Introduction to the special issue

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rotem Shneor ◽  
Jan Inge Jenssen ◽  
Tiia Vissak

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to set the papers included in the special issue into their unique contextual stage of entrepreneurial eco-systems in Nordic and Baltic countries. Design/methodology/approach – The editorial first presents the current status of entrepreneurship in the Nordic and Baltic regions. It then provides an overview of the papers included in this special issue, while highlighting their contributions. Finally, it concludes with suggestions for further research, while pointing out promising areas for future investigations. Findings – The papers included in this special issue help advance the understanding of important aspects of entrepreneurship in general, and within the context of Nordic and Baltic countries in particular. The first two papers focus on antecedents of entrepreneurial behaviour, namely – education and passion, while the last two papers address entrepreneurial behaviour and its outcome in terms of both growth aspiration and actual growth. Finally, the editorial identifies three important themes for future research, namely – the roles of Web 2.0 and online communities, crowdfunding and alternative finance, as well as current immigration trends on entrepreneurship development and dynamics in Nordic and Baltic Europe. Originality/value – This editorial and special issue are in tune with current calls for better understanding of entrepreneurship-related phenomena within their social context, and some of the linkages between social settings and manifestations of entrepreneurship. And while most papers concentrate on themes that may be associated with mainstream entrepreneurship research, each introduces new angles and/or conceptual combinations surrounding such themes and variables, which are unique and inspirational.

Author(s):  
Sachiko Ogawa ◽  
Yoshinori Takahashi ◽  
Misako Miyazaki

Background: Although interprofessional education (IPE) has come to be considered essential in health and social care education programs, most IPE programs in Japan focus on clinical settings. However, following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, IPE programs are considered essential for community development, especially in disaster-affected areas. To identify key issues for the development of IPE, we aimed to clarify the current status of IPE programs and problems in their implementation using an original questionnaire. Methods and Findings: The targets were 865 undergraduate courses that qualify students to take national registered health/social care examinations. Effective responses were received from 284 targets. Of these 284 respondents, 103 respondents had already implemented an IPE program and 181 respondents had not. Among the 103 respondents who had already implemented an IPE program, we found a tendency to collaborate with partners in clinical settings or in social settings. Furthermore, respondents who had implemented or were planning to implement an IPE program had difficulty with ‘interdisciplinary and/or extramural collaboration’ and ‘educational factors’. Conclusions: These difficulties could be considered barriers to developing effective IPE programs for community-based collaboration between health and social care professionals. Future research should investigate more specific solutions to these problems.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaibhav Chaudhary ◽  
Rakhee Kulshrestha ◽  
Srikanta Routroy

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the perishable inventory models along various dimensions such as its evolution, scope, demand, shelf life, replenishment policy, modeling techniques and research gaps.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 418 relevant and scholarly articles of various researchers and practitioners during 1990-2016 were reviewed. They were critically analyzed along author profile, nature of perishability, research contributions of different countries, publication along time, research methodologies adopted, etc. to draw fruitful conclusions. The future research for perishable inventory modeling was also discussed and suggested.FindingsThere are plethora of perishable inventory studies with divergent objectives and scope. Besides demand and perishable rate in perishable inventory models, other factors such as price discount, allow shortage or not, inflation, time value of money and so on were found to be combined to make it more realistic. The modeling of inventory systems with two or more perishable items is limited. The multi-echelon inventory with centralized decision and information sharing is acquiring lot of importance because of supply chain integration in the competitive market.Research limitations/implicationsOnly peer-reviewed journals and conference papers were analyzed, whereas the manuals, reports, white papers and blood-related articles were excluded. Clustering of literature revealed that future studies should focus on stochastic modeling.Practical implicationsStress had been laid to identify future research gaps that will help in developing realistic models. The present work will form a guideline to choose the appropriate methodology(s) and mathematical technique(s) in different situations with perishable inventory.Originality/valueThe current review analyzed 419 research papers available in the literature on perishable inventory modeling to summarize its current status and identify its potential future directions. Also the future research gaps were uncovered. This systemic review is strongly felt to fill the gap in the perishable inventory literature and help in formulating effective strategies to design of an effective and efficient inventory management system for perishable items.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 450-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charl de Villiers ◽  
Pei-Chi Kelly Hsiao ◽  
Warren Maroun

Purpose This paper aims to develop a conceptual model for examining the development of integrated reporting, relate the articles in this Meditari Accountancy Research special issue on integrated reporting to the model and identify areas for future research. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a narrative/discursive style to summarise key findings from the articles in the special issue and develop a normative research agenda. Findings The findings of the prior literature, as well as the articles in this special issue, support the conceptual model developed in this paper. This new conceptual model can be used in multiple ways. Originality/value The special issue draws on some of the latest developments in integrated reporting from multiple jurisdictions. Different theoretical frameworks and methodologies, coupled with primary evidence on integrated reporting, construct a pluralistic assessment of integrated reporting, which can be used as a basis for future research. The new conceptual model developed in this paper can be used as an organising framework; a way of understanding and thinking about the various influences; a way of identifying additional factors to control for in a study; and/or a way of identifying new, interesting and underexplored research questions.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Lai ◽  
Riccardo Stacchezzini

