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1 – 10 of 42Sashika Abeydeera, Helen Tregidga and Kate Kearins
In recognition of the potential for Buddhism to advance sustainability, this paper aims to investigate whether Buddhism appears to be informing the sustainability practices of…
Abstract
Purpose
In recognition of the potential for Buddhism to advance sustainability, this paper aims to investigate whether Buddhism appears to be informing the sustainability practices of corporations within a particular national context. Corporate sustainability reports are used as a site of analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
Sixteen corporate sustainability reports from a set of sustainability award-winning corporations in Sri Lanka, a country with a strong Buddhist presence, are analysed. Evidence of Buddhist principles and values related to sustainability is sought to ascertain the extent to which Buddhism is evident in disclosures within the reports. The influence of global institutions is also considered.
Findings
Analysis reveals surprisingly little evidence of Buddhist principles and values in the corporate sustainability reports of these award-winning corporations. Sustainability reporting practices are revealed to be highly institutionalised by global influences, with the majority of the reports examined explicitly embracing global standardisation. The standardisation of corporate sustainability reporting through the pursuit of globally accepted reporting frameworks is argued to have caused a disconnect between Buddhism as a prevalent institutional force in the local culture and context and the corporate representations evident in such reporting. Potential consequences of this disconnect in relation to the ability for Buddhism to inform sustainability practices at the organisational level are considered.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature on corporate sustainability reporting through considering whether local cultural context is represented within such reports and possible reasons and consequences.
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Eva Collins, Kate Kearins, Helen Tregidga and Stephen Bowden
Chris Morrison and two partners introduced the first Fairtrade bananas in New Zealand in a bid to improve the social and environmental impacts of banana consumption. The trio…
Abstract
Synopsis
Chris Morrison and two partners introduced the first Fairtrade bananas in New Zealand in a bid to improve the social and environmental impacts of banana consumption. The trio started All Good Bananas in 2010. Using social media as a key marketing tool, the startup had grown to take a 5 percent market share in a fiercely competitive industry dominated by big players. In 2012, the entrepreneurs needed to decide the best way to increase sales of ethically sourced products under the All Good brand. Should they expand their share of the banana market or diversify into drinks?
Research methodology
The case is primarily based on tape-recorded interviews by the authors with the founding entrepreneur and three employees of All Good from May to July 2012 and an analysis of the company’s website and social media activities. Other publicly available information sources were drawn upon, and a discussion held with a New Zealand national grocery chain CEO.
Relevant courses and levels
This case has been written for use in classes in undergraduate and graduate level entrepreneurship, strategic management and sustainability. The case can be used to illustrate how very small resource-constrained startups can compete in an industry dominated by large multinational corporations, and how Fairtrade might provide a worthy differentiation focus. It is open to a consideration of judo economics. While several of the questions ask students to consider the New Zealand context in which this case is set, knowledge of New Zealand and the various industries beyond what is offered in the case is not necessary.
Theoretical bases
At a broad level the case illustrates how a small, resource-constrained startup can compete against much, much larger players through a niche Fairtrade product focus and the use of alternative marketing strategies such as guerrilla marketing and social media. In relation to the competitive dynamics within an industry, this case can be used to illustrate the concept of judo economics (also referred to as judo strategy). Both the utility and potential limits of judo economics can be demonstrated through the case by considering current activities and potential future dynamics.
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Christine Byrch, Markus J. Milne, Richard Morgan and Kate Kearins
The purpose of this paper is first, to investigate empirically the plurality of understanding surrounding sustainability held by those working in the business sector, and second…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is first, to investigate empirically the plurality of understanding surrounding sustainability held by those working in the business sector, and second, to consider the likelihood of a dialogic accounting that would account for the plurality of perspectives identified.
Design/methodology/approach
The subjects of this study are those people actively working to incorporate sustainability within New Zealand business, both business people and their sustainability advisors. Participant’s subjective understanding is investigated using Q methodology, a method used widely by social science researchers to investigate typical views on a particular topic, from an analysis of the order in which participants individually sort a sample of stimuli. In this study, the stimuli were opinion statements.
