Search results

To examine metrics used for performance measurement, analysis, and decision-making by insurance cooperatives.

A documentary review and semi-structured interviews of three large insurance cooperatives form the basis of the study.

The analysis suggests insurance co-operatives metrics are consistent with investor-owned companies. These measures do not recognize the cooperative principles and values which consistent the formative basis of these insurance co-operatives.

The insurance co-operatives under examination do not engage in a comparison to other insurance co-operatives; rather comparisons are made against investor-owned companies. As this analysis is used in decision-making and strategy formulation, guiding the direction of the co-operatives the questions must be raised: does the co-operative difference exist in the insurance sector and how (and what) performance analysis tools are used to assess their performance?

There is a paucity of research in the area of metrics and analytics of co-operatives. As such this article expands the academic scope of examination of co-operatives in the context of financial and accounting operations. Additionally, it adds to the ongoing discussion in the academy focused on the nature of co-operatives and the nature of the co-operative difference.

Oil market VAR models have become the standard tool for understanding the evolution of the real price of oil and its impact on the macro economy. As this literature has expanded at a rapid pace, it has become increasingly difficult for mainstream economists to understand the differences between alternative oil market models, let alone the basis for the sometimes divergent conclusions reached in the literature. The purpose of this survey is to provide a guide to this literature. Our focus is on the econometric foundations of the analysis of oil market models with special attention to the identifying assumptions and methods of inference.

This chapter aims to determine the extent of stakeholder engagement in the sustainability accounting and reporting process in three Australian local councils. The frameworks of Arnstein (1969) and Friedman and Miles (2006) and the case study methodology are used to assess the stakeholder engagement practices of three best practice Australian local councils. The findings highlight the existence of five levels of stakeholder engagement ranging from informing to empowering. However, the extent of stakeholder engagement varied depending on the nature and purpose of engagement. This study adds to the limited literature on stakeholder engagement in sustainability accounting and reporting, especially in a public sector context. This study provides practical insights into engagement with stakeholders and is useful to both organizations and their stakeholders. Although focused on a public sector and Australian context, the findings of this study have implications for stakeholder engagement in various local and global contexts.

This study examines the factors that influence the uptake of stakeholder engagement in the sustainability accounting and reporting process. The chapter addresses the scarcity of research in the area of stakeholder engagement by highlighting the factors that accelerate involvement of stakeholders in the sustainability accounting and reporting process. Case study research was used to explore the influences on stakeholder engagement practices of three Australian local councils. Data collection methods included interviews and document analysis.

This research highlights external as well as internal factors that can encourage meaningful stakeholder engagement in the sustainability accounting and reporting process in public sector organisations. The findings of this research recognise government regulations as the key driver behind the uptake of stakeholder engagement policies and practices. However, managerial commitment and professional bodies’ support is observed as necessary to encourage and sustain creative and meaningful engagement. These findings also have implications for stakeholder engagement in the private sector.

The purpose of this paper is to find the event memory characteristics hidden in trade data.

First, historical trade data are analyzed to define the events described by multi‐dimensional characteristic variables. The variables containing information are employed to build the event description patterns. Furthermore, a search engine is developed for calendar events, which can search for events in historical data and produce a collection of events. The search engine also extracts relevant system reaction phenomena described by trend distribution for each event pattern. Finally, both event patterns and system reactions construct the episodic memory model.

The event patterns and the system reactions are used to define the episodic memory model. The search methods for the episodic memory model obtained from trade data set are given.

Accessibility and availability of data are the main limitations affecting where the method can be applied.

The method is helpful for traders when judging the current trade situation from historical memory.

The paper presents a new episodic memory modeling method based on trade data.

This mixed-methods study reports on an outreach clinics program designed to deliver genetic services to medically underserved communities in Wisconsin.

We show the geographic distribution, funding patterns, and utilization trends for outreach clinics over a 20-year period. Interviews with program planners and outreach clinic staff show how external and internal constraints limited the program’s capacity. We compare clinic operations to the conceptual models guiding program design.

Our findings show that state health officials had to scale back financial support for outreach clinic activities while healthcare providers faced increasing pressure from administrators to reduce investments in charity care. These external and internal constraints led to a decline in the overall number of patients served. We also find that redistribution of clinics to the Milwaukee area increased utilization among Hispanics but not among African-Americans. Our interviews suggest that these patterns may be a function of shortcomings embedded in the planning models.

