Search results

The accuracy of budgeting is important to fulfilling its various roles. The aim of this study is to examine perceptions of budgeting accuracy in UK universities and to identify and understand the factors that influence them.

A mixed methods research design comprising a questionnaire survey (84 responses, = 51.5%) and 42 semi-structured, qualitative interviews is employed.

The findings reveal that universities tend to be conservative in their budgeting, although previous financial difficulties, the attitude of the governing body and the need to convince lenders that finances are being managed competently might lead to a greater emphasis on a “realistic” rather than cautious budget. Stepwise multiple regression identified four significantly negative influences on perceived budgeting accuracy: the difficulty of forecasting student numbers; difficulties associated with allowing unspent balances to be carried forward; taking a relatively long time to prepare the budget; and the institution’s level of financial surplus. The interviews are drawn upon to both explain and elaborate on the statistical findings. Forecasting student numbers and associated fee income emerges as a particularly challenging and complex issue.

Our regression analysis is cross-sectional and therefore based on correlations. Furthermore, the research could be developed by investigating the views of other parties as well as repeating the study in both the UK and overseas.

Implications for university management follow from the four factors identified as significant influences upon budget accuracy. These include involving the finance department in estimating student numbers, removing or controlling the carry forward of unspent funds, and reducing the length of the budget cycle.

The first study to examine the factors that influence the perceived accuracy of universities’ budgeting, this paper also advances understanding of budgeting accuracy more generally.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the integration of business intelligence (BI) systems in the digital transformation context and its impact on management control (MC) and organizational performance by delving into the implementation of a BI pilot project in a multinational Engineering and Construction (E&C) group.

This research adopts a qualitative insider action research approach. The initial stage of a BI system (BIS) is implemented by leveraging the critical success factors (CSFs) framework, based on the organizational, process and technological dimensions.

The results show that the BI solution leverages the capabilities of the reporting process with impacts on MC and overall organizational performance. The study uncovers the intricate dynamics of integrating BI and reports gains that span across streamlined and standardized processes, optimized use of resources, improved data flexibility and nurturing a data-driven culture.

This research adds to the current literature on MC and accounting information systems by providing an in-depth analysis of the early stages involved in implementing a BIS. The approach uses a well-established CSFs framework, which enhances the comprehension of how these factors impact the success of the implementation process. Focusing on the E&C sector, where the adoption of digital transformation is still gaining traction, this study provides practical knowledge and extends the theoretical understanding of BI technology applications with empirical evidence from the accounting field.

The purpose of this paper reporting an exploratory pilot study is to examine how participant engagement in design thinking varies when playing and fixing (playfixing) three partially complete games (broken games).

The data for this study consist of transcripts of five playfixing sessions with a total of 16 participants. Each session focused on one of three games. The authors used Winn’s (2009) design-play-experience framework to analyze features of each game that might relate to differences in design thinking. Next, the authors coded each playfixing session’s transcript to identify patterns of design thinking. Finally, these findings were used to make conjectures about how design features and flaws might encourage particular forms of design thinking.

The findings indicate how playfixing tabletop games with varied levels of complexity, playability and rule definition lead to different patterns of design thinking.

This is a first step toward understanding how the constraints associated with various elements of broken games might direct participants toward desired modes of design thinking and more broadly, contributes to the literature on the educational uses of game making.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the off-office audit of natural resource assets on the prevention and control of water pollution against a background of big data using a differences-in-differences model.

This study constructs a differences-in-differences model to evaluate the policy effects of off-office audit based on panel data from 11 cities in Anhui Province, China, from 2011 to 2017, and analyzes the dynamic effect of the audit and intermediary effect of industrial structure.

The implementation of the audit system can effectively reduce water pollution. Dynamic effect analysis showed that the audit policy can not only improve the quality of water resources but can also have a cumulative effect over time. That is, the prevention and control effect on water pollution is getting stronger and stronger. The results of the robustness test verified the effectiveness of water pollution prevention and control. However, the results of the influence mechanism analysis showed that the mediating effect of the industrial structure was not obvious in the short term.

