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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2003

Jill Manthorpe, JoyAnn Andrews, Mieke Agelink, Sanne Zegers, Michelle Cornes, Melanie Smith and Roger Watson

Intermediate care services generally focus on health and social care organisations as the key commissioning and providing agencies. The private sector is an important contributor…

Abstract

Intermediate care services generally focus on health and social care organisations as the key commissioning and providing agencies. The private sector is an important contributor to residential intermediate care, and the voluntary sector is also involved in a variety of activities. However, volunteers' contribution is little discussed, and its potential unknown. This article outlines features of intermediate care that may or may not be attractive to volunteers. A survey of volunteer perceptions of their role in one voluntary sector intermediate care service is reported. Recommendations are made for voluntary groups, intermediate care workers and their managers, and policy makers.

Details

Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 11 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1476-9018

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2008

Jack Armitage

The auditing educational process needs to be reevaluated in light of changing conditions so that it can adequately prepare students to function in the current environment…

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Abstract

Purpose

The auditing educational process needs to be reevaluated in light of changing conditions so that it can adequately prepare students to function in the current environment. Utilizing two world‐wide surveys of auditing professors, the purpose of this paper is to extend prior research by identifying how auditing professors rank the importance of 41 topics typically included in an auditing course and, in addition, identify the significant changes in the topics' importance between the survey conducted in 2000 and repeated in 2005. The paper also aims to examine the focus, emphasis, prerequisites, required status, and level of university auditing courses.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on the results of two questionnaires. The professors surveyed were identified from Hasselback's 2000‐2001 and 2005‐2006 Accounting Faculty Directories. The first questionnaire was mailed in November 2000 and the request to participate in the 2005 survey was e‐mailed in July 2005.

Findings

The most important topics indicated from the 2005 survey are audit risk, understanding internal control structures, types and sources of evidence, standard audit reports, and financial statement assertions. The most important topics from the 2000 survey are types and sources of evidence, audit risk, standard audit report, materiality, and understanding internal control structures. Topics with the largest increases in importance between 2000 and 2005 are reports on internal control, fraud awareness, working papers, and auditing history. Topics with the largest decline in importance are assurance services, information systems auditing, computer auditing techniques, governmental/not‐for‐profit auditing standards, and legal liability of auditors. Other results show that the first auditing course is usually focused on external auditing only, is usually required, offered at the undergraduate level, and the most common prerequisite is intermediate financial accounting.

Research limitations/implications

Research limitations include the possibility of non‐response bias, the type of survey instrument used between the two surveys, and the source used to draw the sample.

Practical implications

For auditing classes to remain relevant and to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to become tomorrow's successful auditing practitioners, auditing professors must continue to reevaluate their auditing courses in light of the changing business environment, requirements placed on auditors by society, changes in professional auditing standards, current research in auditing, and practitioners' needs.

Originality/value

The paper makes a contribution to the existing literature by adding comparability between two surveys at different points in time so that professors can identify the trends and importance of topics in auditing education.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 23 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 July 2008

K.C. Lam, D. Wang and M.C.K. Lam

The purpose of the paper is to report the investigation results of current practices of strategic asset allocation process, which consists of capital budget planning, monitoring…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to report the investigation results of current practices of strategic asset allocation process, which consists of capital budget planning, monitoring, and control of Hong Kong building contractors. The changes of the said practices are compared with the results of the two similar surveys undertaken in the past longitudinally.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 157 questionnaires were sent to about 1,000 approved Hong Kong building contractors (classified as group A, B, C in accordance with their maximum capacities). The total response rate was 30.7 per cent. Statistical techniques, a two‐dimensional contingency table, and discriminant function analysis (DA) were deployed to analyze the survey data via SPSS.

Findings

Only the practice of a regular review of the minimum rate of return of major projects was popular. For monitoring aspect, 100 per cent of surveyed contractors monitor project performance once operational. The result of post‐completion audits on major projects was 63 per cent. For the results of the longitudinal study, 66.7 per cent of group C firms employed the practices of intermediate and long‐term capital budgets and 71.4 per cent of large firms had a formal body for screening investment proposals compared with 54.8 per cent and 63.3 per cent of the same group's practices in 1994 respectively. DA results showed that the patterns within the three different groups (A, B, and C) were very similar, and group A and group B were active in capital budgeting monitoring and control.

