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1 – 10 of over 16000T.M. Pinho, J.P. Coelho, P.M. Oliveira, B. Oliveira, A. Marques, J. Rasinmäki, A.P. Moreira, G. Veiga and J. Boaventura-Cunha
The optimisation of forest fuels supply chain involves several entities actors, and particularities. To successfully manage these supply chains, efficient tools must be devised…
Abstract
The optimisation of forest fuels supply chain involves several entities actors, and particularities. To successfully manage these supply chains, efficient tools must be devised with the ability to deal with stakeholders dynamic interactions and to optimize the supply chain performance as a whole while being stable and robust, even in the presence of uncertainties. This work proposes a framework to coordinate different planning levels and event-based models to manage the forest-based supply chain. In particular, with the new methodology, the resilience and flexibility of the biomass supply chain is increased through a closed-loop system based on the system forecasts provided by a discrete-event model. The developed event-based predictive model will be described in detail, explaining its link with the remaining elements. The implemented models and their links within the proposed framework are presented in a case study in Finland and results are shown to illustrate the advantage of the proposed architecture.
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Arja Flinkman, Benita Gullkvist and Henri Teittinen
This paper aims to explore how the time and temporal aspects are managed in a financial accounting outsourcing (FAO) transition process in an international interorganizational…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how the time and temporal aspects are managed in a financial accounting outsourcing (FAO) transition process in an international interorganizational context. As a research outcome, the authors identify management interventions of both the service provider (SP) and the outsourcing company (OC) at both the corporate and operational levels.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework by Huy (2001a, 2001b) was used to analyze the qualitative data, which draw on observations, participation in 32 official meetings during the outsourcing process, informal discussions with key actors from the SP and the OC, and archival data of a single case company.
Findings
The authors illustrate how the time and temporal aspects of planned accelerated change are managed through management interventions during the FAO transition process. All four ideal intervention types (commanding, engineering, teaching and socializing) were used sequentially but also jointly to complement one another. The pacing was mostly rapid, owing to strong commanding interventions initiating almost every stage. When analyzing the FAO transition process, the authors identified four stages: contact, contract, convergence and control. Moreover, the authors focused on the role of the operational-level managers and accounting specialists of both organizations. The findings indicate that management interventions vary with the management level.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the interorganizational control literature by considering the time and temporal aspects in planned organizational change and the role of operational-level managers in managing large-scale changes.
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Antonio Di Paolo and Alessia Matano
This paper investigates the effects of working during university education on labour market outcomes of university graduates.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the effects of working during university education on labour market outcomes of university graduates.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on data from three successive cohorts of graduates from the Spanish region of Catalonia, the authors estimate the effect of having worked in different types of jobs before graduation, classified according to work intensity and the match with the field of study, on the probability of being employed, having a permanent contract or having a job that requires the specific degree four years after graduation. The authors employ a multinomial endogenous treatment model that enables controlling for self-selection into pre-graduation working activities.
Findings
Pre-graduation work activities that are related to the field of study are generally beneficial for employability and job stability. Work experiences unmatched with the degree's content are detrimental for graduates' job–education match.
Originality/value
This is the first paper that jointly considers the role of work intensity (part-time vs full-time) and the relationship with the field of study in a framework that accounts for self-selection into different types of jobs. The authors also contribute to the literature by estimating the effect of pre-graduation jobs not only on the chances of being employed four years after graduation but also on two important aspects of job quality: having a permanent contract and having a job that requires the specific degree.
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Tim Kastrup, Michael Grant and Fredrik Nilsson
New digital technologies are reshaping the business landscape and accounting work. This paper aims to investigate how incorporating more data and new data analytics (DA) tools…
Abstract
Purpose
New digital technologies are reshaping the business landscape and accounting work. This paper aims to investigate how incorporating more data and new data analytics (DA) tools impacts the role and use of judgment in financial due diligence (FDD).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports findings from a field study at a Big Four accounting firm in Sweden (“DealCo”). The primary data includes semi-structured interviews, observations and other meetings. Theoretically, it draws on Dewey’s The Logic of Judgments of Practise and Logic: The Theory of Inquiry and distinguishes between theoretical (what is probably true) and practical judgment (what to do).
Findings
In DealCo’s FDD practice, using more data and new DA tools meant that the realm of possibility had expanded significantly. To manage the newfound abundance and to use DA effectively, DealCo’s advisors invoked practical and theoretical judgments in different stages and areas of the data-driven FDD. The paper identifies four critical uses of judgment: Setting priorities and exercising restraint (practical judgment) and forming hypotheses and doing sense checks (theoretical judgment). In these capacities, practical judgment and theoretical judgment were essential in transforming raw data into actionable insights and, in effect, an indeterminate situation into a determinate one.
Originality/value
The study foregrounds the practical dimension of knowledge production for decision-making and contributes to a better understanding of the role, use and importance of accounting professionals’ judgment in a data-driven world.
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Mohini Vidwans and Rosemary Ann Du Plessis
While women are increasingly in senior positions in accountancy firms, a century after gaining entry to this once exclusively male field, they are still struggling to achieve…
Abstract
Purpose
While women are increasingly in senior positions in accountancy firms, a century after gaining entry to this once exclusively male field, they are still struggling to achieve career success. The concept of possible selves and a model of career crafting are activated in an analysis of how a set of New Zealand professional accountants have pursued their careers. This paper aims to focus on how people actively craft career selves in the context of organisational and gendered constraints, some of which are self-imposed, and therefore, can be modified and revised.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews with 36 male and female accounting professionals in New Zealand – 21 working in private firms and 15 in academia identify how careers are shaped by contexts, cultural understandings of gender, organisational structures within which accountants are located and wider environmental factors.
Findings
Women accountants in this study are both agential and responsive to a range of constraints they encounter. These women challenge the notion that professional achievement requires single minded allegiance to a career; their strategic career crafting demonstrates how career and family commitments are not irreconcilable but can be skilfully integrated to nurture multiple selves. Their strategies are considered alongside those of a comparable set of male accountants.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on possible selves and the complexity of gendered lives through the application of a career crafting matrix to explore how accounting professionals forge careers and construct multiple selves.
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