These findings shed light on the effect of the off-office audit of natural resource assets on the prevention and control of water pollution, and provide a theoretical basis for the formulation of relevant environmental policies. Furthermore, these findings show that the implementation of the audit system can effectively reduce water pollution, which has practical significance for the sustainable development of China's economy against the background of big data.

This study quantitatively analyzes the policy effect of off-office auditing from the perspective of water resources based on a big data background, which differs from the existing research that mainly focuses on basic theoretical analysis.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the financial well-being and social capital of Indian retirees. The paper investigates the extent of subjective financial well-being, the dependence on debts and the extent of bridging and bonding social capital of retirees with similar retirement pensions to understand the main issues they face.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 retired government schoolteachers. Two individuals transcribed the interviews after a pilot study, which helped remove repetitive responses. After ensuring the authenticity of the transcripts, the data was analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis.

The study's key findings reveal that retirees, armed with a clear understanding of their retirement income, exhibit a sense of financial control. At the same time, the presence of debt and the potential for high healthcare expenses adversely impact their subjective financial well-being. In terms of social capital, retirees predominantly rely on support from close-knit communities of friends and neighbors, as against their children. Additionally, retirees who migrate from their native places encounter challenges in establishing bridging social capital.

This study contributes to the ongoing discourse on financial well-being, specifically within the context of vulnerable groups such as retirees in India, where the absence of a state-supported retirement system adds a distinctive dimension. Against the backdrop of India's traditional societal framework, the research extends the existing literature by delving into the nuanced effects of evolving social dynamics on the social capital of retirees.

This study aims to analyse the influence of digitalisation on the management control function of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In particular, it aims to illuminate how digitalisation influences management control elements, organisation and roles/competencies and to identify obstacles to digitalisation of management control in SMEs and measures taken to overcome them.

The study is based on guideline-supported expert interviews conducted with 14 financial managers from SMEs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

This study reveals the influence of digitalisation on management control elements, organisation, and roles/competencies. The automation and standardisation of management control processes result in new elements for management control, such as strategic support for management. In addition, the increased availability and transparency of data enable the use of instruments within a company that allow for quick analyses of the company's development. Digitalisation leads to the integration of management control into the corporate network and, thus, a change in the organisation of management control. It also triggers the expansion of management control competencies, especially IT competencies. A shortage of internal digitalisation resources, unclear corporate roadmaps, and a lack of managerial experience loom as central challenges for digitalising the management control function. Measures derived from the interviews can help SMEs overcome the obstacles to the digitalisation of management control.

This research is the first interview-based study of the impact of digitalisation on management control in SMEs, potential obstacles to that digitalisation, and measures to overcome those obstacles. Thus, it contributes to the emerging debate on factors that may explain why SMEs lag in terms of the digitalisation of their internal processes.

The aim of this paper is to explore how multi-national corporations (MNCs) can effectively adopt artificial intelligence (AI) into their talent acquisition (TA) practices. While the potential of AI to address emerging challenges, such as talent shortages and applicant surges in specific regions, has been anecdotally highlighted, there is limited empirical evidence regarding its effective deployment and adoption in TA. As a result, this paper endeavors to develop a theoretical model that delineates the motives, barriers, procedural steps and critical factors that can aid in the effective adoption of AI in TA within MNCs.

Given the scant empirical literature on our research objective, we utilized a qualitative methodology, encompassing a multiple-case study (consisting of 19 cases across seven industries) and a grounded theory approach.

Our proposed framework, termed the Framework on Effective Adoption of AI in TA, contextualizes the motives, barriers, procedural steps and critical success factors essential for the effective adoption of AI in TA.

This paper contributes to literature on effective adoption of AI in TA and adoption theory.

Additionally, it provides guidance to TA managers seeking effective AI implementation and adoption strategies, especially in the face of emerging challenges.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is unparalleled, being both grounded in theory and based on an expansive dataset that spans firms from various regions and industries. The research delves deeply into corporations' underlying motives and processes concerning the effective adoption of AI in TA.

