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1 – 10 of 80Improved creditor and community protection seemed attainable goals when Professor Daniel Prentice described s. 214 of the Insolvency Act (‘s. 214’) as ‘one of the most important…
Abstract
Improved creditor and community protection seemed attainable goals when Professor Daniel Prentice described s. 214 of the Insolvency Act (‘s. 214’) as ‘one of the most important developments in company law this century’. The profession and academics perceived that wrongful trading in its legislative form had a bright future because it promised to provide much needed protection. ‘Wrongful trading’ was introduced to minimise the abuse of limited liability by company officers. An honest director could not be liable for a company's debt despite reckless, unreasonable and cavalier business practices. Insolvency practitioners were having difficulty establishing dishonesty under the fraudulent trading provisions. The courts demanded a strict standard of proof for fraudulent trading and many cases never made it to court despite a prospect of recovery against directors. Wrongful trading by comparison is a recent development that, in theory, refines the standard of a director's duty and clarifies that conduct need not be fraudulent, illegal or unconscionable to attract legislative censure. Section 214 measures a director's conduct against a minimum standard of commercial morality and competence.
There have been several developments during the past year that will aid biologists in their constant battle to keep up with the scientific and technical literature. The Institute…
Abstract
There have been several developments during the past year that will aid biologists in their constant battle to keep up with the scientific and technical literature. The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) has introduced three new online services that are designed for current awareness and retrospective searches: ISI/CompuMath — access to pure and applied math literature; ISI/ISTP&B — index to scientific proceedings and books; and ISI/BIOMED — research front specialties in biomedicine.
Juan Velez-Ocampo, Carolina Herrera-Cano and Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez
The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the possible causes of the Peruvian Amazon Company’s death.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the possible causes of the Peruvian Amazon Company’s death.
Methodology/approach
This study uses secondary sources to document the trajectory of the Peruvian Amazon Company, the rubber export boom, and the different market forces affecting the wild rubber industry. By examining different sources that document the case of the Peruvian Amazon Company and the wild rubber extraction in the Amazon, this text aims to analyse the possible causes of the Peruvian Amazon Company extinction.
Findings
After analysing the existing literature on the Peruvian Amazon Company and the wild rubber industry, it was possible to find evidence about the problems related with land ownership, labour and international prices, along with the internationally known scandals, as the principal causes of the company’s death.
Practical implications
The case of the Peruvian Amazon Company, explores how an unsustainable business model could eventually lead a once successful company to its death. The contribution of the following chapter is based on the description of the causes of the Peruvian Amazon Company’s death. Previous studies had analysed the internationalization strategies implemented by the company. Although, an evaluation of causes of the company’s real extinction had not been presented.
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The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on the non-essence of accounting by focusing on financial accounting’s distinct technology: financial statements…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on the non-essence of accounting by focusing on financial accounting’s distinct technology: financial statements. Complementing the genealogical perspective on accounting’s changing socio-historical settings, it proposes a semiotic perspective on the accounting statement.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes an interdisciplinary approach in the theoretical framing of IFRS recognition and measurement principles that underlie the statement of financial position. It mobilises Saussure and Barthes’ sign theory – semiology, as it provides a meaningful delineation of financial accounting, bringing out its distinct numerical-linguistic knowledge-construction operation.
Findings
In addition to the justification of employing semiology as a parent discipline for accounting, it is shown how IASB’s recognition and measurement procedures manifest the interrelated non-essentialist semiological principles of reciprocal articulation and value constellation. Accounting entries (“expression”) are not representations of pre-existing economic resources (“content”), but rather both are mutually constituted by delimiting the resource/asset from its broader category. Such judgment-based articulation results with value constellations, where asset value is merely a relational product of other values.
Originality/value
To the long-established critique that accounting has no essence, the paper adds a formulation of a non-essentialist semiotic logic: the financial statement’s semio-logic. It further sheds light on the role of such logic as an epistemological presupposition to the accounting – society reciprocity, where accounting is a malleable product of, and is used to exert power over, its social surroundings.
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Chad Ellsworth, Vishal Arghode, Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya, David Barker and Richard Schuhmann
The purpose of this research was to study sustainable water resource management using a stimulus-organism-response (SOR) perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research was to study sustainable water resource management using a stimulus-organism-response (SOR) perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This research study was an exploratory qualitative study. Thematic content analysis was used based on semi-structured interviews with 30 experts operating in the USA, representing 26 water-intensive organisations across different industries. The study was anchored in the theoretical foundations of SOR perspectives.
Findings
The results of this study revealed several fundamental factors, processes and forces that were considered by organisations for sustainable water resource management. Managers evaluated risks relative to water resources and developed strategic initiatives regarding water management. The authors found that often organisations considered water resources management aspects while deciding business operations. This was especially true for substantive water resource-consuming organisations with wide geographical operations.
Research limitations/implications
Through this study, the authors explained how the interrelationship between organisations and water resources presented risks and challenges. The authors applied SOR theoretical perspective in this research study. This was while factoring in an organisation’s present considerations and future plans regarding sustainable water resource management. Thus, the study findings were expected to further interdisciplinary research at the intersection of organisational and environmental studies.