Findings
Five typical understandings of sustainable development were identified, including understandings more usually attributed to business antagonists than business. Conflicts between environment and development are acknowledged by most participants. However, an agonistic debate that will create spaces, practices, and institutions through which marginalised understandings of sustainable development might be addressed and contested, is yet to be established and will not be easy.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the few empirical investigations of the plurality of understandings of sustainability held by those people working to incorporate sustainability within business. It is further distinguished by the authors attempt to describe divergent beliefs and values, absent from their immediate business context, and absent from any academic priming. The paper also provides an illustrative example of the application of Q methodology, a method not commonly used in accounting research.
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This paper outlines and exemplifies the use of a method for analysing power relations based on the work of French social theorist, Michel Foucault. The overall research aim of…
Abstract
This paper outlines and exemplifies the use of a method for analysing power relations based on the work of French social theorist, Michel Foucault. The overall research aim of genealogical analysis is to produce “a history of the present”, a history which is essentially critical with its focus on locating forms of power, the channels it takes and the discourses it permeates. Research combining Foucauldian theorisation and method necessarily involves a selective search for injustice and subjection to reveal plausible alternatives to more pervasively modernist histories, which tend to revere progress. Salient features of a genealogical research method are detailed in the context of an actual research project previously conducted by the authors and reproduced here for the purposes of exemplification explicitly as a genealogy.
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Keith Hooper, Kate Kearins and Ruth Green
This paper aims to examine the conceptual arguments surrounding accounting for heritage assets and the resistance by some New Zealand museums to a mandatory valuing of their…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the conceptual arguments surrounding accounting for heritage assets and the resistance by some New Zealand museums to a mandatory valuing of their holdings.
Design/methodology/approach
Evidence was derived from museum annual reports, interviews and personal communications with representatives of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand (ICANZ) and a range of New Zealand museums.
Findings
ICANZ's requirement that heritage assets be accounted for in a manner similar to other assets is shown as deriving from a managerialist rationality which, in espousing sector neutrality, assumes an unproblematic stance to the particular nature and circumstances of museums and their holdings. Resisting the imposition of the standard, New Zealand's regional museums evince an identity tied more strongly to notions of aesthetic, cultural and social value implicit in curatorship, than to a concern with the economic value of their holdings. Museum managers and accountants prefer to direct their attention to what they see as more vitally important tasks related to the conservation, preservation and maintenance of heritage assets, rather than to divert scarce funds to what they see as an academic exercise in accounting.
Originality/value
The paper points to some of the difficulties inherent in the application of a one‐size‐fits‐all application of an accounting standard to entities and assets differentiated in their purpose and essence.
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Belinda Luke, Kate Kearins and Martie‐Louise Verreynne
This article aims to consider success in terms of the financial returns and risks of new public management (NPM) in state‐owned enterprises (SOEs).
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to consider success in terms of the financial returns and risks of new public management (NPM) in state‐owned enterprises (SOEs).
Design/methodology/approach
Financial returns of New Zealand SOEs were examined through a review of their annual reports over a five‐year period. Dimensions of risk were examined through interviews conducted in two phases over a two‐year period with senior executives from 12 of the (then) 17 SOEs operating in New Zealand.
Findings
Findings indicate the potential for SOEs to operate as profitable government investments, with clear support for positive financial returns under NPM. However, variations noted within individual SOEs also indicate that profitable and commercial operations may not be possible in all cases. An examination of the risks associated with SOEs' operations reveals a number of dimensions of risk, encompassing financial, political (including regulatory), reputational, and public accountability aspects.
Practical implications
There is a need for an enhanced awareness on the part of internal and external stakeholders (such as the government and general public) of the risks SOEs face in pursuing higher levels of profitability. Also required, is a more acute understanding on the part of internal and external stakeholders (e.g. government and the public) of the need for SOEs to manage the range of risks identified, given the potentially delicate balance between risk and return.
