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Article
Publication date: 2 September 2019

Ralph Adler, Toshiro Hiromoto and Hiroyuki Suzuki

The purpose of this paper is to extensively discuss the performance management system characteristics of amoeba management and organizational ambidexterity to provide conceptual…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to extensively discuss the performance management system characteristics of amoeba management and organizational ambidexterity to provide conceptual comparisons between the two and assist scholars and practitioners in their respective research design and adoption decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

Management databases that included Science Direct, ABI/INFORM Global, Business Source Premier and Scopus (and their Japanese counterparts), as well as a number of journals known for publishing work on amoeba management and organizational ambidexterity, were used to identify relevant published work. An initial identification of almost 2,500 books and articles was reduced to the paper’s approximately 100 references. Feedback from presenting the paper at management conferences and university seminars supports the comprehensiveness of the assembled literature.

Findings

This paper shows that prior research’s conflating of amoeba management and organizational ambidexterity is misguided. While the two performance management systems share a common overarching philosophy on how to successfully operate in highly competitive environments and adopt a similar urgency about the need for business units to feature relatively small numbers of employees, significant differences involving the enactment of strategy, organizational structure, organizational culture, planning horizon, performance measures, employee involvement, employee selection and leadership prevail.

Originality/value

By providing scholars and practitioners with better, more holistic understandings of amoeba management and organizational ambidexterity, the paper seeks to advance theoretical and practical understandings of the two performance management systems. The model provided helps scholars incorporate into their research more complete theoretical constructions and operational representations of these two performance management systems and helps practitioners make better informed adoption choices.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 69 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 August 2021

Ralph Adler, Mansi Mansi and Rakesh Pandey

Abstract

Details

Pacific Accounting Review, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0114-0582

Article
Publication date: 29 December 2017

Syrus Islam, Ralph Adler and Deryl Northcott

Performance measurement systems (PMSs) are at the heart of most organisations. The aim of this study is to examine the attitudes of top-level managers towards the incompleteness…

Abstract

Purpose

Performance measurement systems (PMSs) are at the heart of most organisations. The aim of this study is to examine the attitudes of top-level managers towards the incompleteness of PMSs.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on an in-depth field study conducted in an energy and environmental services provider based in New Zealand. The data, which were obtained from 20 semi-structured interviews, were triangulated against on-site observations and company documents.

Findings

The findings suggest that whether the incompleteness of a PMS is considered problematic or non-problematic depends on the role that the PMS plays in implementing a firm’s strategy. The authors show that when the PMS is mainly used to trigger improvement activities on and around strategic objectives and managers perceive adequate improvement activities to exist, then they consider the incompleteness of the PMS in relation to these strategic objectives to be non-problematic.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the nascent literature on managerial attitudes towards the incompleteness of PMSs by identifying conditions under which the incompleteness is considered problematic or non-problematic. The authors also contribute to the literature on the association between design qualities of PMSs and firm performance by suggesting that poor design qualities of a PMS (such as incompleteness) may not always translate into poor firm performance.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2016

Ralph Adler, Carolyn Stringer and Max Yap

The valuation and pricing of information assets often presents managers with substantial challenges. Information assets are usually highly unique, lack objective price benchmarks…

Abstract

Purpose

The valuation and pricing of information assets often presents managers with substantial challenges. Information assets are usually highly unique, lack objective price benchmarks, have a high potential for piracy, can be simultaneously accessed and enjoyed by multiple users and generally feature significant information asymmetry between sellers and buyers. This paper aims to discuss five methods that can be used to value/price information assets.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that draws and builds upon the multidisciplinary pricing literature.

Findings

A tree diagram, one that matches particular combinations of information asset features with each of the five methods, is presented to assist practitioners with their choice of valuation/pricing method.

Originality/value

The pricing of information assets is a challenging and even daunting task. The linkages specified by the paper’s model, and in particular its matching of information asset characteristics with specific valuation/pricing methods, offers a decision tool that does not currently exist. This tool is capable of supporting practitioner decision-making and highlights avenues for future scholarly research.

