Search results

To introduce a broader concept for supply‐chain management (SCM), the notion of value network advocacy.

The historical roots and the traditional terms used to describe SCM are explored to show how their meanings have led to specific types of information systems to support SCM. The limitations of these systems are demonstrated with case studies. Then the concept of value network advocacy is introduced to address these limitations, and implications of this term are explored.

The term SCM has its historical roots in the control of fulfillment activities that support the linear physical flow of goods from suppliers to manufacturers to distributors to retailers. Consequently many information systems (IS) applications that support the supply chain have a similar focus. These systems often separate supply from demand management and focus on linear information flows. Often they are implemented without reengineering business processes. A broader concept, value network advocacy, better describes the needs of business today. It is suggested that adoption of this concept in organizations will be limited not by technology, but by lack of trust mechanisms and metrics.

The adoption of the broader concept of value network advocacy will enable companies to focus more on developing adaptive networks that support customer needs.

The paper introduces the concept of value network advocacy which can guide e‐supply chain development to support a more integrated customer‐focused notion of flexible networks that provide value.

The employee-organization relationship (EOR) has increasingly become a focal point for researchers in organizational behavior, human resource management, and industrial relations. Literature on the EOR has developed at both the individual – (e.g. psychological contracts) and the group and organizational-levels of analysis (e.g. employment relationships). Both sets of literatures are reviewed, and we argue for the need to integrate these literatures as a means for improving understanding of the EOR. Mechanisms for integrating these literatures are suggested. A subsequent discussion of contextual effects on the EOR follows in which we suggest that researchers develop models that explicitly incorporate context. We then examine a number of theoretical lenses to explain various attributes of the EOR such as the dynamism and fairness of the exchange, and new ways of understanding the exchange including positive functional relationships and integrative negotiations. The article concludes with a discussion of future research needed on the EOR.

This introductory article to the special symposium entitled “The Evolution of Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting Education” introduces the five symposium articles that follow. The article also presents information to assist governmental and nonprofit educators in business schools and public administration educators in other colleges within a university in making comparisons between their perspectives and approaches. The authors’ view as accounting professors is that students in both disciplines develop stronger competencies for success in the public sector when their programs integrate context and techniques that come from using alternative instructional approaches and a diverse set of resources.

Research to date has identified incubator units as an effective mechanism for supporting the growth and development of small entrepreneurial firms. Advantages are gained not only from the provision of appropriate facilities and external managerial expertise on site, but also from the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial networks facilitated by the spatial proximity of incubator firms. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of context, in other words the degree to which the networking opportunities provided by the university incubator support the small firm in its pursuit of sustainability and growth.

Empirical evidence is presented from six in‐depth, longitudinal case studies of entrepreneurial firms based within a university incubator located within the United Kingdom. The interviews were tape‐recorded and transcribed and then analysed through the NUD*IST software package.

The current research highlights the specific role of the university context in networking activities, and in particular, the development of particular types of networks, namely, social and business. Having identified the role of the university in facilitating such networks, future research needs to consider how proximity and tacit knowledge establishes the trust which underpins successful networking. However, this paper has also revealed some disadvantages of university incubator placement worthy of further consideration and research, namely, how proximity between firms is seen as a threat to intellectual property rights and also, how the image of the academic might be seen as a disadvantage within the business community.

This paper adds to existing literature through an exploration of the manner in which firm proximity within a university incubator impacts upon networking opportunities for new entrepreneurial firms.

Accounting is problematically shaped by a culture of spin. In the practice of accounting, presentational management risks assuming greater importance than an open and clear communication motivated by a concern to serve the public interest. We elaborate upon this problematic feature of contemporary practice and suggest pointers towards responding to the challenge it poses in terms of a better way for accounting in the new millennium.

Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.