Practical implications
The finding that water sustainability challenges and efforts could act as strong motivating forces for innovation and technology was significant. Water sustainability challenges could also be a catalyst for synergistic collaborations amongst organisations and diverse groups of institutions. The study insights were relevant to organisational scholars, the water management industry regulators and managers involved with organisational sustainability programmes.
Originality/value
Organisational challenges regarding sustainable water resource management have been influenced by growing populations and climate change. Furthermore, the increasing context of scarcity was compounded by increased pressures from numerous stakeholders. Although critical water management issues were recognised by organisations, relatively little was known about how organisational managers were planning for and responding to these issues. This research study contributed towards addressing the mentioned research gap.
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Silke Herold, Jonas Heller, Frank Rozemeijer and Dominik Mahr
The purpose of this paper is to achieve a collective understanding of the capabilities required for digital procurement transformation (DPT).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to achieve a collective understanding of the capabilities required for digital procurement transformation (DPT).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors contextualize theory about dynamic capabilities (DCs) to integrate the fragmented body of literature on procurement digitalization by means of a systematic literature review (SLR). By extracting and clustering capabilities, as well as proven performance outcomes from existing literature in the field, the authors develop a conceptual model of the DCs required for DPT.
Findings
The authors first introduce and define DPT and the corresponding motivations that trigger firms to invest in advanced digital technologies. Second, by adopting the DC lens, the authors provide an overview of nine microfoundations required for DPT and highlight the strategic options procurement leaders can use when strategizing about adopting combinations of digital technologies. Third, the authors present a future research agenda on DCs for DPT.
Research limitations/implications
The developed conceptual model must be verified and enhanced through further empirical research.
Practical implications
The conceptual model can be used by procurement leaders as a starting point and framework when strategizing about digitally transforming the procurement organization.
Originality/value
The study is the first to synthesize previous research findings on procurement digitalization through an SLR in order to develop a fine-grained conceptual model that supports practitioners and researchers alike in better understanding the capabilities required for and potential performance outcomes of DPT.
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Simon Gottge, Torben Menzel and Helena Forslund
The aim of the study is to explore the possible practical impact of big data/business intelligence and Internet of Things on the purchasing process of premium automotive…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the study is to explore the possible practical impact of big data/business intelligence and Internet of Things on the purchasing process of premium automotive manufacturers, and to evaluate its theoretical impact with a transaction cost economics approach.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory multiple-case study was carried out, using qualitative content analysis and cross-case synthesis.
Findings
Collaborative platforms and a new purchaser role were found to impact the entire process. In the strategic purchasing 4.0 process, co-creation of specifications, automated prequalification, and parameter-based negotiations are some expected changes. The operative purchasing 4.0 process is shaped by, for example, interactive call-offs. Transaction cost is expected to decrease by reduced uncertainty and supplier specificity, as well as by lowered information search, negotiation, and monitoring costs.
Research limitations/implications
The description of a potential purchasing 4.0 process for premium automotive manufacturers is given.
Practical implications
Premium automotive manufacturers can develop strategies to push the existing standards of purchasing. Suppliers can create scenarios to allow for future compliance at the purchasing–sales interface.
Social implications
New technologies' effects on the workforce are considered.
Originality/value
No identified study focused on the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies on the purchasing process of premium automotive manufacturers.
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Stefan Schulte-Holthaus and Andreas Kuckertz
Non-entrepreneurial passions may be the beginning of an extensive entrepreneurial journey. However, current passion theories cannot fully capture the essence of such passions and…
Abstract
Purpose
Non-entrepreneurial passions may be the beginning of an extensive entrepreneurial journey. However, current passion theories cannot fully capture the essence of such passions and their effects. The purpose of this study is to explore and explain the real-life composition of passion and performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The investigation was conducted with comparative causal mapping (CCM) on a qualitative sample of people we designate rock “n” roll entrepreneurs (i.e. individuals driven by a passion for music and who are successful both artistically and economically). Aggregated causal maps of passion elicited through semi-structured interviews were analyzed and contrasted with performance indicators.
Findings
Passion is revealed to be an individual phenomenon, one composed of central and peripheral concepts that include—contrary to prior theories—personality traits and life contexts. Furthermore, the results suggest that the concordance of concepts determines the scope, degree and performance of passion.
Research limitations/implications
This study complements prevailing passion theories in psychology and entrepreneurship. As a context-bound study, the generalizability of the results is limited to its context, which, however, paves a clear way for future research.
Practical implications
Creative economy entrepreneurs and educators can use the mechanism of concordance to consciously reflect passion-driven tensions between artistic, social and entrepreneurial demands and to translate passion into behavioral effectiveness.
Originality/value
This study is the first to use a CCM approach to investigate passion. Findings highlight the potential to research entrepreneurial phenomena at the intersection of emotion, cognition and action.
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The 29 July 1929 was a special milestone not just for Dornier, but for the whole of world aviation. This was the day on which the Do X flying ship took off on its first flight…
Abstract
The 29 July 1929 was a special milestone not just for Dornier, but for the whole of world aviation. This was the day on which the Do X flying ship took off on its first flight from Altenrhein, on Lake Constance.