Details

Pacific Accounting Review, vol. 28 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0114-0582

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 November 2020

Ralph Adler, Mansi Mansi and Rakesh Pandey

This paper provides a thematic analysis of an IUCN Red-Listed bird, the houbara bustard, which Pakistan uses as a fungible resource to appease its wealthy Arab benefactors.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper provides a thematic analysis of an IUCN Red-Listed bird, the houbara bustard, which Pakistan uses as a fungible resource to appease its wealthy Arab benefactors.

Design/methodology/approach

Thematic analysis of relevant media reports and government ministry and NGO websites comprise the study's data. Media reports were located using Dow Jones' Factiva database.

Findings

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues wealthy Arabs special permits for hunting the houbara bustard as a “soft” foreign diplomacy strategy aimed at propping up the country's fragile economy. Although illegal under international and Pakistan's own wildlife laws, resource dependence theory helps explain how various country-specific issues (e.g. dysfunctional political and judicial systems) enable Pakistan's unlawful exchange of hunting permits for Arab oil and short-term financing. Surrogate accountability and agencement are examined as two means for arresting the bird's trajectory toward extinction.

Research limitations/implications

Media reports comprise the primary data. Pakistani government officials were approached for interviews, but failed to reply. Although unfortunate, the pervasive corruption and mistrust that characterise Pakistan's culture would have likely tainted the responses. For this reason, media reports were always the primary data sought.

Originality/value

The present study extends prior literature by exploring how country context can subvert the transferability of social and political approaches used in developed countries to address environmental accounting issues and challenges. As this study shows, a developing country's economic vulnerability, combined with its dysfunctional political systems, impotent judiciary and feckless regulatory mechanisms, can undermine legislation meant to protect the country's natural environment, in general, and a threatened bird's existence, in particular.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 34 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 October 2017

Ralph Adler, Mansi Mansi, Rakesh Pandey and Carolyn Stringer

The purpose of this paper is to explore the biodiversity reporting practices and trends of the top 50 Australian mining companies before and after the United Nations (UN) declared…

2359

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the biodiversity reporting practices and trends of the top 50 Australian mining companies before and after the United Nations (UN) declared the period 2011-2020 as the “Decade on Biodiversity”.

Design/methodology/approach

Using content analysis and interviews, this study compares the extent and type of biodiversity disclosures made by the Australian Stock Exchange’s top 50 metals and mining companies both before and after the UN’s “Decade on Biodiversity” declaration in 2010.

Findings

A significant increase in the amount of biodiversity reporting is observed between the 2010 fiscal year preceding the UN’s declaration and the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years following the declaration. The findings reveal, however, that the extent of biodiversity reporting is quite variable, with some companies showing substantial increases in their biodiversity reporting and others showing modest or no increases. In particular, the larger companies in the sample showed a statistically significant increase in their disclosures on biodiversity in 2013 compared with 2010, while the increase in biodiversity disclosures by smaller companies was not significant. While interviewees spoke about their companies being more open and transparent, the biodiversity information that is being reported would not enable external parties to assess the company’s biodiversity performance.

Research limitations/implications

To minimise an organisation’s use of biodiversity reporting as an impression management tool, it is suggested that biodiversity reporting should be more impact based and organisations should provide a report of their activities and their direct and tangible impacts on short-term and long-term biodiversity in and around their operating sites. A possible limitation of the present study pertains to its focus on companies’ voluntary disclosures made in their annual reports and sustainability reports, as opposed to other possible formal or even informal disclosure mediums.

Social implications

Australia is one of 17 mega-diverse wildlife countries in the world. Finding ways to support the country’s biodiversity framework and strategy are crucial to this continued status. Due to the mining industry’s significant impact on Australia’s biodiversity, a strong need exists for biodiversity reporting by this industry. Furthermore, this reporting should be provided on a site-by-site basis. At present, the reporting aggregation typically conducted by mining companies produces obscure information that is neither useful for stakeholders who are impacted by the mining companies’ activities nor for policymakers who are vested with responsibility for protecting and sustaining the world’s biodiversity.

Originality/value

This study examines the biodiversity reporting and discourse practices of mining companies in Australia and develops a 50-item biodiversity reporting index to measure the biodiversity reporting practices.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 30 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 March 2018

Ralph Adler, Mansi Mansi and Rakesh Pandey

The purpose of this paper is to explore the biodiversity and threatened species reporting of the top 150 Fortune Global companies. The paper has two main objectives: to explore…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the biodiversity and threatened species reporting of the top 150 Fortune Global companies. The paper has two main objectives: to explore the extent to which the top 150 Fortune Global companies disclose information about their biodiversity and species conservation practices, and to explore the effects of biodiversity partners and industry on companies’ biodiversity and threatened species reporting.

