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1 – 10 of 62
Article
Publication date: 22 March 2024

Fatemeh S. Shahmehr, Amrik Sohal and Seyed Mohammad Sadegh Khaksar

This study aims to explore how not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) adopt service innovation and improve their employee resilience capabilities as a response to environmental…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) adopt service innovation and improve their employee resilience capabilities as a response to environmental changes arising from marketisation of public services.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a multiple case-study research design, this study involved 32 interviews with frontline employees working in a not-for-profit care-providing organisation.

Findings

This study finds that the development of absorptive capacity can facilitate service innovation adoption in NFPs and improve employee resilience in times of transition.

Originality/value

This study offers theoretical insights on service innovation, absorptive capacity and employee resilience in NFPs. It makes practical recommendations that will enable NFPs to help frontline employees better adopt service innovation practices in business models endorsed by the private sector.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 May 2023

David John Gilchrist, Dane Etheridge and Zhangxin (Frank) Liu

The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of earnings management in the Australian not-for-profit (NFP) disability service providers sector, as well as to…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of earnings management in the Australian not-for-profit (NFP) disability service providers sector, as well as to understand the motivations for and implications of such practices. This research is important for stakeholders, such as members and funders, as well as the broader Australian community, considering the significant financial resources allocated to these organizations from the public purse.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employ a longitudinal dataset containing financial data from 154 Australian NFP disability service providers, collected over a two-year period (2015–2016). Through the analysis of detailed balance sheets and income statements, the authors seek to uncover evidence of earnings management practices in this sector. The study’s results provide valuable insights into the behaviour of the charitable human services sector.

Findings

The findings reveal that Australian NFP disability service providers engage in earnings management practices, primarily aimed at reducing reported profits to meet the normative financial expectations of stakeholders, such as public sector funders and philanthropists. The executives of these organizations strive to report profits close to zero, being cautious not to report a loss, which might raise concerns about their sustainability.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to the existing literature on earnings management in the NFP sector by focussing on Australian disability service providers, an area that has been under-researched due to a lack of suitable data. The results offer insights into the incentives and implications of earnings management practices in this sector and highlight the need for a revaluation of accounting standards, reporting requirements and audit arrangements applicable to the NFP sector.

Details

Journal of Accounting Literature, vol. 46 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-4607

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 February 2024

Chiara Valentini and Krishnamurthy Sriramesh

Personal influence is one of the most powerful strategies to influence publics’ behaviours. Yet, there is scant attention on how personal influence is leveraged for different…

Abstract

Purpose

Personal influence is one of the most powerful strategies to influence publics’ behaviours. Yet, there is scant attention on how personal influence is leveraged for different public relations purposes in different cultural contexts. This study empirically investigates the presence and use of personal influence among Italian public relations professionals.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted through a self-administrated, web-based questionnaire and was developed from earlier studies investigating personal influence in public relations literature. Survey participants included public relations professionals across public, non-profit and private sectors.

Findings

The findings empirically show the presence and regular use of personal influence by professionals from all sectors to cultivate interpersonal relationships. Personal influence is considered a personal resource and used to leverage own influencing power. The findings also document four major manifestations of personal influence, which were named: relational closeness strategy, engagement strategy, expertise strategy and added value strategy.

Practical implications

This study enhances our understanding of personal influence in a specific cultural context and offers strategic insights for international professionals seeking to leverage influence in the socio-political environment of Italy. It also offers elements to improve public relations education and training.

Originality/value

The study offers some preliminary understandings of how Italian professionals leverage their personal influence in their daily public relations activities contributing with empirical evidence to the body of knowledge in public relations.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2023

Denise Jackson and Christina Allen

Technology is widely recognised to be revolutionising the accounting profession, allowing accountants to focus on professional skills and technical knowledge that deliver value…

Abstract

Purpose

Technology is widely recognised to be revolutionising the accounting profession, allowing accountants to focus on professional skills and technical knowledge that deliver value for organisational success. Despite the known benefits, it is reported that accountants are not fully leveraging the potential value of certain technologies. To understand why, this study aims to draw on the technology adoption model (TAM) and investigates accounting professionals’ perceptions towards technology, and how these may influence adoption at work.

Design/methodology/approach

The study gathered online survey data from 585 accounting managers from organisations of varying sizes and in different sectors in Australia and parts of Southeast Asia. Qualitative data were thematically analysed, and quantitative data were analysed using both descriptive and multivariate techniques.

