Twenty-five years of Benchmarking: An International Journal (BIJ)

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 760-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satish Kumar ◽  
Sachin Kamble ◽  
Matthew H. Roy
Keyword(s):  
Time Frame ◽  
25Th Anniversary ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Professional Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This year, Benchmarking: An International Journal (BIJ) is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The purpose of this paper is to show the historical connections and professional impact of the journal over the years. This is accomplished through a detailed bibliometric analysis (BA) of its content from 1994 to 2018. This paper also identifies leading trends that have affected BIJ during this time frame. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors employ BA on data retrieved from the Scopus database. The authors used various indicators such as the most productive authors, institutions and countries, as well as the most cited papers, citing journals and articles most cited by BIJ between 1994 and 2018. Additionally, the authors have used the Gephi, VOSviewer software to map journals, keywords and institutions with bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis. Findings The journal has improved its impact, productivity and reputation in the period under review. Articles published in BIJ have been cited in other journals more than 15,000 times. The most prominent themes among the articles published in BIJ are benchmarking, supply chain management and performance improvement. Significant contributions have come from authors and institutions around the globe. Co-authorships, though global, have centered around India, the USA and the UK. There is also a thematic similarity between articles from India and Thailand, and the USA and Germany, indicating high academic collaboration or prevalence of similar issues. Practical implications This paper provides evidence of the impact of BIJ, and in so doing, it helps authors to decide on the appropriateness of this publication for their research. The reader will also understand leading trends occurring in BIJ over the history of the journal. Originality/value This is the first paper that traces the progress of BIJ covering a time span of 25 years.

Study shows strong union presence specifically encourages use of person-centered human resource management (HRM) practices, but discourages performance-centered ones

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 4-6
Keyword(s):  
Senior Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Economies ◽  
Hrm Practices ◽  
The Usa ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Hr Function ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

Purpose The researchers wanted to find out a number of things. First, they wanted to assess the influence of strong unions on approaches to HRM. Second, they wanted to know if the strategic HR function had a positive effect on both person-centered and performance-centered HRM. Third, they tested the theory that the economic context had a significant influence on HRM practices. Companies in liberal market economies (LMEs), for example, were expected to adopt more performance-centered HRM, but for companies in coordinated market economies the reverse was likely to be true (CMEs). Design/methodology/approach Cristiani et al collected their data from the Cranet 2009 survey, the world’s largest comparative analysis of HRM practices. They sent out a questionnaire to senior managers responsible for HRM at private multinational companies. The authors sampled 3,406 firms across 14 countries. They placed six OECD nations in the LME group (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA) and ten in the CME group (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands). Findings The data revealed that the strategic HR function had a positive effect on the adoption of both person-centered and performance-centered HRM. The study also demonstrated that a more powerful union presence encouraged the use of person-centered approaches, whereas it discouraged performance-centered ones. The data suggested that the variety of capitalism (VoC) moderated the relationships between the strategic HR function role and performance-centered HMR, but the same impact on person-centered approaches was not found. Originality/value Proof of the moderating effect of the VoC shows that HR professionals – especially at multinationals - need to align their practices with the larger context in which their company is operating. The most valuable finding for businesses was the impact of a strong union presence on which HRM practices were likely to be accepted, or rejected.

Fifty years of the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971: the legislative contexts

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Blaine Stothard
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Before And After ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the history of relevant legislation before and after the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA). Design/methodology/approach A chronological narrative of laws and reports with concluding discussion. Findings That UK legislators have not made use of the evidence base available to them and have favoured enforcement rather than treatment approaches. That current UK practice has exacerbated not contain the use of and harms caused by illegal drugs. Research limitations/implications The paper does not cover all relevant documents, especially those from non-governmental sources. Practical implications The practical implications centre on the failure of consecutive governments to reflect on and review the impact of current legislation, especially on people who use drugs. Social implications That the situations of people who use drugs are currently ignored by the government and those proven responses which save lives and reduce harm are rejected. Originality/value The paper attempts to show the historical contexts of control and dangerousness of which the MDA is one instrument.

scholarly journals Implications of divergences in adult protection legislation

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna Montgomery ◽  
Janet Anand ◽  
Kathryn Mackay ◽  
Brian Taylor ◽  
Katherine C. Pearson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Elder Abuse ◽  
Consensus Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Responses ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Protection Legislation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Adult Protection

