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This paper investigates the inter‐relationships between different components of intellectual capital (IC) and value creation.

A single in‐depth case‐study of an innovation project within an Australian financial services firm (“TransactCo”) is conducted.

The actual IC inter‐relationships and transformations that occurred were different to those originally envisaged by organisational participants, and reflected choices about IC deployment and transformation. Considering IC‐in‐action, inter‐relationships between different IC elements and value creation were found to be pluralistic and temporally contingent.

The limitations of the paper are as follows: the use of a single case study design limits its generalisability; the empirical analyses was conducted at a project‐level and may not be transferable to other levels of analyses; and a narrow conception of value was utilised, grounded in economic value and shareholder value terms. Extending the analyses conducted to other settings represent future research opportunities.

Theoretically, in contrast to prior empirical studies which depict IC inter‐relationships as primarily consisting of multiple relations of cause‐and‐effect in a one‐to‐one or one‐to‐many manner, the narrative presented herein shows how IC resources transform each other, often in a pluralistic and fluid manner. In addition, the paper calls for a perspective on IC‐in‐action. Specifically, more narrative on the use of IC and its deployment should be incorporated within extant models to highlight the contingent and precarious IC and value creation relationship. Firms that fail to consider this adequately may face unintended value destruction consequences similar to those observed at TransactCo.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the hurdles, compared with that in the United States, for the implementation of Continuous Auditing in China. As a timely, cost-saving and efficient auditing method, continuous auditing is being increasingly adopted throughout the world. However, while it is increasingly applied in the USA, continuous auditing is still in its infancy in China.

This paper compares and contrasts China and the USA in three important dimensions that determine the “economic architecture” of assurance: the business environment, the audit profession and technology.

The authors find that excessive government intervention in business, the lack of competition, independence of auditors, the support from management and the continuous auditing-specific regulations, as well as the technology gap between these two countries, are the main barriers for the implementation of continuous auditing in China.

The findings of this paper provide better understanding of the drivers of continuous auditing adoption in the USA and the barriers toward doing so in China.

The term “continuous auditing” has never been formally introduced until the release of the draft of the Internal Control Audit Guide in 2011.

The paper highlights how technology by itself is not deterministic, but given the extraordinary rise in the Chinese economy in both its size and its sophistication, it has be to assumed that its “leapfrog” into parity if not outright leadership in continuous assurance is still a matter of “when” and not of “if”.

Companies are increasing the amount of their voluntary disclosures to inform stakeholders about organisational performance. Despite criticism that these are simply “public relations” exercises, there has been little formal evaluation of stakeholder reporting, especially in Australia. In addition, the important aspect of stakeholder reciprocity, where not only stakeholder satisfaction but also their contribution to the organisation is evaluated and reported, has not been examined. This study aims to examine both of these issues.

The study was conducted using the non‐financial performance indicators of Australia's top five banks, as available in both annual reports and web sites, to examine the nature of stakeholder reporting and the extent to which stakeholder reciprocity is disclosed.

The results of the study indicate that there is neither consistency in the reporting of key performance indicators, nor is there consistency in reporting across both stakeholder satisfaction and stakeholder contribution. Stakeholder satisfaction dominates and little effort has been directed to evaluate and report on stakeholder contribution. The study also indicates that, other than shareholders, the top five Australian banks have identified customers and employees as their primary key stakeholders.

Despite widespread acknowledgement of the importance of stakeholder dialogue for the enhancement of stakeholder relationships, stakeholder reciprocity and the extent to which it is disclosed is an area that has been insufficiently examined. Thus, the originality and value of the study lie in its examination of corporate disclosures of stakeholder reciprocity.

The concept “flexibility” is ubiquitous as a rationale for organizational change. However, its broad application is accompanied by a general lack of definitional agreement or theoretical cohesion. The purpose of this paper is to propose the merits of an alternative approach – applying a discourse perspective to the use of flexibility as a rationale for organizational change.

This paper first illustrates the broad referencing of flexibility as a desired organizational characteristic. It then discusses the associated lack of theoretical coherence associated with the use of the concept “flexibility” before arguing the merits of a discourse perspective on flexibility as a rationale for organizational change.

This paper identifies a set of questions to frame a discourse perspective on the use of “flexibility” as a rationale for organizational change.

The questions derived in this paper provide a research agenda for an investigation of the use and effects of the concept “flexibility” in the context of organizational change.

The questions derived in this paper provide practice‐based insights into how the concept “flexibility” is and/or could be used in the context of organizational change.

