scholarly journals The past, the present and the future of accounting for human rights

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 526-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken McPhail ◽  
John Ferguson

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss a number of important recent developments in the area of business and human rights and considers the impact of these developments for accounting, assurance and reporting. Following the UN endorsement of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the Guiding Principles) in June 2011, initiatives related to their implementation have advanced at a rapid pace. Despite the centrality of accounting, assurance and reporting to some of the key initiates – accounting research has, hitherto, lagged behind this growing momentum. In order to address this lacunae, this paper develops an agenda for future research in the area of accounting and human rights. In doing so, the paper provides an overview of the important contributions advanced by the other papers in this special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ). Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws together and identifies key issues and themes related to the rapidly evolving research and policy domain of business and human rights and considers the relevance of these issues to accounting research. Findings – The paper highlights the wide-ranging impact the Guiding Principles and other developments in business and human rights have for accounting practice and draws attention to potential areas of research for accounting scholars. In particular, the paper highlights the emergence of business and human rights due diligence requirements, including their management and reporting. Further, the paper draws attention to the development of business and human rights reporting and assurance practice – which, while still in its infancy, has gathered considerable momentum and support. Research limitations/implications – The paper provides important insights into emerging issues and developments in business and human rights that have clear relevance to accounting research and practice. Originality/value – This paper, and the other contributions to this special issue of AAAJ, provide a basis and a research agenda for accounting scholars seeking to undertake research in this significant and emerging field.

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1177-1192
Author(s):  
Brendan Thomas O'Connell ◽  
Paul De Lange ◽  
Ann Martin-Sardesai ◽  
Gloria Agyemang

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine prominent issues and knowledge contributions from research exploring measurement and assessment of accounting research, impact and engagement. This paper also provides an overview of the other papers presented in this AAAJ Special Issue and draws from their findings to scope out future impactful research opportunities in this area.Design/methodology/approachConsists of a review and examination of the prior literature and the other papers published in this AAAJ Special Issue.FindingsThe paper identifies and summarises three key research themes in the extant literature: research productivity of accounting academics; the rise of the “Corporate University” and commodification of research; and, the benefits and limitations of Research Assessment Exercises. It draws upon work within these research themes to set out four broad areas for future impactful research.Research limitations/implicationsThe value of this paper rests with collating and synthesising several important research themes on the nature and impact of measurement and assessment of accounting research, impact and engagement, and in prompting future extensions of this work through setting out areas for further innovative research in the area.Practical implicationsThe research examined in this paper and the future research avenues proposed are highly relevant to university academics, administrators and regulators/policymakers. They also offer important insights into matters of accounting measurement, accountability, and control more generally.Originality/valueThis paper adds to vibrant existing streams of research in the area by bringing together authors from different areas of accounting research for this AAAJ Special Issue. In scoping out an agenda for impactful research in the nature and impact of measurement and assessment of accounting research, impact and engagement, this paper also draws attention to underexplored issues pertaining to areas such as the “lived experience” of academics in the corporatised university and envisioning what a future “optimal” system of measurement and assessment of research quality might look like?


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1138-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Coad ◽  
Lisa Jack ◽  
Ahmed Kholeif

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the interdisciplinary use of strong structuration theory and consider the impact of this for accounting research. The paper also provides an overview of the contributions advanced by the other papers in this special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ). Design/methodology/approach This paper draws together and identifies key issues and themes related to the rapidly evolving interdisciplinary use of strong structuration theory and considers the relevance of these issues to accounting research. Findings The paper highlights that there is a growing use of strong structuration theory in a number of disciplines, such as in healthcare, learning studies, management, migration studies and childcare as well as in accounting. Within the accounting discipline, whilst the interest began in management accounting and control, there are ongoing studies of the not-for-profit sector, social and environmental accounting, financial reporting standards and audit. Using strong structuration theory, researchers are more interested in the people (individually or collectively) and their analysis of their conduct and context. They are moving forwards from an overly static use of the quadripartite framework to a more dynamic approach that also includes the other important central elements of strong structuration that focus on the issue of agency in situ rather than on structure cut off from agency. Research limitations/implications The paper provides important insights into emerging issues and developments in strong structuration theory that have clear relevance to accounting research and practice as well as other disciplines. Originality/value This paper, and other contributions to this special issue of AAAJ, provide a basis and a research agenda for accounting scholars seeking to undertake empirical research using Stones’ strong structuration theory.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 1861-1875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Andon ◽  
Clinton Free