Findings

The study highlighted the pivotal role of staff perceptions on the importance and ease of using technology on the uptake and successful usage. Findings emphasised important opportunities for organisations to educate accounting staff on the value of technology and optimise their confidence and skills through training and support initiatives, particularly smaller businesses. Marked differences in the orientation towards technology among Australian and Southeast Asian participants illuminate how national work culture and practice can influence technology adoption.

Originality/value

The study makes a practical contribution by advancing the understanding of the relative importance and value of certain technologies in different regions and organisation types in the accounting profession. It extends the theoretical understanding of the role of TAM’s core elements to the accounting context, exploring staff’s notions of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use from the manager’s perspective.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2023

Shlomo Globerson

This paper aims to explore the changes that an organizational performance and control system should perform to adapt to the current dynamic environment.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the changes that an organizational performance and control system should perform to adapt to the current dynamic environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper first presents the features of a typical organizational control system. It identifies current technological developments that affect the control process and evaluates the changes that should be introduced in order for the organization to function effectively.

Findings

Although the components of organizational performance and control systems remain the same, most of them have changed their features, such as strategy should be visited more frequently, processes are digitized and therefore customers are more involved in the process, and actual performance can and should be monitored automatically.

Originality/value

This paper presents a comprehensive model of a control system that can be implemented by every organization, as well as points out control features that should be continuously reviewed and updated.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 April 2024

Troy Heffernan

This chapter is focused on what we can learn from oppressive governance, in this case specifically relating to university governance in terms of vice chancellors and presidents…

Abstract

This chapter is focused on what we can learn from oppressive governance, in this case specifically relating to university governance in terms of vice chancellors and presidents, to the deputy vice chancellor and deputy president and down the ever-growing university hierarchy to deans and heads of schools and their deputies, from a Freirean perspective. Freire wrote at length about how leaders ‘controlled’ education and why they did so, but he also wrote at length about how governments control populations – himself being both a political prisoner and a person in exile to escape persecution. This chapter subsequently examines Freire's ideas around what techniques people employ to control populations and applies them to a higher education setting because the similarities are numerous and the tactics familiar.

Details

Academy of the Oppressed
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-316-9

Article
Publication date: 23 February 2024

Poonam Oberoi and Fatiha Naoui-Outini

This study aims to investigate purchasing manager’s core competencies during supplier collaboration and explain the mechanism through which these competencies can affect…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate purchasing manager’s core competencies during supplier collaboration and explain the mechanism through which these competencies can affect purchasing firm’s innovative performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted 22 semidirective interviews with managers in diverse functions such as purchasing, supply-chain management and product development across industries and across nations (mostly India and France), which allow to formulate the propositions.

Findings

Through open coding, the authors identify three path-dependent, causally ambiguous and socially complex core competencies of purchasing managers: relational and emotional, communicational and creative and cognitive competencies; and through axial coding, the authors explain how these intangible core competencies support implementation of market orientation. To provide supporting arguments for the propositions, the authors use the resource-based view of the firm and dynamic capability theory.

Research limitations/implications

The first theoretical contribution of this study is focusing on the impact of competency–capability dyad in terms of performance. The second theoretical contribution of this study is to identify market orientation as a flexible and dynamic managerial capability.

Practical implications

The first managerial contribution is that the authors have identified and described three sets of a purchasing manager’s core competencies during supplier collaboration that affect the firm’s performance: relational and emotional, communicational and creative and cognitive competencies. The second managerial contribution relates to the mechanism through which purchasing managers’ core competencies during supplier collaboration affect firms’ outcomes.

Originality/value

The value of the results is in the explanation of the mechanism, i.e. market orientation dynamic capability, through which the competencies of purchasing managers can affect purchasing firm’s innovative performance.

Details

Journal of Asia Business Studies, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1558-7894

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 March 2024

Anna Zhuravleva

Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are exposed to a highly competitive environment in which they are forced to grow their commercial activity to acquire additional financial…

Abstract

Purpose

Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are exposed to a highly competitive environment in which they are forced to grow their commercial activity to acquire additional financial resources. This study aims to create an understanding of how NPOs involved in textile reuse as a revenue-generating programme manage their reverse supply chains (RSC).

Design/methodology/approach

The research involves an embedded single-case study of NPOs in Finland involved in post-use textile collection. The main data sources are semi-structured interviews and participant observations.

