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This paper aims to respond to recent calls to rethink the concept of managerial capture as it has been used to date to explore and explain the limited impacts of new forms of stakeholder engagement.

The paper explores the grounding of views of managerial capture in the Habermasian ideal of participative democracy. It then attempts to re‐conceive the understanding of capture by drawing on Foucault's account of disciplinary power and its constitutive effects on subjectivity.

Capture appears as a managerial mindset constituted by the pervasive demand for shareholder value. When stakeholder issues are considered within this frame they must be recast in ways that pose no moral or emotional challenge to the dominant logic of shareholder maximisation. This moral distancing or amoralisation can be traced to the accounting practices that make management visible to their superiors (board of directors or more senior levels of management) in terms of their utility. In seeking the recognition of their superiors, individual managers make themselves subjects of this deeper form of capture.

A less restricted lens for conducting future research in managerial capture is offered. While in practice stakeholder engagement fails to live up to the Habermasian ideal, it still holds some promise for delivering management accountability.

The paper shows that ideas of power and subjectivity are key to an understanding of environmental accountability and open the social and environmental accountability literature to a new set of interesting problematics.

Knowledge capture from experts is important when that knowledge is of value, scarce, and threatened by loss, as is the case with the expected departure of “baby boomers” from the workforce. This paper seeks to provide a theoretically grounded, practical methodology for initial knowledge capture and ongoing maintenance of this knowledge using “Web 2.0” technologies.

The paper used a participatory action research project in which a methodology was developed for the capture of knowledge from experts in an organization experiencing both knowledge loss and rapid growth. The methodology used simple, affordable technologies such as digital cameras and digital editors, Wikis with a “semantic web” and social tagging.

The paper was able to integrate an initial knowledge capture into an ongoing cycle of knowledge organizing, sharing and maintenance. It was found that, whilst it is an economical and appropriate solution to problems of knowledge loss and knowledge sharing, sustainability of the information capture and its validation and ongoing maintenance by others require explicit management attention.

This methodology provides a process model for investigating the conversion of tacit to explicit knowledge and the effectiveness of knowledge capture methods for inter‐generational knowledge in particular, but knowledge capture from experts in general.

The knowledge capture methodology derived in this project can be used by managers and practitioners to address knowledge loss and under‐utilization.

The methodology is original and based on a process model of tacit‐explicit knowledge conversion. It uses cheap accessible tools, integrates an initial capture into an ongoing lifecycle, and uses modern, lightweight Web 2.0 tools and concepts.

Drawing on new insights from the experiences and perspectives of a prominent reporting client and its assurance team, the purpose of this paper is to explore the question: what are challenges to the legitimacy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting and assurance?

Using a qualitative research approach, in-depth, semi-structured interviews are conducted with a Fortune 200 firm’s Vice President responsible for CSR oversight (including CSR reporting), and with the report’s assurance team from a Top 20 accounting firm. Questions are informed by existing literature, and analysis focuses on new insights that conform to, or contrast with, prior studies in areas that may challenge the legitimacy of CSR reporting.

The study documents that reporting and assurance may often serve the respective commercial and professional interests of the firm and the assuror, rather than providing accountability to the public interest. Specifically, the authors find that legitimacy-challenging instances of managerial capture of CSR reporting may co-exist in a firm with management-as-CSR-champion, in contrast with existing literature. Prior research has assumed these two constructs are not likely to co-exist within a single organization. The interviews suggest that managerial influence is fostered by the lack of reporting standards and the absence of agreement regarding the over-arching purpose of CSR reports and their assurance.

Going forward, researchers should consider the multifaceted role management can play in CSR reporting and assurance, rather than treating managerial capture and management-as-champion as mutually exclusive. Future research could also examine how standards may balance desired comparability with flexibility in CSR reporting.

The study will interest report users who may assume that a seemingly supportive management would not play a restrictive role in the reporting and assurance processes. Reporters and assurors will benefit from reading the perspectives provided by professionals engaged in similar work, including the challenges they face, such as the consequences resulting from the lack of standards for CSR reporting and assurance.

The study is the first to provide a behind-the-scenes view of the report–assuror dyad by interviewing both the reporting firm and the assurance team engaged on the same CSR report.

Knowledge management presents a problem for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, largely because of the industry’s fragmented structure and project-driven nature. Construction companies may be involved in a variety of projects in different locations, each having its own knowledge requirements. Companies are also expected to be competitive, flexible and innovative, but introducing new knowledge management systems (KMSs) may represent a change that is beyond the organisation’s capacity to undergo successfully, and thus becomes a “nightmare”. The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a KMS solution that can help to facilitate the capture and application of important knowledge without introducing unnecessary changes in internal procedures for the organisation.