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine prominent issues and knowledge contributions from research exploring the nexus between accounting and the business of sport, overview the other papers presented in this AAAJ Special Issue and draw from this work to scope out future impactful research opportunities in this area. Design/methodology/approach A review and examination of the prior literature and the other papers published in this AAAJ Special Issue. Findings The paper identifies and summarises three key research themes in the extant literature: financial regulation and assurance; commercialisation and professionalism; and accountability and control. Then it draws from work within these research themes to set out four broad areas for future impactful research. Research limitations/implications The value of this paper rests with collating and synthesising several important research issues on the nexus between accounting (broadly defined) and the business of sport, and in prompting future extensions of this work through setting out areas for further innovative accounting research on sport. Practical implications The research examined in this paper and the future research avenues proposed are highly relevant to administrators and regulators in sport. They also offer important insights into matters of accounting, accountability, valuation and control more generally. Originality/value This paper adds to vibrant existing streams of research in the area by bringing together authors from different areas of accounting research for this AAAJ Special Issue. In scoping out an agenda for impactful research at the intersection of accounting and sport, this paper also draws attention to underexplored issues pertaining to the rise of integrity and accountability concerns in sport, strategic choices in financial regulation, valuation issues and practices and the rise of technology in sport.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 677-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Marrone ◽  
James Hazelton

Purpose This paper aims to explore the extent to which technology and disruption has been considered within the accounting literature, to introduce the five papers which compose this special issue and to provide an agenda for future research on technology and disruption. Design/methodology/approach To explore previous works on the disruptive potential of technology in accounting, the study compares topics in accounting research articles that contain variations of the term “disrupt” with those articles containing variations of the term “technology”. Based on the method first proposed in Marrone and Hammerle (2016), an entity linker application was used to extract key topics from the top 50 accounting journals, and these topics were then compared to determine the extent of thematic intersection. Findings A key finding is that accounting academic articles featuring “disruption” are rarely linked with “technology”. The concept of “disruption” has been largely synonymous with crisis, and the crises endured to date have had predominantly social or environmental causes (e.g. the GFC and natural disasters). The literature on technology has coalesced around three broad themes – creation, deployment and protection – which have not been identified as crises triggers so far. This finding underscores the importance of the papers comprising this special issue, which explore enhanced data visualisation, blockchain and social media, as well as considering how such technologies might be managed and their potential for either emancipation or enslavement. Research limitations/implications In relation to the review of prior literature, the primary limitation is that a quantitative approach was taken. Whilst this allows for a greater sample size and replication, a qualitative thematic review may reveal additional findings. The primary implication of this research and this special issue collectively is that there is much more to be done in exploring both the potential benefits and limitations of new technologies for accounting. Originality/value In relation to the review of prior literature, no previous studies have undertaken a quantitative analysis of the intersection of technology disruption in accounting research. In relation to this special issue, these papers collectively provide a multi-faceted view of how technology can and will transform the practice and potential of accounting in the years ahead. Finally, the provision of a thematic framework and research agenda will assist future researchers in exploring this dynamic and important field.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 568-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingru Li ◽  
John McKernan

Purpose – The United Nations Guiding Principles locate human rights at the centre of the corporate social responsibility agenda and provide a substantial platform for the development of business and human rights policy and practice. The initiative gives opportunity and focus for the rethinking and reconfiguration of corporate accountability for human rights. It also presents a threat: the danger, as we see it, is that the Guiding Principles are interpreted and implemented in an uncritical way, on a “humanitarian” model of imposed expertise. The critical and radical democratic communities have tended to be, perhaps rightly, suspicious of rights talk and sceptical of any suggestion that rights and the discourse of human rights can play a progressive role. The purpose of this paper is to explore these issues from a radical perspective. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses insights taken from Jacques Rancière’s work to argue that there is vital critical potential in human rights. There is an obvious negativity to Rancière’s thought insofar as it conceives of the political as a challenge to the existing social order. The positive dimension to his work, which has its origins in his commitment to and tireless affirmation of the fact of equality, is equally important, if perhaps less obvious. Together the negative and positive moments provide a dynamic conception of human rights and a dialectical view of the relation between human rights and the social order, which enables us to overcome much of the criticism levelled at human rights by certain theorists. Findings – Rancière’s conception of the political puts human rights inscriptions, and the traces of equality they carry, at the heart of progressive politics. The authors close the paper with a discussion of the role that accounting for human rights can play in such a democratic politics, and by urging, on that basis, the critical accounting community to cautiously embrace the opportunity presented by the Guiding Principles. Originality/value – This paper has some novelty in its application of Rancière’s thinking on political theory to the problems of critical accounting and in particular the critical potential of accounting and human rights. The paper makes a theoretical contribution to a critical understanding of the relationship between accounting, human rights, and democracy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 357-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Emmer De Albuquerque Green