Planning models have three shortcomings. First, they do not identify the mitigation of health disparities as a specific goal. Second, they fail to acknowledge that partners face escalating profit-seeking mandates that may limit their capacity to provide charity services. Finally, they underemphasize the importance of seeking trusted partners, especially in working with communities that have been historically marginalized.

There has been little discussion about equitably leveraging genetic advances that improve healthcare quality and efficacy. The role of State Health Agencies in mitigating disparities in access to genetic services has been largely ignored in the sociological literature.

In Scotland residential units for children remain largely in the hands of local authorities. A reluctance to plan for and use such services as a positive choice results in many children being placed as a last resort. Two research studies gathered data over a six‐month period and considered seven local authorities' admissions to children's units, allowing for in‐depth exploration of the manner in which children are being placed in residential care. The studies revealed a significant number of children aged under 12 being admitted to residential care, many placements of a very short duration, poor evidence of placement planning, substantial numbers of sibling groups being separated and admitted to different residential care settings and many instances of residential placements being used when not the preferred option. The implications of the findings are discussed and possible solutions offered as to how the residential sector can be developed to achieve the wide range of roles it is currently expected to fulfil.

The purpose of this paper is to employ innovative methods to examine the associations between personal wellbeing, self-rated health and various aspects of social capital within a socio-economically disadvantaged town in northern England.

A survey was developed and administered with input from local stakeholders (including residents), using a participatory action research (PAR) approach. In total, 11 lay interviewers were trained to pilot and deliver the final survey, which was completed either in person or online. In total, 233 valid surveys were returned.

Respondents were aged between 17 and 87 years (mean 47.3, SD 17.4), 65.7 per cent were female and 46.2 per cent identified themselves as having a longstanding illness, disability or infirmity. Overall, respondents reported lower levels of personal wellbeing and social capital in comparison with UK averages, although free-text responses highlighted a strong sense of community spirit and pride in the town. Low wellbeing was strongly associated with poor health, social isolation and neighbourhood factors such as perceived lack of community safety and trust.

PAR appears to be an acceptable approach in generating estimates of population characteristics associated with personal wellbeing.

The findings of this study may be used by policymakers to design services and interventions to better meet the needs of communities characterised by indicators of poor health and wellbeing.

This work constitutes part of a global trend to measure personal and societal wellbeing. A novel methodology has been used to examine the factors that influence wellbeing at a neighbourhood level.

The paper aims to show that materiality in the EU's non-financial reporting directive (NFRD) is an ambiguous concept, that its meaning is contested and that this contest for materiality is a contest for the meaning of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Thus, the paper shall highlight a new aspect of materiality as a core principle in non-financial reporting.

The paper combines a historical analysis of the EU's CSR policies, an in-depth textual analysis of the EU's 2014 NFRD and associated documents, of non-financial reporting frameworks and exemplary adoptions of the NFRD in national laws.

The paper identifies two conflicting views of materiality in the NFRD. It shows that these “additive” and “cumulative” views correspond to the approaches taken by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) frameworks and by different national adoptions of the NFRD. The paper concludes that this contest for materiality is a contest for CSR – focusing either on business risks or impacts, shareholders or stakeholders, the business case or the social case for such a responsibility.

The paper is mainly based on an in-depth analysis of the European debate on materiality in non-financial reporting. Some of the paper's descriptive results are thus limited to this particular case. However, the main conceptual findings are backed up by an analysis of internationally established reporting frameworks and scholarly debates on the issue.

The paper reveals the practical implications of the contesting “additive” and “cumulative“ understandings of materiality present in the NFRD. The paper thus further underpins the preference for a “double materiality” perspective in the revision of the NFRD and the EC's 2021 CSRD proposal.

The paper makes an original contribution in its explication of different understandings of materiality in non-financial reporting and how these eventually represent different, competing perspectives on the nature of the NFRD and of CSR.

Aims to disseminate the findings of an investigation into the perception of women as managers and the obstacles that they face in the workplace. Identifies the issues and problems faced by women from “multinational corporations” and the impact of operating across national boundaries. The three key issues are age, gender, and family responsibility. Reports on evidence found from conducting “personal interviews” and “focus group” discussions, showing that the ensuing implications have had a significant impact on women in the workplace. Argues that little has changed in terms of employers’ perception of working women so far. The study was supported from funds provided via the European Union under the European Social Fund Scheme.