This study aims to investigate the adoption of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the new performance perspective in cities. It also aims to understand how accounting for SDGs begins in city administrations by following Power’s (2015) fourfold development schema composed of policy object formation, object elaboration, activity orchestration and practice stabilization.

Focusing on a network of cities coordinated by the Finnish local government association, we analyzed the six largest cities in Finland employing a holistic multiple case study strategy. Our data consisted of Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs), city strategies, budget plans, financial statements, as well as results of participant observations and semi-structured interviews with key individuals involved in accounting for SDGs.

We unveiled the SDG framework as an interpretive scheme through which cities glocalized sustainable development as a novel, simultaneously global and local, performance object. Integration of the new accounts in city management is necessary for these accounts to take life in steering the actions. By creating meaningful alignment and the ability to impact managerial practices, SDGs and VLRs have the potential to influence local actions. Our results indicate further institutionalization progress of sustainability as a performance object through SDG-focused work.

While prior research has focused mainly on general factors influencing the integration of the sustainability agenda, this study provides a novel perspective by capturing the process and demonstrating empirically how new accounts on SDGs are introduced and deployed in the strategic planning and management of local governments.

This study aimed to determine the factors affecting consumers’ perceptions and intention to purchase home meal kit services (HMK), a convenient home-cooked meal option, considering the moderating effects of monetary restriction, through the lens of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB).

This cross-sectional study used an online, self-administered survey to collect data from 374 US adults. Results were tested for variable associations via multiple linear regression and moderation analyses.

HMK adoption intention was positively associated with attitude and subjective norms but negatively associated with perceived behavioural control. Consumers’ HMK attitude demonstrated a significant positive relationship with food safety concerns and perceived time constraints. Income and financial constraints were significant moderators of the associations between TPB determinants and HMK intention. The findings emphasised the possibility of using HMK as a foodservice option for time-challenged consumers with food safety concerns.

This study addressed the limited research on HMK, a competitive meal option that foodservice businesses could implement to boost revenue. The study establishes the contribution in understanding the motivators and barriers that potentially affect consumers’ HMK behaviour through the lens of TPB. The results expand the scope of the TPB application in food-related research, providing a deeper understanding of antecedents and other factors on consumers’ HMK behavioural attitudes. Understanding this information will enable practitioners to develop strategies that meet consumers’ concerns when embracing this service to promote HMK.

The process of knowledge creation is recognized as an essential process for organizational learning and innovation. Creating knowledge to solve the problems and complexities of today's world is like opening a black box. Hence, the higher education system and universities are exploring ways to overcome the complexities and cope with global changes. In this regard, interdisciplinary collaborations and activities are crucial in creating knowledge and innovation to counter these changes. This study aimed to know the experiences of Shiraz university interdisciplinary researchers in the field of humanities and also design and explain the conceptual model of knowledge creation in interdisciplinary research teams in the field of humanities.

In this qualitative research, grounded theory was implemented based on Strauss and Corbin's systematic approach. The sampling method was purposeful, and the participants included sixteen faculty members of shiraz university who had at least one experience of performing an interdisciplinary activity in one of the humanities fields. The first participant was selected as a pilot, and the rest were selected by snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were also used to collect data and continued until theoretical saturation was attained. After collecting the available information and interviewing the people, the data were organized and analyzed in three stages, open coding, axial coding, and selective coding, using the proposed framework of Strauss and Corbin. Finally, the researcher reached a final and meaningful categorization.

In this research, the results were presented as a paradigm model of knowledge creation in the interdisciplinary research teams in the field of humanities. The paradigm model of the study consists of causal factors (internal and external factors), main categories (specialized competencies, scientific discourse, understanding of knowledge domains), strategies (structuring and synchronizing), context (individual and organizational), interfering factors (leadership, industry, and society), and consequences (individual and group achievement).

The present study aimed to explore the experiences of researchers in the interdisciplinary humanities research teams on knowledge creation in qualitative research. The study used Strauss and Corbin's systematic approach to recognize the causal factors of knowledge creation and the contexts. Discovering the main category of knowledge creation in interdisciplinary research teams, the authors analyze the strategies and consequences of knowledge creation.