Following a review of existing systems, and an interview survey of 22 managers in the Portuguese AEC industry (contractors, design consultants and project management consultants) a new IT-based construction KMS called ConstruKnowledge was developed. The KMS was tested, verified and validated in two Portuguese construction projects and assessed by 12 managers in the construction company undertaking those projects.

The results of two pilot tests using ConstruKnowledge in two Portuguese construction projects demonstrate that its use can raise the levels of confidence in decision-making, and retaining knowledge; and that it serves to add value to the company.

The Construknowledge KMS is an innovative contribution to the greater acceptance of KMSs in the construction industry. The system facilitates the effective and efficient development of an organisational KMS using basic Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-based collaboration tools. While undertaken in the context of the Portuguese industry, the KMS has a wider global potential for implementation and further development.

The originality and value of this research are that it demonstrates how a KMS can be developed and then used in a construction company to capture and share knowledge without introducing additional constraints.

A shift in supply management is underway. Nonlinear connections of buyers and sellers in business ecosystems challenge conventional supply management practice. Digital technologies and network connectivity lower the costs of connecting and collaborating with loosely related external parties. This paper aims to explore how this challenges conventional purchasing and supply management (PSM) practice.

This paper builds on the extended case research method. It is based on a theoretical conceptualization, which is explored through a case study.

The authors find that both supply management’s contribution to value creation, value appropriation and collaborative interfaces change with the emergence of multifaceted business systems.

The paper is developed within a specific industrial context, and the findings are not directly transferrable to other contexts. However, the authors believe that on an analytical level, there is value in transferring the insights into other manufacturing contexts.

Managers must challenge the taken-for-granted thinking that follows from linear supply management practices and start rehearsing the role of PSM when dealing with supplies from business ecosystem lead firms.

This research takes up a novel issue, highly relevant for PSM practitioners as well as for theory. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, nothing has been written about the colliding business logics of conventional PSM and that of business ecosystems.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the managerial practices to assess value creation and value capture potential in longitudinal buyer-seller relationships, and proposes a framework for evaluating such potential for maximizing sales function efficiency.

The research is based on an exploratory multi-case study with seven internationally operating companies from a variety of industries, with the aim of building the framework for sales opportunity management. The framework is then refined in eight workshops with 21 companies.

The findings suggest that industrial companies need to develop new capabilities to efficiently manage value selling opportunities at different stages of the opportunity lifecycle.

The underlying sales approach of the research is proactive value selling in a service business context. The findings may not be generalizable into other sales contexts.

The paper provides practicing managers with an actionable sales opportunity management framework for an effective management of sales quality.

The research contributes to a previously unexplored area of sales management, and suggests a managerial practice linking strategy to implementation at the customer interface.

The purpose of this study is to describe how the University of Minnesota's capital program implemented risk management metrics on 266 construction projects and to present the results of the risk metrics.

The implementation of Weekly Risk Reports (WRR) on the university construction projects captured information on the internal and external efforts related to minimizing project risks. The report implemented captured project risks, management plans, cost changes and schedule delays.

Findings reveal that the university was able to effectively capture project risk metrics through the WRR. The risk metrics identified the risks categories that impacted the 266 project costs and schedules. Through these findings, the university has a better understanding of how their internal stakeholders create the greatest risk to impacting the project cost and schedule. This paper presents the risk impacts collected from the 266 projects.

A complete analysis of the risk metrics was limited in this research due to the extensive measurements collected. Future analysis will provide additional findings from the risk information.

The paper presents both the implementation and the risk management measurements used within a capital program of a major university to provide understanding of the common risks that are involved with capital projects.

The purpose of the research was to discover the process of social and environmental report assurance (SERA) and thereby evaluate the benefits, extent of stakeholder inclusivity and/or managerial capture of SERA processes and the dynamics of SERA as it matures.

This paper used semi‐structured interviews with 20 accountant and consultant assurors to derive data, which were then coded and analysed, resulting in the identification of four themes.

This paper provides interview evidence on the process of SERA, suggesting that, although there is still managerial capture of SERA, stakeholders are being increasingly included in the process as it matures. SERA is beginning to provide dual‐pronged benefits, adding value to management and stakeholders simultaneously. Through the lens of Freirian dialogic theory, it is found that SERA is starting to display some characteristics of a dialogical process, being stakeholder inclusive, demythologising and transformative, with assurors perceiving themselves as a “voice” for stakeholders. Consequently, SERA is becoming an important mechanism for driving forward more stakeholder‐inclusive SER, with the SERA process beginning to transform attitudes of management towards their stakeholders through more stakeholder‐led SER. However, there remain significant obstacles to dialogic SERA. The paper suggests these could be removed through educative and transformative processes driven by assurors.