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore care home providers’ public communications covering their commitments to respecting residents’ the human rights. The discussion considers the United Nations guiding principles on business and human rights United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and a domestic legal and regulatory human rights framework. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative content analysis undertaken in 2017 of 70 websites of England’s largest commercial care home providers. Findings There are strong value-based public commitments in the websites of many English care home providers, which may or may not be interpreted as expressing their commitments to human rights. Research limitations/implications Research was limited to websites, which are public facing and marketing tools of care home providers. This does not provide inferences regarding the practical implementation of value-based statements or human-rights-based procedures or policies. This paper does not make any value judgements regarding either the public communications of care home providers or normative claims regarding human rights and care home service provision. Practical implications There is a need for clarification and debate about the potential role and added value of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and the UNGPs’ operating principles within the English residential care sector. Further exploration of the relationship between personalisation/person-centred care and human rights might be useful. Originality/value This paper introduces the UNGPs and corporate responsibility to respect human rights to the debate on human rights, personalised/person-centred care, safeguarding and care homes in England. It adds a new perspective to discussions of the human rights obligations of care home providers.


2005 ◽  
Vol 09 (01) ◽  
pp. v-xi ◽  
Author(s):  
JONATHAN SAPSED ◽  
PETER AUGSDÖRFER ◽  
JAMES UTTERBACK

In honour of the late Keith Pavitt, we introduce this Special Issue of International Journal of Innovation Management. We discuss the impact of Pavitt's work in technology and innovation on the management field. He showed empirically a number of core principles of technological change and knowledge, and how these affected managerial and organisational tasks. His influence is indicated by his publication channels, citations to his work and the other authors with whom he was cited. Pavitt had signalled several themes for future research in the management of technology and innovation. This introduction explains how the articles of this special issue make contributions to all these ongoing research agendas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-466
Author(s):  
Jos Akkermans ◽  
Ricardo Rodrigues ◽  
Stefan T. Mol ◽  
Scott E. Seibert ◽  
Svetlana N. Khapova

PurposeThis article aims to introduce the special issue entitled “the role of career shocks in contemporary career development,” synthesize key contributions and formulate a future research agenda.Design/methodology/approachThe authors provide an introduction of the current state-of-the-art in career shocks research, offer an overview of the key lessons learned from the special issue and present several important avenues for future research.FindingsThe authors discuss how the special issue articles contribute to a better understanding of career shocks' role in contemporary career development, focusing on (1) conceptual clarity of the notion of career shocks, (2) career outcomes of career shocks, (3) mechanisms that can explain the impact of career shocks and (4) interdisciplinary connectivity.Originality/valueThis article offers a synthesis of the critical contributions made within this special issue, thereby formulating key ways to bring the field of career shocks research forward. It also provides new avenues for research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 2253-2281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wai Fong Chua ◽  
Maria Cadiz Dyball ◽  
Helen Yee

