Search results

Exchange‐based societies widely disperse their day‐to‐day decisions among their members and components. They arrange pluralistic social processes by means of economic exchange. In such societies, the fundamental dynamic of exchange should be a central consideration of any social welfare doctrines. Retirement entitlements should be considered a structural element of the exchange system itself. Current retirement entitlement and benefits programs are immediately and continuously a part of monetary‐fiscal policy management, and, as such, highly politicized. Such programs may be structured in a way that removes them from such short‐term influences. This study examines some ways in which retirement entitlement programs may be restructured and suggests that such restructuring should be undertaken in exchange‐based societies.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the 2004 AAAJ special issue (SI): “Accounting and theology, an introduction: Initiating a dialogue between immediacy and eternity,” the relative immediate impact of the call for papers and the relevance of the theme to address issues in accounting today and in the future.

The paper is a reflection and is framed around three different modes of engagement with new perspectives as identified by Orlikowski (2015). These are religion as phenomenon, as perspective and as a worldview. The authors draw on Burrell and Morgan’s (1979) framework in order to explore the ontological and epistemological blinkers that have limited the attempts to explore accounting from a theological perspective.

The paper argues that historical and current structures can limit the manner in which accounting research uses theological perspectives. Indeed, the concerns of the initial SI remain – that the contemporary economic and knowledge system is in crisis and alternative ways of questioning are required to understand and respond to this system.

As a reflection, this paper is subject to limitations of author bias relating to our beliefs, ethnicities and culture. The authors have sought to reduce these by drawing on a wide range of sources, critical analysis and the input of feedback from other scholars. Nevertheless, the narrative of impact remains a continuing story.

In drawing on both an original SI guest editor and a scholar for whom the 2004 SI has become a touchstone and springboard, this paper provides multiple viewpoints on the issue of accounting and theology.

This paper aims to demonstrate the possibility of maintaining triple bottom line (TBL) sustainable performance in the petroleum industry via a case study. In particular, it presents the utilization of a lean-six-sigma (LSS) concept for investigating one of the underperforming support service activities in an engineering contractor (EC) and to indicate how LSS concepts enable the barriers to maintaining sustainable petroleum operations to be reduced for maintaining sustainable petroleum operations.

A case study has been carried out in an EC organization in relation to one of the support services (i.e. valves requisition process [VRP]) to demonstrate how LSS concepts enable the barriers to maintaining sustainable petroleum operations to be reduced for maintaining sustainable petroleum operations. Value stream mapping (VSM) and value stream analysis (VSA) have been utilized to investigate the barriers that inhibit sustainable operations. VSM and VSA have been performed to investigate the underperforming activities in the selected support service (i.e. VRP) using a current state map. After performing VSA, a future state map has been developed, indicating possible improvements in overall TBL sustainable performance.

VSM and VSA enable the barriers to maintaining TBL sustainable operations in the petroleum industry to be investigated, while minimizing waste in the ECs and asset owners’ organizations.

The study has been limited to ECs’ support services, which have been delivered based on asset operators’ requirements.

The suggested LSS approach and related analysis help practicing engineers to perform similar analysis for different engineering support services. Improved performance in support service results minimize health, safety and environmental challenges in asset operations, and the resulting waste reduction increases the return on investments.

Effective delivery of the assessments minimizes potential delays in projects related to petroleum operations, mitigating future accidents. It enhances the TBL sustainable performance of an asset-intensive industrial organization.

This manuscript addresses the inherent TBL sustainable performance challenges in the petroleum industry that have been caused by delayed projects. The responsibilities of projects’ delivery are mainly attributed to ECs. The EC organizations are operating in project mode, and projects delays are inherently caused by the frequently changing nature of: operators’ requirements; suppliers’ and/or manufacturers’ capabilities and restrictions; and lack of standardization in documentation and work processes (i.e. because of different engineering projects’ demands). Hence, this manuscript illustrates a methodology to demonstrate the possibility of TBL sustainable performance improvement in the petroleum industry via a case study (i.e. VRP-related project delivery performance improvement) in an EC organization utilizing the lean concept.

Aims to consider what the best metaphor or set of metaphors might be in the organizational change process.

A conceptual discussion and approach are taken.

Metaphors have proven to be highly effective aids to understanding the circumstances, clarifying the direction and resolving the problems of organizational change. However, despite their efficacy, there is much debate over what the best metaphor or set of metaphors might be. This paper argues that this uncertainty is resolved by employing Veblen's metaphor of “endogenous evolution”, and that this claim is supported by current studies of organizational change.

The paper is of value to management professionals in helping to develop skills for facing the onset of, and consequences of, the processes of organizational change.

This paper sets out to provide a new systems theory supporting requisite holism and innovation in organizations of the public sector, such as medical care.

Mulej's dialectical systems theory is applied.

Currently, the many existing systems theories are applied in separation rather than in synergy. Here, a fourth attempt to make a new systems theory in Slovenia is presented: after the dialectical system theory, the dialectical network thinking, and the business cybernetics this is the control systems theory.

Research was limited to management of public health care and attainment of the requisite holism in it.

Managerial efficiency and processes in organizations with a rather small influence of the market pressure can be innovated more easily.

This is the first attempt, to the best of one's knowledge, to make a new synergy of the dialectical systems, living systems, and viable systems theories as potentially complementary systems theories and three methodologies supporting informal requisite holism of thinking, decision making and action.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how gender equality influences difference in cognitive skills between genders. For the closer examination of Guiso et al. (2008), restricting the sample to immigrants allows us to reduce the possibility of reverse causality.

Using PISA 2012 matched with the gender wage gap sourced from World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Index 2011, the author compares the effect of the wage gap among the areas of mathematics, science and reading.

Decreased gender wage gap leads to girls exhibiting a reduced incidence of lateness and skipping school compared with boys, which in turn improves girls’ test scores in mathematics, science and reading. The direct effect of the decreased wage gap on test scores exceeds its indirect effect on performance owing to influencing school attendance.

The findings of this paper provide evidence that higher female wage level relative to male wage level incentivizes female students to attend school, resulting in their achieving higher test scores not only for mathematics, but also for science and reading.

This study of budgeting practices and attitudes to budgeting in a local church uses Booth's (1993) framework to consider the potential conflict between the “sacred” agenda of the church and the “secular” nature of accounting.

Over a six‐month period, the author conducted a series of semi‐structured interviews with key church leaders, and studied financial reports and the minutes of church meetings.

Clergy and lay people alike, far from viewing accounting as an unwelcome intrusion into their church's sacred agenda, integrated belief in their church's mission with the need to raise and manage the money necessary to mobilise that mission.

Religion and religious organizations occupy a greater importance in society than academic accounting research would indicate, and this paper represents a response to that academic blind spot. Opportunities abound for further studies of the contribution accounting makes to other religious organizations, and to non‐profit organizations whose goals are not primarily wealth creation.

All organizations, even those with a sacred agenda, need to confront the reality of money and accounting if they are to achieve success. If they are unable to obtain or account for the resources they need for their mission, their ability to fulfil that mission is likely to be compromised.

By portraying accounting as an enabling and liberating contributor to a church's fulfilment of its spiritual mission, this study demonstrates that attitudes to accounting are inextricably intertwined with religious beliefs, and that accounting can be a valuable tool in a cooperative attempt to implement a spiritual vision.

Reviews success factors for internal auditors and advocates the importance of experiential training. The recommended hands‐on project focuses on internal control, which plays a fundamental role in internal auditing. The project requires students to use not only their technical knowledge and skills but also critical and analytical thinking, written and oral communication, and interpersonal skills. Control is a fundamental role in internal auditing.