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1 – 10 of over 1000Peter Booth, Trilce Navarrete and Anne Ogundipe
This study aims to investigate how, in forming their policy towards open data (OD), art museums interact with the OD ecosystems they are part of, comprising internal and external…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how, in forming their policy towards open data (OD), art museums interact with the OD ecosystems they are part of, comprising internal and external components such as cultural policy, legal frameworks, user groups and economic conditions and incentives.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors structure their research as a multiple case study based on three OD ecosystems, each defined by a mid-sized European art museum at its centre. Qualitative analysis of the case studies proceeds from interviews with museum management staff and policy-related agencies in three European countries, in addition to document analysis.
Findings
The results of this study suggest that museums are sensitive towards their environments and respond to their ecosystem based on what is communicated within their networks. However, museums are not effective in communicating with their users, limiting the informational interdependence necessary for well-functioning OD ecosystems. EU policy appears to be a driving force along with national financial incentives, though institutional conditions are limiting progress. Advancing the field relies instead on an epistemological shift to understand the museum as part of a larger information network.
Originality/value
As the first comparative case study of art museum OD ecosystems that the authors are aware of, the study provides a qualitative analysis of the complex dynamics impacting OD policy within the mid-sized art museum. The authors identify specific dynamics that are thus far restricting further development of the OD ecosystem of the mid-sized European art museum.
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Gary Spraakman and Winifred O'Grady
The purpose of this explanatory research was to understand how firms align strategic planning and budgeting both ex ante and ex post. After the literature review indicated that…
Abstract
The purpose of this explanatory research was to understand how firms align strategic planning and budgeting both ex ante and ex post. After the literature review indicated that there was a shortcoming in explaining how the alignment was done, we interviewed management accountants at 20 large, profitable, stock-market listed firms with head offices in the Toronto area of Canada. To understand practice through interviews, we used qualitative, multi-case field research to address our research question, how do firms achieve alignment between their strategic plans and budgets, both ex ante and ex post? Our findings and contribution were that, rather than multiple processes (strategy, strategic planning, budgeting, and forecasting), strategic planning and budgeting are part of a single process. Alignment of strategic planning and budgeting is undertaken prior to the beginning of the fiscal year (ex ante) and during the fiscal year (ex post). Both provide opportunities to change ineffective strategies, strategic plans, and actions to minimize financial harm. Ex ante and ex post alignments enable the accomplishment of firms’ financial objectives through explicit and verifiable decisions. With forecasting heretofore being an unclear and ambiguous subprocess, this chapter has made it transparent and manageable in assisting with accomplishing the strategy, strategic plan, and budget.
Recent studies indicating long term dependence in stock market indices have found a mean reversion process. However, studies using rescaled range (R/S) analysis have not found…
Abstract
Recent studies indicating long term dependence in stock market indices have found a mean reversion process. However, studies using rescaled range (R/S) analysis have not found evidence of a mean reversion or ergodic process. Instead, evidence from these studies indicate either long term persistence in a nonperiodic cycle or short run Markovian dependence with no long term persistence. The purpose of this paper is to study the issue of long term dependence using rescaled range analysis. The empirical results obtained in this study support the persistent dependence/nonperiodic cycle results and suggest that the dependence arises from the general economic cycle.
Vassili Joannidès and Nicolas Berland
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the sociology‐of‐science type of accounting literature, addressing how accounting knowledge is established, advanced and extended.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the sociology‐of‐science type of accounting literature, addressing how accounting knowledge is established, advanced and extended.
Design/methodology/approach
The research question is answered through the example of research into linkages between accounting and religion. Adopting an actor‐network theory (ANT) approach, the paper follows the actors involved in the construction of accounting as an academic discipline through the controversies in which they engage to develop knowledge.
Findings
The paper reveals that accounting knowledge is established, advanced and developed through the ongoing mobilisation of nonhumans (journals) who can enrol other humans and nonhumans. It shows that knowledge advancement, establishment and development is more contingent on network breadth than on research paradigms, which appear as side‐effects of positioning vis‐à‐vis a community.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper is twofold. First, ANT is applied to accounting knowledge, whereas the accounting literature applies it to the spread of management accounting ideas, methods and practices. Second, an original methodology for data collection is developed by inviting authors from the network to give a reflexive account of their writings at the time they joined the network. Well diffused in sociology and philosophy, such an approach is, albeit, original in accounting research.
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Harm minimisation still gets a rough ride in some circles. In the US, harm minimisation is still seen as a failure among many professionals ‐ where abstinence‐based Alcoholic and…
Abstract
Harm minimisation still gets a rough ride in some circles. In the US, harm minimisation is still seen as a failure among many professionals ‐ where abstinence‐based Alcoholic and Narcotics Anonymous still hold the sway in public and political opinion. But what about the UK? Surely we have a more balanced view and put clients' needs before professional dogma. Not so says Brenda Coldwell. She reveals why some professionals are fighting to get controlled drinking back on the agenda and advocating something the drug treatment field takes for granted ‐ she makes the case for client‐centred alcohol treatment.
