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This article intends to explore the sustainability accounting practices that emerge from the business of artificial forestry in the Qingshui River society of southwest China in the 18th-19th centuries.

Using a historical approach, we set out to discuss the systematic use of “folk contract” as a tool of tracing accountability in timber trading and in the collective management of community forests in this region, based on the archives of Qingshui River Manuscripts.

The findings indicate that active transactions of small forest plots facilitated by the prevalent use of folk contracts allow both the landlords and the tenants to easily acquire cashflow needed any time before the harvest, and in turn prevent premature logging and deforestation for crop farming. An “open ledger” bookkeeping system emerged from the extensive contracting practices guarantees the functioning of a dualistic accountability system, where both market value of timbers and “face” value of community members' reputation are preserved for long-term sustainability of local economy, society and ecological environment.

From the perspective of economic anthropology, this study forms the link between the folk contract practice in sustainable forestry of the Qingshui River society and the emancipatory accounting literature.

Despite widespread recognition of the importance of place in entrepreneurship research, much less attention has been paid to the methodological challenges that inquiries into place presents. Understanding the relationship between place and entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly important as focus turns to sustainable entrepreneurship and as policy makers turn to ‘place-based’ approaches to regional sustainability challenges. This chapter provides insight one researcher’s experiences engaging stakeholders in discussions about the relationship between a place-based university programme for sustainability and local sustainability agendas. The chapter reveals the struggles experienced by both researcher and participants in articulating what places and the local region means to both individuals and to the programme. The findings provide an important insight into how researchers studying place need to be cognisant of the limitations and flexibility of language when engaging research participants in discussing the relationship between place, sustainability, and entrepreneurship.

Creative labor in the perfume industry can be identified as perfumers or perfume designers who have spent years in the industry either with formal education or firsthand practice and have developed their skills. They are skilled in matching various fragrances and work with the client's framework to produce perfumes. This chapter analyzes the literature about creative labor's living conditions and aspirations, focusing on the perfume industry and its role in producing perfumes. Perfumery is looked at from a creative and artistic perspective, and the prerequisites of becoming a successful perfumer are analyzed. In an industry where talent plays a crucial role in one's success, perfumers are identified as those who work with large brands to produce perfumes for the masses or cater to specific individuals. Bespoke perfumers such as Sylvaine Delacourte and Jean-Claude Ellena have a lot more flexibility and autonomy in their work because of their superior level of skill. They can charge soaring prices for their work. Whereas other creative workers in creative projects have to undergo a long collaborative process where they are required to work within the framework provided by their clientele to launch a new perfume product. Previous literature by Richard Florida and Brian Moeran about the creative class has been used to identify the characteristics of creative labor in the perfume industry. The creative process in perfumery in terms of high-end luxury products and mass production products is discussed. Manufacturing of perfumes today is primarily industrial, and the role of perfumers in the high-end prestige market and mass market in terms of their creativity is analyzed. Additionally, the top perfumers’ style of work and the creative process involved in making perfumes are discussed.

This study aims to provide insights into US and Australian analysts' views regarding the relative importance of disclosing the direct method (DM) or indirect method (IM) statement of cash flows and forecasting firm performance.

Evidence is collected from responses to 104 surveys and 52 interviews completed by US and Australian analysts from 2017 to 2022. The survey and interview questions are developed with reference to the literature.

US and Australian analysts believe that the DM format provides incremental benefits compared to the IM for (1) confirming the reliability of earnings; (2) improving earnings confidence; (3) more accurate ex ante forecasts of operating cash flow and earnings; and (4) identifying opportunistic accruals manipulation. Analysts view that DM disclosure can lower firm-level cost of equity, although US interviewees more uniformly expect lower costs of equity under DM disclosure when firms yield low earnings quality. DM disclosure is also more important during unstable economic periods, as proxied by COVID-19.