Practical implications

Planning was the weakest and data showed that Hong Kong building contractors had tight control of the projects.

Originality/value

This paper reports the investigation results of current practices of strategic asset allocation process, which consists of capital budget planning, monitoring, and control of Hong Kong building contractors.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1985

B.S. Wyatt

Equipment and typical results from cathodic protection surveying systems. In the simplest form, cathodic protection surveying of fixed offshore platforms is achieved by the so…

Abstract

Equipment and typical results from cathodic protection surveying systems. In the simplest form, cathodic protection surveying of fixed offshore platforms is achieved by the so called ‘dipping’ technique, dipping a reference electrode into the sea and measuring a steel/sea potential with respect to it via an indicating voltmeter and a metallic connection to the topside steelwork. This procedure is allowed in NACE RP‐01–76 REF 36 but the standard does address the importance of placing the electrode close to platform members, distant from anodes and into areas of greatest shielding. The conventionally undertaken dip survey, particularly in geographic regions with substantial sea currents which cany the electrode away from structure members, is nothing better than a general indication of the overall level of protection. The probability is of errors indicating better levels than actually exist, due to the IR related voltage drops in the sea between the electrode location and the platform member.

Details

Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, vol. 32 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0003-5599

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1990

P. Ryalls and A. Stevens

Outlines the methods used to construct two basements at the newBritish Library, and the precautions taken to monitor and prevent groundmovement and related damage to adjacent…

Abstract

Outlines the methods used to construct two basements at the new British Library, and the precautions taken to monitor and prevent ground movement and related damage to adjacent buildings and London Underground tunnels. Discusses the proposed construction sequence, the prediction of ground movements and the comprehensive survey and ground instrumentation programme installed. Explains the type, purpose and criteria for the instrumentation required and details their positioning in order to monitor possible damage, with particular reference to London Underground and St Pancras Station. Details the results of the survey over the nine‐year construction period, in comparison with predictions, and the plans for continuation of surveys until work is complete.

Details

Structural Survey, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-080X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 February 2021

Agu Godswill Agu, Okwuagwu Okuu Kalu, Chidadi Obinna Esi-Ubani and Paul Chinedu Agu

The purpose of this study is to integrate and extend two models of entrepreneurial intention to investigate the drivers of sustainable entrepreneurial intention among intermediate

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to integrate and extend two models of entrepreneurial intention to investigate the drivers of sustainable entrepreneurial intention among intermediate undergraduate university students in Nigeria. Specifically, this paper aims to introduce education for sustainable entrepreneurship into the integrated model, thereby fitting the model into the context of sustainable entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was gathered with the help of a structured questionnaire from 435 students of a university in Nigeria. The students passed through a special entrepreneurship training in which they were educated on the concept and practice of sustainable entrepreneurship. SmartPLS was used to test the proposed structural model.

Findings

The findings revealed that education for sustainable entrepreneurship significantly influences all variables of the integrated model, but has nonsignificant direct influence on sustainable entrepreneurial intention. Sustainable entrepreneurial intention is significantly driven by attitude and propensity to act. Therefore, the inclusion of education for sustainable entrepreneurship into the regression equation adds to its explanatory power.

Originality/value

This study contributes toward understanding of sustainable entrepreneurial intention of intermediate university students in a developing world context – Nigeria. Above all, it is among the few studies that shed light on the strength of education for sustainable entrepreneurship in the formation of sustainable entrepreneurial intention among students. This study proposes integration and extension (by adding education for sustainable entrepreneurship) of the theory of planned behavior and entrepreneurial event model in learning about students’ intentions to engage in sustainable entrepreneurship.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 August 2012

N. van Eijk, N. Helberger, L. Kool, A. van der Plas and B. van der Sloot

The paper aims to report the main findings of a study for the Dutch Regulatory Authority for the Telecommunications sector OPTA to explore how the new European “cookie rules” in

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to report the main findings of a study for the Dutch Regulatory Authority for the Telecommunications sector OPTA to explore how the new European “cookie rules” in the ePrivacy Directive impact on behavioral advertising practices via the storing and reading of cookies. The paper identifies the main dilemmas with the implementation of the new European rules. The Dutch case provides a valuable reality check also outside The Netherlands. Even before the amendment of the directive, The Netherlands already had an opt‐in system in place. From the Dutch experience important lessons can be learned also for other European countries.