“Flexibility” is a ubiquitous concept as a rationale for organizational change and its use is accompanied by a diversity of definitions and conceptual frameworks. The originality of this paper is that rather than seeking to provide yet another definition – or attempting a resolution of definitional differences – it argues the merits of a discourse perspective on the use and effect of the concept flexibility in the context of organizational change.

Explores the possibilities that accounting could become a resource in a movement towards fairer and more just societies. Considers specifically the ways in which mainstream management accounting textbooks, as tools of management accounting education, have the effect of encouraging students of the discipline to be unaware, unquestioning and uncritical of the social and organizational effects of management accounting practice. Aims to explore, through illustrations from a leading mainstream management accounting text, both the obvious and the more subtle ways in which such texts can inculcate these future practitioners with norms of practice that preclude management accounting’s emancipatory role in society. Considers in the course of this analysis the described purpose of management accounting; the assumptions made about human behaviour; the presentation of class structures and interests; and the importance of cultural specificity when considering management accounting. Counter‐illustrations are offered of how accounting educators might move towards encouraging students to consider accounting’s enabling possibilities. Finally, suggests areas for further investigation and effort which are material to the development of an enabling accounting.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the increasing expectation against two concepts, information and process scepticism. In light of the Centro case judgement, directors’ decisions are held to increasing standards of due care and diligence.

This is a conceptual paper, drawing upon archival material, including statute law, case law, regulatory guidance material and media releases in Australasia. The authors review the statutory duty of care, skill and diligence expected of non-executive directors.

Whether a director has exercised an appropriate level of reasonable care and skill and/or due diligence has been a matter for the courts to decide. Such retrospective analysis leaves directors vulnerable to the uncertainty of whether their individual interpretation of diligence matches up to that of the presiding judge. The authors provide directors with a framework to apply scepticism to information and processes provided by those on whom the directors may rely.

Two concepts are identified: reasonable reliance on others and the business judgement rule. The authors present arguments that challenge us to understand reasonable reliance, judgement and actions of directors in light of processing and information scepticism.

Directors do have a different role to that of auditors; incorporating scepticism can enable directors to fulfil their responsibility towards shareholders. By applying information and process scepticism, directors of companies can reduce the likelihood and magnitude of litigation costs and out-of-court settlements.

This paper provides a framework to apply scepticism to information and processes provided by people on whom the directors may rely.

This paper aims to assess the impact of the presence/absence of risk management practices on the risk of merger and acquisition (M&A) failure.

An agency theoretic perspective is adopted, along with a mixed-methods approach to study managerial complexity beyond simply “good” and “bad”. The focus is on an agency conflicts.

The authors first present an integrated framework that classifies managerial behaviour and risk management, where M&A bids can become vehicles for maximising managerial benefits rather than shareholder value. The authors proceed to consider M&A activity that benefits both managers and shareholders in the presence of risk management strategies.

The paper highlights the benefits of multiple paradigms and research paths that address dimensions captured by an agency theoretic perspective.

The authors regard this paper as having particular significance in that the global financial crisis has impacted M&A activities and objectives, shifting the employment and related risks faced by managers.

The paper suggests future research paths to advance the understanding of the complex behaviour of managers involved in M&A activities that go beyond the classification of “good” and “bad” managers.

The purpose of this paper is to present a structured literature review of the public sector intellectual capital (IC) literature. It is, in part, motivated by a recent review of the IC literature by Guthrie et al. (2012, p. 74), who found that the public sector is one of the least addressed areas of IC research.

This paper presents a structured literature review of public sector IC articles that is as up to date as possible. The authors use and update the dataset from Guthrie et al. (2012) to include another five plus years of data, including seven articles appearing in this special issue.

The public sector IC has a primary research focus on central government and central government agencies, education (especially universities), Europe (especially Italy and Spain) and empirical research using case studies mainly investigating management control and strategy. It appears public sector IC researchers are firmly entrenched in performative third-stage research, investigating “how” IC works in organisations rather than offering normative solutions.

Three areas offered as a way of forwarding public sector IC research. First, there is a need to expand public sector IC research from beyond the confines of education (university) research. There is also an opportunity for a study to synthesise the findings. Second, there is also a need for more longitudinal research in public sector IC because IC is not an event, but a journey. Third, there is an opportunity for researchers to undertake empirical research with organisations to develop and test IC frameworks and models in specific public sector contexts.

The authors call for researchers to consider helping public sector practitioners implement IC frameworks and models through interventionist research. In keeping with the performative third-stage IC research agenda, interventionist research makes it possible for academic researchers to act as a catalyst for implementing IC frameworks and models in practice.

This paper is a must read for IC researchers wanting to embark on public sector research. The paper outlines how public sector IC research has developed, offers critique and outlines future opportunities for research that has potential impact, rather than concentrating on already well-researched contexts.