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the similarities and differences of legal responses to older adults who may be at risk of harm or abuse in the UK, Ireland, Australia and the USA. Design/methodology/approach – The authors draw upon a review of elder abuse and adult protection undertaken on behalf of the commissioner for older people in Northern Ireland. This paper focusses on the desk top mapping of the different legal approaches and draws upon wider literature to frame the discussion of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the different legal responses. Findings – Arguments exist both for and against each legal approach. Differences in defining the scope and powers of adult protection legislation in the UK and internationally are highlighted. Research limitations/implications – This review was undertaken in late 2013; while the authors have updated the mapping to take account of subsequent changes, some statutory guidance is not yet available. While the expertise of a group of experienced professionals in the field of adult safeguarding was utilized, it was not feasible to employ a formal survey or consensus model. Practical implications – Some countries have already introduced APL and others are considering doing so. The potential advantages and challenges of introducing APL are highlighted. Social implications – The introduction of legislation may give professionals increased powers to prevent and reduce abuse of adults, but this would also change the dynamic of relationships within families and between families and professionals. Originality/value – This paper provides an accessible discussion of APL across the UK and internationally which to date has been lacking from the literature.

They teach, but do they apply?

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 743-766
Author(s):  
Anete Petrusch ◽  
Guilherme Luís Roehe Vaccaro ◽  
Juliane Luchese
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Effective Sample Size ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Lean Thinking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Administrative Services ◽  
The Usa ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk

Purpose Although discussed for more than 20 years, information about Lean adoption in higher education institutions (HEIs) is scarce, especially in developing countries. This research aims to investigate the degree of Lean thinking adoption on administrative services of Brazilian private HEIs. The results are compared to studies from USA and UK, highlighting the maturity on enablers, principles, tools and performance measures related to Lean. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey research was carried out. The instrument is adapted for HEIs from the proposal of Malmbrandt and Åhlström (2013) for Lean services. Cronbach’s alpha and factor analysis were used to validate the adapted instrument. Additional data analysis was based on non-parametric tests. Findings No evidence of broad implementation of Lean thinking in administrative processes of Brazilian private HEIs was found, with the adoption being incipient. The results are convergent to those presented by other studies in the USA and the UK. There is a gap between the existing knowledge about Lean in the academic sphere of the HEIs and its application on their academic processes. Research limitations/implications The effective sample size was of 47, despite contacts being sent to 2,090 institutions. This sample allows exploratory research, although further research is required. Results are adherent to those found in research from other countries. Originality/value The research presents descriptive and exploratory results regarding the adoption of Lean in Brazilian HEIs. No previous similar research was found in the literature.

scholarly journals Social Frontiers: Estimating the Spatial Boundaries Between Residential Groups and Their Impacts on Crime

2021 ◽  
pp. 285-304
Author(s):  
Ivana Křížková ◽  
Meng Le Zhang ◽  
Dan Olner ◽  
Gwilym Pryce
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Poisson Model ◽  
Distance Measures ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Short Run ◽  
History Of ◽  
Conditional Autoregressive ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

AbstractInthischapter, we highlight the importance of social frontiers—sharp spatial divisions in the residential make-up of adjacent communities—as a potentially important form of segregation. The handful of studies estimating the impacts of social frontiers have been based in the USA and the UK, both of which are free-market democracies with a long history of immigration, ethnic mix and segregation. There are currently no studies of social frontiers in former socialist countries, for example, or in countries where immigration and ethnic mix are only a recent phenomenon or non-existent. This chapter aims to address this research gap by estimating the impacts of social frontiers on crime rates in a post-socialistcountry, Czechia. We demonstrate how a Bayesianspatial conditional autoregressive estimation can be used to detect social frontiers in this setting, and we use a fixed effect quasi-Poisson model to investigate the impact on crime. Our results suggest that in new immigration destinations, social frontiers may not be associated with higher rates of crime, at least in the short run. Moreover, our use of cultural distance measures helps to promote a more nuanced approach to studying the impact of segregation and highlights the role of cultural diversity in understanding the link between immigrant segregation and crime. We reflect on how this approach could contribute to the study of segregation and inequality in the Chinese context.

