information about their customers ' future demand. This paper outlines various approaches to utilize this kind of visibility when managing inventories of end products on an operative level. The purpose is to explain the consequences, for capital tied up in inventory, of sharing four different types of planning information (point-of-sales data, customer forecasts, stock-on-hand data, planned orders) when using re-order point (R,Q) inventory control methods in a distribution network.

A simulation study based on randomly generated demand data with a compound Poisson type of distribution is conducted.

The results show that the value of information sharing in operative inventory control varies widely depending on the type of information shared, and depending on whether the demand is stationary or not. Significantly higher value is achieved if the most appropriate types of information sharing are used, while other types of information sharing rather contribute to decreased value. Sharing stock-on-hand information is valuable with stationary demand. Customer forecast and planned order information are valuable with non-stationary demand. The value of information sharing increases when having fewer customers, and when the order quantities are large. Sharing point-of-sales data is not valuable, regardless of the demand type.

The use of simulation methodology is a limitation, because the study has to be limited to a specific model design, and because it is not based on primary empirical data. The study is especially limited to dyadic relationships in supply chains, and to distribution networks with a rather limited number of customers.

Guidance is given about what type of information should be appropriate to share when different types of demand patterns and distribution networks, and how order batch sizes and lead times affect the value of information sharing when using re-order point (R,Q) methods.

Very limited research providing specific assessments of potential inventory control consequences when sharing planning information in various contexts has been found in the literature. The findings and conclusions also question some previous research on information sharing.

This article investigates the sources of financial information used for decisions regarding the buying, holding and selling of ordinary shares. The results of this questionnaire‐based study indicate that the main source of information used by those who prepare annual reports is stockbroker advice, whereas users of such reports prefer communication with management. Preparers of annual reports support the notion that annual reports are a useful source of information, but users prefer the preliminary announcement. Preparers read the income statement more thoroughly, while users read the cash flow statement more thoroughly. The article also provides information on the qualitative criteria used for assessing the usefulness of accounting practices, and some comments on the importance of setting standards and the objectives of the South African Statements of Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

The purpose of this paper is to first, determine the implications of management control system (MCS) information characteristics for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic through four performance indicators (quality, speed of delivery, availability and cost-effectiveness) of the public health supply chain and second, the mediating effect of four dimensions (broad scope, timeliness, integration and aggregation) of the MCS on external integration, internal integration, customer integration and operational performance of public health institutions in Ghana.

Using covariance-based structural equations modelling and based on contingency theory, a hypothesized model was developed and tested. The sample involves a survey of 214 public health institutions in Ghana.

Both external and internal integration were found to have a significant positive effect on MCS information and, in turn, on the supply chain operational performance of public health institutions. Also, customer integration has a significant positive impact on the four dimensions with a corresponding impact on supply chain operational performance.

The paper provides practitioners and policymakers with the usefulness of the contingency paradigm in enhancing the supply chain network of public health institutions during epidemics, hence, the need to adopt and develop the contingency approach in designing MCS within the public health sector. Effective public health management through a collaborative process between stakeholders (suppliers, customers and personnel) will mitigate stockouts of medical supplies and systematic disruptions in the public health supply chain.

The MCSs – supply chain integration interaction on organizational performance is one of the areas that has received very little attention in the literature particularly in service-oriented organizations. In this regard, this paper represents one of the few studies in Africa that examines performance implications of MCS – supply chain nexus with respect to public health emergencies service-orientec organizations. The paper contributes to the literature by providing invaluable insights into the usefulness of the MCS in enhancing the supply chain performance of public health emergencies.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand how mandatory risk categories are disclosed and to provide a better understanding of the reasons why risk disclosure looks less useful than it ought to be.

We analyze how Italian banks provide risk information, by focusing on its characteristics to find out any differences between the notes to the financial statements and the public report, both prepared in compliance with the instructions of the Bank of Italy. We assess the risk-related reporting practices of 66 Italian banks, based on a content analysis of the two mandatory reports, and verify whether bank-specific factors explain any differences.

Italian banks formally comply with the Bank of Italy’s instructions, but there is discretion to choose the characteristics of the information provided. Despite different risk categories to disclose in each report, disclosure is quite uniform, although banks tend to provide denser information in the notes to the financial statements and the difference in the economic signs between the two reports decreases as the level of risk increases.

The significance of this study goes beyond the debate taking place in the academic arena, as it can be largely relevant for preparers, those responsible for setting international and national accounting standards, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the domestic supervisory authorities, particularly concerning the possible introduction of requirements that are more explicit than the existing ones.

The Italian setting is very relevant because unlike other countries, Italy adopts “interventionist enforcements”, which are regarded as a critical tool for achieving the minimum disclosure requirements. Moreover, the two sets of disclosure required by the Bank of Italy have never been investigated in a single data set.