Findings

This study is inspired by the microfoundations movement and identifies the underlying microfoundations of the NPOs’ capabilities for managing RSC for textile reuse. The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating NPOs’ lower-level, granular practices and their adaptations for achieving quality outcomes in textile reuse.

Research limitations/implications

The findings have context sensitivity and apply to the NPOs which operate in a context similar to Finland, such as in other Nordic countries.

Practical implications

This study continues the discussion on the adoption of “business-like” practices in the NPOs’ pursuit of additional revenue streams to finance humanitarian work. The findings of this study can also be transferred to the growing area of domestic textile circularity.

Social implications

Using the case of NPOs in textile reuse, the study illustrates how RSC management can serve a social, non-profit cause and transform unwanted textile products into a source of fundraising for humanitarian work.

Originality/value

This enriches the understanding of NPOs’ practices within the scope of revenue-generating programmes by examining one of them – textile reuse through charity shops from an RSC perspective.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 November 2023

Kim Man Erica Lee, Yanto Chandra and Ho Lee

The social venture (SV) is an increasingly popular form of organization to pursue social goals using a commercial approach. Although marketing plays an important role in SV…

Abstract

Purpose

The social venture (SV) is an increasingly popular form of organization to pursue social goals using a commercial approach. Although marketing plays an important role in SV research and a key driver of the performance of SVs, how and the extent to which market conditions play a role remains understudied. This study examines if market turbulence can moderate marketing capabilities and performance relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors developed several hypotheses rooted in the marketing literature and tested them using data collected from a sample of 109 SVs from East Asia (i.e. Hong Kong and Taiwan). Using multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling, the authors analyzed the marketing capabilities and financial and social performance relationships and the positive moderating role of market turbulence.

Findings

The results suggested that market turbulence is a positive moderator which influences the effect of the marketing capabilities–financial performance relationship, but not the marketing capabilities and social performance relationship.

Originality/value

This paper attempts to interrogate the SV's marketing capabilities–performance relationship in the East Asian context and how market turbulence may enhance or weaken the relationship. This is one of the earliest papers in this research area. The key findings from this research offer valuable theoretical contribution to the study of SV performance.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 November 2023

Minga Negash and Seid Hassan

This paper aims to fill gap in the literature and explore policy options for resolving the problems of accountability by framing three research questions. The research questions…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to fill gap in the literature and explore policy options for resolving the problems of accountability by framing three research questions. The research questions are (i) whether certain elements of Scott’s (2014) institutional pillars attenuate (accentuate) corporate and public accountability; (ii) whether the presence of ruling party-affiliated enterprises (RPAEs) create an increase (decrease) in the degree of corporate (public) accountability; and (iii) whether there is a particular form of ownership change that transforms RPAEs into public investment companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative research methodology that involves term frequency and thematic analysis of publicly available textual information, the paper examines Mechkova et al.’s (2019 forms of government accountability. The paper analyzes the gaps between the de jure and de facto accountability using the institutional pillars framework.

Findings

The findings of the paper are three. First, there are gaps between de jure and de facto in all three (vertical, horizontal and diagonal) forms of government (public) accountability. Second, the study finds that more than three fourth of the parties that contested the June 2021 election did have regional focus. They did not advocate for accountability. Third, Ethiopia’s RPAEs are unique. They have regional focus and are characterized by severe forms of agency and information asymmetry problems.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of the paper is its exploratory nature. Extending this research by using cross-country data could provide a more complete picture of the link between corporate (public) accountability and a country’s institutional pillars.

Practical implications

Academic research documents that instilling modern corporate (public) governance standards in the Sub Sahara Africa (SSA) region has shown mixed results. The analysis made in this paper is likely to inform researchers and policymakers about the type of change that leads to better corporate (and public) accountability outcomes.

Social implications

The institutional change proposed in the paper is likely to advance the public interest by mitigating agency and information asymmetry problems and enhancing government accountability. The changes make the enterprises investable, save scarce jobs, enhance diversity and put the assets in RPAEs to better use.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that uses the institutional pillars analytical framework to examine an SSA country's corporate (public) accountability problem. It demonstrates that accountability is a domestic and a (novel) traveling theory. The paper identifies the complexity of resolving the interlock between political institutions and business enterprises. It theorizes that it is impossible to instill modern corporate (public) accountability standards without changing regulatory, normative and cultural cognitive pillars of institutions. The paper contributes to the change management and public interest literature.

Details

Management Research Review, vol. 47 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8269

Keywords

1 – 10 of 62