Limited research currently exists regarding disclosure of the DM or IM and its impact on analysts' forecasting accuracy, earnings quality, economic uncertainty and cost of equity. Previous research has relied on archival research to examine differences between the DM and IM methods and are limited by data availability. Our findings are particularly relevant to the US market with few US firms reporting the DM format.

There is a lack of clarity about what constitutes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education and what the arts contribute. In this paper the authors discuss a distinct model, theorised from a five-year study of a particular, innovative STEAM education project (The Imagineerium), and developed by the researchers through working with primary school teachers in England within a second project (Teach-Make). The paper examines how teachers implemented this model, the Trowsdale art-making model for education (the TAME), and reflected on its value and positive impact on their planning and pedagogy.

The paper draws on two studies: firstly, a five-year, mixed methods, participative study of The Imagineerium and secondly a participative and collaborative qualitative study of Teach-Make.

Study of The Imagineerium showed strong positive educational outcomes for pupils and an appetite from teachers to translate the approach to the classroom. The Teach-Make project showed that with a clear curriculum model (the TAME) and professional development to improve teachers' planning and active pedagogical skills, they could design and deliver “imagineerium-like” schemes of work in their classrooms. Teachers reported a positive impact on both their own approach to supporting learning, as well as pupil progression and enjoyment.

The paper argues that the TAME, a consolidation of research evidence from The Imagineerium and developed through Teach-Make, offers both a distinctive and effective model for STEAM and broader education, one that is accessible to, valued by and manageable for teachers.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the physical, ultraviolet (UV), colour appearance and colour fastness properties of selected fabrics dyed with natural dyes from Daboya and Ntonso communities of Ghana. The study further highlights the rich cultural heritage of traditional dyeing from these two communities. Craftsmen in West Africa especially Ghana, have sustained the traditional dyeing methods to produce textile products for consumers.

In this study, two sample fabrics were purchased from craftsmen at Ntonso and Daboya communities in Ghana. These fabrics were analysed at the laboratory under standard test methods for their physical, UV, colour appearance and colour fastness properties.

Results showed that all the sample fabrics have good UV shielding performance (ratings above 50+). Daboya sample fabrics (dyed with indigo dyes) produced more colour stains than the sample fabrics from Ntonso (dyed with black “kuntunkuni” dyes). The K/S_sum value or colour yield reduced after washing but that alternatively increased the calculated ultraviolet protection factor.

Findings from this study exposed the unique UV performance of dyed traditional fabrics (using natural dyes) from Ntonso and Daboya communities in Ghana. This inspires and enforces the need for craftsmen to improve their production cycle to produce these fabrics in different sizes which provides the necessary UV shielding abilities for consumers in the wake of climate changes.

This study demonstrated that the natural dyeing process at the two communities produced relatively good UV and colour fastness properties of the sample fabrics. These eco-friendly dyeing practices have survived over time to maintain and promote the concept of sustainability within the textile and fashion industry in Ghana.

Companies documents such as annual reports incorporate narratives of repetitive rhetorical strategies as effective mechanisms adopted by companies' boardrooms to promote strategic change and strategic choices. These mechanisms can be viewed as persuasive appeals to facilitate boardrooms’ discourses. Despite the contribution of previous research through narrative analysis domains, conceptualization of narrative practices remains a relatively neglected area in the extant accounting literature.

The analytical framework is rooted in Aristotle's three pillars of rhetorical proofs: ethos (credibility/trustworthiness), pathos (emotion/identification through cultural domains) and logos (reason/rationale) in investigating narrative extracts regarding persuasive appeals adopted by Carillion's board through annual reports that facilitate discourse regarding Carillion’s strategic choices. Further, the authors emphasis on repetitive rhetorical slogan strategies embedded in the annual reports regarding Carillion's acquisitions strategy. We viewed acquisitions narratives as rhetorical communication artefacts and analyzed the repetitive rhetoric slogans in these corporate documents.