scholarly journals Earnings quality and the cost of equity capital: evidence on the impact of legal background

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Hassan Ahmed ◽  
Yasean Tahat ◽  
Yasser Eliwa ◽  
Bruce Burton
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Institutional Ownership ◽  
Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity Capital ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Earnings quality is of great concern to corporate stakeholders, including capital providers in international markets with widely varying regulatory pedigrees and ownership patterns. This paper aims to examine the association between the cost of equity capital and earnings quality, contextualised via tests that incorporate the potential for moderating effects around institutional settings. The analysis focuses on and compares evidence relating to (common law) UK/US firms and (civil law) German firms over the period 2005–2018 and seeks to identify whether, given institutional dissimilarities, significant differences exist between the two settings. Design/methodology/approach First, the authors undertake a review of the extant literature on the link between earnings quality and the cost of capital. Second, using a sample of 948 listed companies from the USA, the UK and Germany over the period 2005 to 2018, the authors estimate four implied cost of equity capital proxies. The relationship between companies’ cost of equity capital and their earnings quality is then investigated. Findings Consistent with theoretical reasoning and prior empirical analyses, the authors find a statistically negative association between earnings quality, evidenced by information relating to accruals and the cost of equity capital. However, when they extend the analysis by investigating the combined effect of institutional ownership and earnings quality on financing cost, the impact – while negative overall – is found to vary across legal backdrops. Research limitations/implications This paper uses institutional ownership as a mediating variable in the association between earnings quality and the cost of equity capital, but this is not intended to suggest that other measures may be of relevance here and additional research might usefully expand the analysis to incorporate other forms of ownership including state and foreign bases. Second, and suggestive of another avenue for developing the work presented in the study, the authors have used accrual measures of earnings quality. Practical implications The results are shown to provide potentially important insights for policymakers, creditors and investors about the consequences of earnings quality variability. The results should be of interest to firms seeking to reduce their financing costs and retain financial viability in the wake of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Originality/value The reported findings extends the single-country results of Eliwa et al. (2016) for the UK firms and Francis et al. (2005) for the USA, whereby both reported that the cost of equity capital is negatively associated with earnings quality attributes. Second, in a further increment to the extant literature (particularly Francis et al., 2005 and Eliwa et al., 2016), the authors find the effect of institutional ownership to be influential, with a significantly positive impact on the association between earnings quality and the cost of equity capital, suggesting in turn that institutional ownership can improve firms’ ability to secure cheaper funding by virtue of robust monitoring. While this result holds for the whole sample (the USA, the UK and Germany), country-level analysis shows that the result holds only for the common law countries (the UK and the USA) and not for Germany, consistent with the notion that extant legal systems are a determining factor in this context. This novel finding points to a role for institutional investors in watching and improving the quality of financial reports that are valued by the market in its price formation activity.

Toward a history of housing market analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 632-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
William C. Baer
Keyword(s):  
Housing Market ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Market Analysis ◽  
Ancient Rome ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Urban Market ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
History Of

Purpose This paper aims to relate early history of housing conceptualizations and market analysis in the Anglosphere (Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand). Historians are ignorant of them but clear market analyses had early beginnings in every urban society for developing and accommodating growing populations. Design/methodology/approach Historiography. Findings Aspects of market analysis, especially appraisal and rudimentary approaches to the housing market in the Anglosphere, can be traced back to ancient Rome, housing market conceptualizations to Dr Nicholas Barbon and seventeenth-century London’s first population and housing boom and market analysis techniques in the USA at its founding, when Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand Perigor was the first to refine them and write them up in 1794-1796. The US next made major advances in the 1930s. The overall trend has been from inferred analyses to fundamental (derived) analyses, emphasizing “quantifiable data.” Practical implications This paper elicits researcher’s professional awareness that each nation has an implicit history of its early development practices and techniques. Originality/value The time frame of most housing market analysts is the recent past, the present and the future. But how enduring are their concerns? Do operational values in a housing market reflect historical epochs, or are there some universalities? Furthermore, most urban historians are ignorant of urban market dynamics. It does not occur to them that some of the dynamics that analysts attempt to capture today might always have been inherent in the urban built environment, regardless of era or urbanized part of the globe under consideration.