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to assess the impact of the 1999 Special Issue on Professionalization in Asia in the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ); and second, more generally to review research on this topic post-1999. Design/methodology/approach The paper starts with a discussion of the research articles of the Special Issue. It then identifies research that has cited papers in the Special Issue and which focusses on professionalization in Asia to identify relevant subsequent research. In addition, a literature search is conducted to locate post-1999 work that has not cited papers from the Special Issue but has investigated the same topic area. Analyzing both sets of work enables an integrated review of the field and aids the identification of future research opportunities. The study covers published research articles and books on professionalization projects in Asia from 1999 to 2018. In this paper, reference to Asia focusses on East Asia (including countries such as China and Japan), South Asia (including countries such as Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka), and South East Asia (including countries such as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam). Given the elapsed time of near 20 years, there has been sufficient time for research to be published. Therefore, the review focusses on published output only and does not discuss unpublished theses, conference proceedings nor working papers. Findings First, the Special Issue of AAAJ in 1999 generally adopted a critical lens and studied professionalization as projects of market closure and collective mobility. The corporatist framework of Puxty et al. (1987) provided a useful framing to analyze the influence of states, markets and communities on professionalization. Second, the Special Issue has helped to spur interest in understanding professionalization in the region. Post-1999, there are studies of countries not covered in the Special Issue. Third, the themes identified in the Special Issue continue to be relevant and are examined in post-1999 work: the active role of the state, the legacies of colonization, the activities of transnational accounting bodies; and to a lesser degree, the influence of transnational accounting firms. Finally, future research could usefully focus on: the distinctive and more expansive role of Asian state agencies; the conduct of deeper comparative research; the role of accounting firms in the region; and the impact of transnational agencies such as the International Federation of Accountants and the World Bank. Research limitations/implications There are three limitations. First, the review of literature omits unpublished research such as PhD theses and working papers. Second, it focusses only on research published in English. As a result, some work may be excluded. Third, it assesses the contribution of a single issue (i.e. the 1999 AAAJ Special Issue) and does not discuss work that preceded 1999. Originality/value This paper is aimed at assessing the impact of the 1999 Special Issue but also presents a wide-ranging analytical review of published research on accounting professionalization in Asia since 1999. The paper identifies several areas for future research and proposes a modified model of state-market-community-profession relations. In particular, the paper emphasizes the large and distinctive roles of Asian state agencies and the activities of transnational actors (both those within the profession as well as those that are external).


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aries Susanty ◽  
Nia Budi Puspitasari ◽  
Sumunar Jati ◽  
Oktivia Selvina

Purpose The purpose of this paper is as follows: first, this study aims to identify the impact of internal and external factors on the implementation of halal logistics (IHL). Second, this study aims to investigate the impact of internal factors on the IHL through competitive pressure (COP) as a moderating variable. Design/methodology/approach This study used primary data that were collected through offline questionnaires. The questionnaires were intended to identify the internal and external conditions of a company and the level of the IHL. The internal condition consists of five factors, namely corporate image and reputation (CRE), entrepreneurial intensity, social responsibility (SRE), expected business benefit and halal integrity (HIN). The external factors consist of demand or customer pressure (DCP), government support (GOV), market share expansion and COP. This study considered the factors belonged to internal and external companies on the basis of the conceptual model from Ab Talib et al. (2015), Zailaini et al. (2015) and Ab Talib and Chin (2018) as they have clearly distinguished the important factors for the implementation of the concept of halal into internal and external groups and most of those factors are frequently stated by the other researchers. Findings There were 148 questionnaires administrated, 84.5% of which were properly filled in, completed and returned. For internal factors, the result of the study confirms that CRE, SRE and HIN have a positive significant impact on the IHL. For external factors, the result of the study confirms that DCP, GOV and COP have a positive significant impact on the IHL. Then, the result of the study also confirms that COP can make the impact of good CRE on the IHL stronger. This condition did not happen for the other internal factors. Research limitations/implications First, it is debatable that internal and external factors and the IHL are only measured by the Likert scales. Future research may take the benefits of inducing qualitative approaches to better measure the condition of internal and external factors and the level of IHL practices through observation and probing. Second, this study was limited to the respondents from companies in Indonesia, which is a Muslim-dominant country and this study does not take into account the differences in the target market and the company’s owner, size of operation and financial capacity. Future research should test the conceptual model in a non-Muslim country and should include controlling for variables to generate a more conducive finding. Third, this study only uses the limited variable as the internal and external factors. Therefore, as many variables represent technological, organisational and environmental factors, they could be included in the future research framework. Practical implications This study practically contributes to the halal concept implementation body of knowledge by identifying the relationships between the internal and external factors and the IHL. Understanding this relationship will help the management of food, beverage and ingredient companies, as well as the government or policymakers in making better decisions and strategies to strengthen the IHL. Social implications The IHL may help the food, beverage and ingredient companies to be competitive and achieve organisational improvements. Originality/value This study is among the few studies that scrutinized the rationale behind the IHL by Indonesian companies. Although halal logistics plays a key role in protecting the halal status of any given product, this topic is still rarely explored, especially with the case study of Indonesian companies.


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