Findings of this study show how persuasive strategies and repetitive slogans trigger the discourses of Carillion's annual reports by drawing on perspectives from upper echelon theory, impression management and communication patterns. Findings reveal that Carillion’ board strategically use repetitive rhetoric slogans to shape optimistic corporate future performance which might be different from the feasible reality. Finally, the authors argue that corporate executives are striving to construct an alternative reality stem from their initial unrealistic aspiration to lead their sector of less controlled market share. Findings of this study have theoretical and managerial implications.

The key limitation of this study lies with the case study as the research methodology. Subjectivity remains inherent in interpreting the findings of this study. Future studies may adopt or adapt the authors’ analytical framework to examine other domains underpinning corporate reporting practices.

The findings of this study have practical implications for boardrooms and policymakers. Findings of this study have theoretical and managerial implications. The level of optimism has its impact on the mood of financial decision-makers, and when there is a high level of optimism, managers may consider making more investment decisions and therefore making many acquisitions. Managerial overconfidence has been widely documented in the literature. Overconfident managers systematically overestimate the probability of good outcomes (and correspondingly underestimate the probability of bad outcomes) resulting from their actions.

Managerial overconfidence refers to overestimation of managers' own abilities and outcomes relating to actions which are under their control. Executives believed that they have ultimate control over outcomes, which leads them to underestimate the probability of failure generally. According to self-attribution bias, many people tend to excessively credit their own skills for good results and overly credit external factors for bad outcomes.

The study explores the repetitive rhetorical slogan strategies embedded in the annual reports regarding Carillion's acquisitions strategy. Further, the study reveals how Carillion's board engaged through the early report with discourse and repetitive slogans to maintain their legitimacy. Findings reveal that Carillion’s board strategically uses repetitive rhetoric slogans to shape optimistic corporate future performance, which might be different from the feasible reality. Finally, the authors argue that corporate executives are striving to construct an alternative reality stem from their initial unrealistic aspiration to lead their sector of less controlled market share.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which interdisciplinary (HASS, i.e. non-STEM) factors—in particular, accounting, stakeholder management and accountability—enable, influence and motivate large human exploration ventures, principally in maritime and space fields, utilizing Columbus’s and Chinese explorations of the 1400s as the primary setting.

The study analyzes archival data from narrative and interpretational history, including both academic and non-academic sources, that relate to two global historical events, the Columbus and Ming Chinese exploration eras (c. 1400–1500), as a parallel to the modern “Space Race”. Existing studies on pertinent HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) enablers, influencers and motivators are utilized in the analysis. The authors draw upon the concepts of stakeholder theory and the construct of accountability in their analysis.

Findings suggest that non-STEM considerations—politics, finance, accountability, culture, theology and others—played crucial roles in enabling Western Europe (Columbus) to reach the Americas before China or other global powers, demonstrating the pivotal importance of HASS factors in human advancements and exploration.

In seeking to answer those questions, this study identifies only those factors (HASS or STEM) that may support the success or failure in execution of the exploration and development of a region such as the New World or Space. Moreover, the study has the following limitation. Relative successes, failures, drivers and enablers of exploratory ventures are drawn almost exclusively from the documented historical records of the nations, entities and individuals (China and Europe) who conducted those ventures. A paucity of objective sources in some fields, and the need to set appropriate boundaries for the study, also necessitate such limitation.

It is observable that many of those HASS factors also appear to have been influencers in modern era Space projects. For Apollo and Soyuz, success factors such as the relative economics of USA and USSR, their political ideologies, accountabilities and organizational priorities have clear echoes. What the successful voyages of Columbus and Apollo also have in common is an appetite to take risks for an uncertain return, whether as sponsor or voyager; an understanding of financial management and benefits measurement, and a leadership (Isabella I, John F. Kennedy) possessing a vision, ideology and governmental apparatus to further the venture’s goals.

Whilst various historical studies have examined influences behind the oceangoing explorations of the 1400s and the colonization of the “New World”, this article takes an original approach of analyzing those motivations and other factors collectively, in interdisciplinary terms (HASS and STEM). This approach also has the potential to provide a novel method of examining accountability and performance in modern exploratory ventures, such as crewed space missions.