Design/methodology/approach

The study’s sample is the top 150 Fortune Global companies. Each company’s fiscal year ending 2014 annual report, its 2014 sustainability report, and its company website were content analyzed for evidence of biodiversity and threatened species reporting. This content analysis is supplemented by a detailed analysis that focusses on the sample’s top five reporters, including a phone interview with a senior sustainability manager working at one of these companies. Finally, a regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations between companies’ biodiversity and threatened species reporting and the presence/absence of biodiversity partners and a company’s industry F&C Asset Management industry category.

Findings

The reporting on biodiversity and threatened species by the top 150 Fortune Global companies is quite limited. Few companies (less than 15) are providing any substantial reporting. It was further observed that even among the high scoring companies there is a lack of consistent reporting across all index items. A subsequent empirical examination of these companies’ disclosures on biodiversity and threatened species showed a statistically positive association between the amount of reporting and companies’ holding of biodiversity partnerships. It was also observed that firms categorized as red- and green-zone companies made more disclosures on biodiversity and threatened species than amber-zone companies.

Originality/value

This is the first study to systematically analyze corporate disclosures related to threatened species and habitats. While some prior studies have included the concept of biodiversity when analyzing organizations’ environmental disclosures, they have done so by examining it as one general category out of many further categories for investigating organizations’ environmental reporting. In the present study, the focus is on the specific contents of biodiversity disclosures. As such, this study has the twin research objectives of seeking to illuminate the current state of biodiversity and threatened species reporting by the world’s largest multinationals and provide an appreciation for how certain organizational and industry variables serve to influence these reporting practices. These multiple insights offer companies, and potentially regulators, understanding about how to include (or extend) disclosures on biodiversity loss and species under threat of extinction.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 November 2015

Ralph W. Adler and Gregory Liyanarachchi

The purpose of this paper is to report successful authors’ views about the editorial review processes of a set of 42 accounting journals. The two main objectives are: to enlighten…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report successful authors’ views about the editorial review processes of a set of 42 accounting journals. The two main objectives are: to enlighten editors and journal publishers in their quest to improve their journals’ editorial review processes and to inform prospective authors about the past experiences successful authors have had with the 42 accounting journals.

Design/methodology/approach

A Webmail survey was used to collect data about authors’ experiences with publishing in one of the 42 accounting journals. A total of 856 responses (40 per cent response rate) was received. Various statistical analyses were used to explore a range of editorial review process features, including the timeliness of editorial feedback, timeliness of publishing accepted manuscripts, quality of the feedback provided and performance of the editor.

Findings

Authors were found to be generally quite satisfied with the editorial review processes of the journals in which they published. There were, however, notable leaders and laggards observed among the 42 journal titles. The survey findings also revealed that many journals use the practice of basing their editorial decisions on the comments of a single reviewer. In fact, this practice is most prevalent among the journals that are commonly perceived as the field’s “top” journals. These and other editorial review results – for example, comparisons between journal-tiers, geographical locations of editorial review offices and journal specialties – are discussed.

Originality/value

This paper extends and moves well beyond Adler and Liyanarachchi (2011), by exploring such additional author perceptions of the editorial review process as the performance of journal editors, the use of multiple reviewers and reviewers’ reporting of the typical faults/weaknesses in the papers they read. Exposing to public scrutiny an academic discipline’s editorial review processes is quite common in some fields of research, most notably medicine. Doing so in the accounting discipline addresses a need that many of the respondents felt was highly necessary and long overdue. While authors will benefit from the paper’s insights, editors and publishers are expected to as well.

Details

Pacific Accounting Review, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0114-0582

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 16 November 2012

Ralph Adler, Carolyn Stringer and Paul Shantapriyan

437

Abstract

Details

Pacific Accounting Review, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0114-0582

Content available
Article
Publication date: 3 May 2011

939

Abstract

Details

Pacific Accounting Review, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0114-0582

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