E-business internal audit: the elephant is still in the room!

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amr Kotb ◽  
Alan Sangster ◽  
David Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Internal Audit ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internal Auditors ◽  
Internal Audit Function ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
It Audit ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of technological change on the internal audit practices and skills requirements for internal auditors in an e-business environment. Design/methodology/approach – Generalist internal auditors and specialist information technology (IT) internal auditors were surveyed online in ten countries, including the USA and the UK which, together, provided the majority of responses. Findings – The results suggest a need for advanced IT-audit techniques in conducting the internal audit function, thereby increasing IT audit skill demands on generalist internal auditors. However, the results show a low confidence among internal auditors about their IT training and a continuing reliance upon IT audit specialists, rather than their own training/retraining. Research limitations/implications – The responses obtained in this study provide insight into both the status quo of the internal audit function, and to the changes that are needed to prepare generalist internal auditors for work in an e-business environment and, while the scale of the study limits the extent to which the findings may be generalized, they are consistent with the literature concerning the changing business environment and with the literature on resistance to change, suggesting that the issues revealed should be of concern. Practical implications – The results reported in this paper are useful to internal auditing educators and regulators in their consideration of the skills needed by generalist internal auditors in e-business environment. Originality/value – This study sheds light on a significantly growing area which remains relatively unexplored in the auditing-related literature, e-business audit. The study provides empirical evidence on challenges facing internal auditors in an e-business environment, thereby serving as a wake-up call, to both internal auditors and the professional bodies representing them, to defend their jurisdictional space against rival professional groups.

Who is vulnerable? Adult social care and modern slavery

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Craig ◽  
Stephen Clay
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
History Of ◽  
Forced Labour ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The 2015 Modern Slavery Act focusses attention forms of modern slavery (human trafficking and forced labour), within the UK. The contemporaneous 2014 Care Act, identifies modern slavery as a new form of risk within adult social care, listing forms of abuse and vulnerability. However, it does not consider whether those providing care may themselves be vulnerable to forms of modern slavery. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The authors describe the history of the development of modern slavery legislation in the UK, outline key provisions of the Care Act, illustrated with real-life cases. The analysis suggests that adult social care – characterised by informality, fragmentation and vulnerability – is one where instances of modern slavery may be more common than considered to date. Findings The data collected, though relatively modest, suggests that a thorough investigation should be undertaken into the possibility of modern slavery taking place within the realm of adult social care. Research limitations/implications Data have been collected through a snowball process, rolling out a survey to relevant groups of individual and organisations. A more rigorous investigation is required to examine the extent of modern slavery within adult social care. Practical implications The training of those responsible for the regulation/management of adult social care needs to ensure that they are fully equipped to understand the nature of modern slavery and how to identify its symptoms and victims. Social implications There is also a need for heightened awareness of those close to people being cared for that they may also identify the symptoms of modern slavery. Originality/value This area has not been explored to date.

Innovation types and performance in growing UK SMEs

2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 735-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adegoke Oke ◽  
Gerard Burke ◽  
Andrew Myers
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Radical Innovations ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Telecommunications Industries ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Survey Questionnaires

PurposeThe objective of this study is to explore the types of innovation that are predominant in UK SMEs, whether they are predominantly radical or incremental, and to investigate the impact of these innovations on performance.Design/methodology/approachA web‐based survey instrument was used to administer survey questionnaires to a sample of UK SMEs in manufacturing, engineering, electronics, information technology and telecommunications industries. The response rate was 13.8 percent. Relevant statistical analytical techniques including regression for analysis was then used.FindingsIt is found that the SMEs tend to focus more on incremental than radical innovations and that this focus is related to growth in sales turnover.Practical implicationsIt is not such a bad idea for SMEs, particularly those operating in high technological industries, to focus on incremental innovations as these are actually related positively to sales turnover growth.Originality/valueAn investigation of the types of innovation that SMEs pursue is pioneering in the field as previous studies of this type have been based on large firms. The contention that the raison d'etre of SMEs is to develop radical innovations is not supported empirically, at least for the sample of SMEs. In addition, it is found that the age of an SME is not related to its focus on either incremental or radical innovation. These are the contributions of this paper.

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