Design/methodology/approach

After a brief analysis of the legal situation in Europe and in The Netherlands (section 2), section 3 reports about the findings of a survey among the main providers of targeted advertising in The Netherlands to explore the current use of cookies and targeted advertising practices. Section 4 describes the findings of a qualitative survey among Dutch internet users with the goal to define their level of skills and knowledge, acceptance of and behavior towards the placing and reading of cookies. A concluding section (section 5) summarizes the main findings and identifies implications for the future policy debate.

Findings

The results show that the majority of the surveyed parties involved in behavioral advertising do not inform users about the storing of cookies or the purposes of data processing of the subsequently obtained data, neither have they obtained users' consent for the storage of cookies. The authors also found that the majority of users lack the skills and knowledge to handle cookies.

Social implications

The findings critically question the wisdom of the “informed consent regime” that currently lies at the heart of Europe's ePrivacy Directive. The paper concludes with reflections about the concrete policy implications of the study, and a number of concrete suggestions of how to approach the future debate with regard to the regulation of online tracking and cookies.

Originality/value

The approach of the paper is original in that it combines legal analysis with two surveys: one among behavioral advertisers and one among online users. This approach permits us to better understand the efficacy of the new legal rules, to make predictions regarding the level of compliance with the new rules and identify areas in this highly topical debate that require further attention.

Content available
Article
Publication date: 29 August 2008

137

Abstract

Details

Structural Survey, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-080X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2013

Janet Williams, Michael D. Williams and Arthur Morgan

The literature on enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation has been dominated by variance theories which have identified numerous lists of critical success factors (CSFs…

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Abstract

Purpose

The literature on enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation has been dominated by variance theories which have identified numerous lists of critical success factors (CSFs) for managing implementation but there has been relatively little research adopting a process theory approach which explains how change occurs. One such theory, the teleological process, has been criticised in the IS literature for its capability to evolve and learn due to its convergence towards an end goal. Drawing upon the field of organisational development (OD), the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the usefulness of the theory and contend that, whilst it exhibits planned behaviour, events are adaptive and learned and emerge though social construction of actors in organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

An in‐depth interpretive study of eight public‐sector organisations is used. During the investigation, two primary methods of data collection were analysed: survey questionnaires (2) and in‐depth interviews (38).

Findings

The data were analysed and contrasted with themes and attributes associated with teleological design. The article highlights how the central role of an agent or entity, and its interaction with eight key attributes, is critical to the success of the change process.

Originality/value

The article proposes benefits of applying teleological theory to the context of designing the change, pre and post project implementation. Whilst the data are based in the UK, the framework also provides a useful starting point for further research in ERP implementation in developing and emerging nations of areas likely to be problematic.

Details

Journal of Enterprise Information Management, vol. 26 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0398

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2019

Tomás López-Guzmán, Jesús Claudio Pérez Gálvez, Franklin Cordova Buiza and Miguel Jesús Medina-Viruel

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an analysis of the relationships existing among three basic constructs in the visitor’s decision-making process (motivation and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an analysis of the relationships existing among three basic constructs in the visitor’s decision-making process (motivation and satisfaction) in a tourist destination that is a World Heritage Site, such as the city of Lima (Peru). Bearing in mind the perception of heritage by the foreign visitors, four types of tourists were determined: alternative tourists, cultural tourists, emotional tourists and heritage tourists.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses the multivariate technique of grouping cases (K-means clusters) to analyse the similarity existing among the surveyed persons. From the groups or segments obtained, statistics and measurements of association were applied, which provide the information necessary to study the possible trends of association existing between variables from a table of bidimensional contingencies. In the same way, nonparametric statistical procedures were used (Kruskal–Wallis H test and the Mann–Whitney U test) with the aim of analysing significant differences among groups of the sample.

Findings

The results show the existence of four diverse motivational dimensions among the foreign tourists to visit Lima: hedonic, cultural, convenience and circumstantial. Of the four dimensions, the cultural aspect is the most relevant. The results show the existence of a specific Ibero-American heritage and cultural identity.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the academic literature on the links of the tourist with the historical and monumental heritage location(s) visited by the tourist and the tourist’s behaviour while visiting the site. In fact, it is one of the first investigations carried out on this subject in Latin America.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 16000