Originality/value
While previous studies have considered the financial returns of SOEs, or the risks faced by the public sector in terms of accountability, few have addressed the two issues collectively in a single context.
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Christine Byrch, Kate Kearins, Markus Milne and Richard Morgan
The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of sustainable development held by New Zealand “thought leaders” and “influencers” promoting sustainability, business, or…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of sustainable development held by New Zealand “thought leaders” and “influencers” promoting sustainability, business, or sustainable business. It seeks to compare inductively derived worldviews with theories associated with sustainability and the humanity‐nature relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Worldviews were explored through a cognitive mapping exercise. A total of 21 thought leaders and influencers constructed maps of their understanding of sustainable development. These maps were analysed to reveal commonalities and differences.
Findings
Participant maps illustrated disparate levels of detail and complexity. Those participants promoting business generally emphasized the economic domain, accepting economic growth and development as the key to sustainable development. An emphasis on the environmental domain, the future, limits to the Earth's resources, and achievement through various radical means, was more commonly articulated by those promoting sustainability. Participants promoting sustainable business held elements of both approaches, combining an emphasis on the environmental domain and achievement of sustainable development by various reformist means.
Research limitations/implications
This study identified the range of worldviews expressed by 21 thought leaders and influencers across three main domains only – promoters of sustainability, business or both. Extending this sample and exploring how these and other views arise and are represented within a wider population could be the subject of further research.
Practical implications
Such divergence of opinion as to what connotes sustainable development across even a small sample does not bode well for its achievement. The elucidation of the worldview of promoters of sustainable business points to the need to consider more carefully the implications of environmentalism, and other aspects of sustainability, integrated into a business agenda.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to empirical research on environmental worldviews which has barely penetrated discussion of sustainability within the management and business literature. It shows cognitive mapping to be an effective technique for investigating the meaning of a conceptual theme like sustainable development.
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Linda J. Twiname, Maria Humphries and Kate Kearins
As part of an ongoing project on worker well‐being, this paper aims to examine the application of flexible work arrangements through the experiences of core workers in a small…
Abstract
Purpose
As part of an ongoing project on worker well‐being, this paper aims to examine the application of flexible work arrangements through the experiences of core workers in a small, European‐owned, New Zealand manufacturing firm.
Design/methodology/approach
A participatory action research approach is taken.
Findings
The research reveals that flexible employment arrangements utilised in this firm did not afford protection to core workers as theory suggests. Both core and peripheral workers were exposed to pressure primarily to extend their hours of work and to reduce their expectations regarding remuneration. Production level increases were not reflected in increases in numbers of core workers; in fact perceived job security was low. Core workers felt pressure to work extended hours out of their commitment to the firm, each other, and to maintain their own employment.
Practical implications
The use of more democratic processes inherent in action research oriented at workplace well‐being are shown to have had some value toward enhancing worker well‐being.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates that the participative project placed pressure upon management and that it had the potential to redress a power imbalance within the employment relationship.
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Belinda Luke, Kate Kearins and Martie‐Louise Verreynne
This paper aims to examine the integration of entrepreneurship and strategy to develop a conceptual framework of strategic entrepreneurship. The framework is developed through an…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the integration of entrepreneurship and strategy to develop a conceptual framework of strategic entrepreneurship. The framework is developed through an analysis of theory and refined through an examination of practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This framework is considered in the context of potentially entrepreneurial and strategic activity undertaken by 12 of the 17 state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) operating in New Zealand in 2006‐2007. Based on a review of documents, observation, and interviews with SOE executives, cases of 12 SOE activities were analysed to compare and contrast strategic entrepreneurship in practice.
Findings
The findings reveal distinct elements within the four activities classified as strategic entrepreneurship, activities, such as leveraging from core skills and resources from a strategic perspective, and innovation from an entrepreneurial perspective.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to examine the nature of strategic entrepreneurship in practice and the associated financial returns.
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