Previous work on SERA has involved predominantly content‐based analysis on assurance statements. However, this paper investigates the details of the SERA process, for the first time using qualitative interview data.

This paper examines the implementation of the Public Sector Information (PSI) directive in two Swedish municipalities amidst a changing information management landscape impacted by e-government development. Government information is currently looked upon as a “gold mine” and “raw material” to be explored by interested parties. The PSI directive grants European citizens a right to access government information flows (PSI) in order to develop new electronic services. The Swedish government implemented its PSI directive in July 2010. Swedish municipalities have to embrace the directive and make the PSI available to the general public. The literature review highlighted a number of critical issues that should be addressed if PSI initiatives are to succeed. This study revealed that the two municipalities had different resource capacities, and the levels of e-government development varied. This meant that the implementation of the PSI directive also varied. The bigger municipality with a bigger budget had implemented the PSI directive and was publishing data sets on its website, while the smaller municipality with a smaller budget only published a few documents. This paper, therefore, argues that the municipalities should have the same capacity if the PSI is to be a democratic endeavor to serve all citizens. Good quality PSI will also require the municipalities to embrace a records and information continua thinking, which highlights the necessity to proactively and holistically manage the information for pluralization in different contexts.

This paper builds on interviews that were conducted with four municipal officers. The number of respondents is quite small because the focus was specifically on people who were responsible for the implementation of the PSI directive in the municipalities. The respondents were identified through their fellow colleagues and they also recommended each other. Pickard refers to this kind of approach as a snow-bowling approach. Through interviews and observation, one participant advises on issues that need further inquiry and, hence, directs the researcher to another person who might offer more answers. A general interview guide approach was used to solicit answers to issues such as the implementation of the PSI directive, guidelines for PSI publication, if terms such as big data and open data were being used in the municipalities, if the municipalities had an information governance plan and how it was understood, if the information systems were well aligned to meet with the requirements of the PSI directive, how e-government development affected information management and information security and if the municipalities had information security guidelines.

The Swedish government requires its administrations to engage in e-government development. This development has led to increased amounts of information that the municipalities have to effectively manage and make available to the general public. However, the municipalities operate under different conditions. Municipalities that are financially stronger are better placed to invest in measures that will lead to better quality PSI. All municipalities are, however, expected to implement the PSI directive. The two municipalities that were the subjects of this study had different information management environments and the capacity to invest in information management systems that would facilitate the management of their information resources. The budgetary constraints faced by smaller municipalities might impact the implementation of the PSI directive and, hence, hinder the publication of the PSI. e-Government is meant to be an inclusive project, and the PSI is meant for all citizens with innovative ideas. There is a risk that citizens who belong to poorer municipalities might not be equally privileged compared to those living in resourceful municipalities. This poses a democratic challenge that should concern all people interested in an open and inclusive society.

Little research has so far been published on the implementation process of the PSI directive. The discourses that have started to emerge discuss the challenges of open data without paying much attention to the creation, capture and the management aspects of the PSI. The originality of this paper, therefore, lies in the application of the records and information continua thinking, which highlights dimensions that enhance information management and the democratic challenges that will be caused by the data divide, as municipalities have different capabilities when it comes to the publication of the PSI.

This study proposes a novel measure for management’s horizon (short-termism or myopia vs long-termism or hyperopia) derived from easily obtainable firm-level accounting and stock market performance data. The authors use the measure to explore the impact of managements’ horizon on firms’ investment efficiency.

The authors rely on two commonly used but uncorrelated measures of management performance: accounting performance (return on capital employed, ROCE) and stock market performance (average abnormal return, AAR). The authors combine these measures to develop a multidimensional framework for performance, which classifies firms into four groups: efficient (high accounting and high market performance), poor (low accounting and low market performance), myopic (high accounting and low market performance) and hyperopic (low accounting and high market performance). The authors validate this framework and deploy it to explore the relationship between horizon and firms’ investment efficiency.

In validation tests, the authors show that management myopia (hyperopia) explains firms’ decision to cut (grow) research and development investments. Further, as expected, myopic (hyperopic) firms are associated with significantly more (less) accrual and real earnings management. The empirical tests on the link between horizon and investment efficiency suggest that myopic managers cut new investments while their hyperopic counterparts grow the same. Ultimately, the authors find that myopia (hyperopia) exacerbates(mitigates) the over-investment of free cash flow problem.

The authors introduce a framework for assessing management’s horizon using easily obtainable measures of performance. The framework explains inconsistencies in prior empirical research using different measures of performance (accounting versus market). The authors demonstrate its utility by showing that the measure explains decisions around research and development investment, earnings management and firm investments.