The legislative progress in India to make education inclusive has shown promise over the past few years. However, the process of implementation does not match up to it. The…
Abstract
The legislative progress in India to make education inclusive has shown promise over the past few years. However, the process of implementation does not match up to it. The objective of education is to include students with special needs in regular schools where required preparation and support is not enough. Inclusive practices are seen in physical infrastructure as well as in the curriculum and educational activities. Support means not only financial assistance but also preparing schools, heads of schools, teachers, students, and communities to be inclusive in their minds and actions. In addition, it should be reflected in student outcomes in terms of academic and social participation. To begin with, several positive sparks could be seen in schools in having a special educator, resource rooms, and adaptations in curriculum, teaching methods, evaluations, and an alternative education. Visibility and attendance of students with special needs in schools has increased which is a huge change. However, the question remains about their sustainability and outcomes. This chapter presents insights and practical aspects of inclusive practices, their implementation, and challenges for students with special needs in India.
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Argues that there is a significant lacuna in the accountingliterature resulting from our lack of knowledge of how and whyaccounting is used in churches as one form of religious…
Abstract
Argues that there is a significant lacuna in the accounting literature resulting from our lack of knowledge of how and why accounting is used in churches as one form of religious organization. After reviewing the limited extant accounting literature, proposes a skeletal research framework for addressing this lacuna. Following parallel themes in the organizations studies′ literature, this framework emphasizes the importance of three analytic dimensions: the centrality of religious beliefs to action in churches and a general tendency of such beliefs to act as a form of resistance to accounting; the role of organizational members and occupational groups, such as the clergy and accountants, in the construction and opposition of such processes of resistance; and the impacts of two conditions of possibility, membership size and the availability of financial resources, on the development of these relationships. Concludes with some initial suggestions for a research agenda suggested by the proposed framework, and a consideration of the potential applicability of such theorizing for our understanding of accounting as a situated practice both in other forms of religious organizations and organizations more generally.
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Bernhard Wieder, Peter Booth, Zoltan P. Matolcsy and Maria‐Luise Ossimitz
The purpose of this article is to provide further insights into the adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and the impacts on organisational performance. It aims…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide further insights into the adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and the impacts on organisational performance. It aims at challenging existing claims of ERP vendors with regard to the benefits of their products and at providing evidence of the benefits of bundling ERPS with supply chain management systems.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted to collect data on several aspects of organisational performance in companies that adopted ERPS and/or SCMS and the respective control groups. Financial key performance indicators were used to measure overall firm performance and the supply‐chain operations reference model to operationalise performance at the business process (supply chain) level.
Findings
The key results contradict the claims of ERPS vendors insofar as no significant performance differences were found between ERPS adopters and non‐adopters, either at the business process level, or at the overall firm level. While it could be confirmed that the longer the experience of firms with ERPS, the higher their overall performance, no evidence was found of a similar effect on business process (supply chain) performance. Only those ERPS adopters that also adopted SCMS achieved significantly higher performance at the business process level.
Originality/value
Despite the small size of the SCMS user sample, the results do provide some important insights into the relationships between ERPS, SCMS and performance which might encourage both researchers and practitioners in that field to critically reflect on the “optimal” mix of modules and software packages within increasingly diverse forms of enterprise systems.
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Mohamed E. Ibrahim, Saad A. Metawae and Ibrahim M. Aly
In recent years, a sizeable amount of research in finance and accounting has been devoted to the issue of bond rating and bond rating changes. A major thrust of these research…
Abstract
In recent years, a sizeable amount of research in finance and accounting has been devoted to the issue of bond rating and bond rating changes. A major thrust of these research efforts was to develop and test some prediction‐based models using mainly financial ratios and their trends. This paper tests the ability of statistical decomposition analysis of financial statements to predict bond rating changes. The results show that the decomposition analysis almost does not beat the a priori probability model and is no better than multiple discriminant analysis using simple financial ratios. One important piece of information for participants in debt markets is the assessment of the relative risk associated with a particular bond issue, commonly known as bond ratings. These ratings, however, are not usually fixed for the life of the issues. From time to time, the rating agencies review their ratings of the outstanding bond issues and make changes to these ratings (either upward or downward) when needed. Over the years, researchers have attempted to develop and test some prediction based models in order to predict bond ratings or bond rating changes. These prediction models have employed some variables that are assumed to reflect the rating agency decision‐making activities. Although the rating process is complicated and based mainly on judgmental considerations, Hawkins, Brown and Campbell (1983, p. 95) reported that the academic research strongly suggests that a reliable estimate of a potential bond rating or rating change can be determined by a few key financial ratios. Information theory decomposition measures have received in recent years considerable attention as a potential tool for predicting corporate events, namely corporate bankruptcy (e.g., Lev 1970; Moyer 1977; Walker, Stowe and Moriarity 1979; Booth 1983). The underlying proposition in these studies is that corporate failure, as an event, is expected to be preceded by significant changes in the company's assets and liabilities structure. Although the event of bond rating changes is different from the bankruptcy event in terms of consequences, one can still propose that a bond rating change, as a corporate event, is also expected to be preceded by some significant changes in the company's assets and liabilities structure. Therefore, the decomposition analysis may have a predictive ability in the case of bond rating changes. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test and compare the classification and predictive accuracy of the decomposition analysis with the performance of a multiple discriminant model that uses financial ratios and their trends in the context of bond rating changes.