Purpose This paper aims to trace subsequent steps of the sustainability reporting evolution in terms of changes in the organisation fields and professional jurisdictions involved. As such, it highlights the (interrelated) organisational and professional challenges associated with the progressive incorporation of “sustainability” within corporate reporting. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on Suddaby and Viale’s (2011) theorisation of how professionals reshape organisational fields to highlight how organisational spaces, actors, rules and professional capital evolve alongside the incorporation of sustainability within corporate reporting. Findings The paper shows organisational spaces, actors, rules and professional capital mobilised during the recent evolution of sustainability reporting, starting from a period in which there was no space for sustainability, to more recent periods in which sustainability gained increasing momentum beyond initial niches, and culminating in more integrated forms of sustainability reporting. Research limitations/implications Although the analysis is limited to empirical evidence collected by prior research and practice on sustainability reporting, the paper offers a view to imagine how the incorporation of sustainability within corporate reporting relies on and affects organisational fields and professional jurisdictions. Originality/value The paper offers a lens to interpret corporate and professional challenges associated with the more recent evolutions of sustainability reporting practice and standard setting. It also allows framing the papers accepted in the special issue on “new challenges in sustainability reporting” and concludes by suggesting an agenda for future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel Boso ◽  
Yaw A. Debrah ◽  
Joseph Amankwah-Amoah

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: to publish scholarly works that extend knowledge on the drivers, consequences and boundary conditions of international marketing strategies employed by emerging market firms of all sizes and types; and to advance a narrative for future research on emerging market firms’ international marketing activities. Design/methodology/approach To achieve this agenda, the authors invited scholars to submit quality manuscripts to the special issue. Manuscripts that addressed the special issue theme from varied theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches were invited. Findings Out of 70 manuscripts reviewed, 7 are eventually accepted for inclusion in this special issue. The papers touched on interesting research topics bothering on international marketing practices of emerging market firms using blend of interesting theoretical perspectives and variety of methods. Key theoretical perspectives used include resource-based theory, internationalization theory, institutional theory and corporate visual identity theory. The authors employed unique sets of methods including literature review, surveys, panel data, and process-based qualitative and case-study enquiries. The authors used some of the most advanced analytical techniques to analyze their data. Originality/value This introduction to the special issue provides a review of the extant literature on the international marketing strategy of emerging market firms, focusing on summarizing key empirical contributions on the topic over the last three decades. Subsequently, the authors discuss how each paper included in this special issue helps advance the agenda to develop scholarly knowledge on emerging market firms’ international marketing strategy.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rouhollah Khodabandelou ◽  
Masood Fathi ◽  
Mohammad Amerian ◽  
Mohammad Reza Fakhraie

PurposeThis study examines the importance of English Mobile Learning research as a foundation for lifelong and sustainable education from different points of view, including those of technology innovation experts, psychologists and educators. It aims to explore the current status and relevant research trends through the application of bibliometric mapping and bibliometric analysis.Design/methodology/approachFor this study, all Web of Science records (in total 5,343) from 2000 to 2020 in the field of English Mobile Learning were analyzed using the VOSviewer and CiteSpace software tools. The WoS built-in functions, including “Refine” and “Analyze,” were employed to perform the bibliometric analysis. The study further analyzed a sample of the five most-cited articles to identify the previous studies with the highest quality or impact.FindingsThe results showed that research in English Mobile Learning is growing quickly and steadily with a noticeable emphasis on various device-based technologies and applications. The study also discusses the key implications for research institutions, education policymakers and academicians, and identifies the most prominent avenues for future research on English Mobile Learning. Moreover, the results shared in this review highlight the most important and emerging areas of research in the field.Originality/valueThis article is the most recent bibliographic review of literature that particularly addresses the English Mobile Learning research during the past two decades.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristiano Busco ◽  
Fabrizio Granà ◽  
Giulia Achilli

Purpose This study aims to develop a framework to systematize the emerging literature on integrated thinking and offers empirical insights on how integrated thinking has been practiced within an organization. The paper also introduces the contributions that compose the special issue “exploring integrated thinking in action: theoretical interpretations and evidence from the field” and outlines avenues for future research. Design/methodology/approach The paper critically reviews the literature on integrated thinking and proposes a framework that classifies prior studies into three areas, namely, integrated thinking and sustainable strategies; integrating thinking in practice; the concept and measures of integrated thinking. The study also provides an illustration of the ways in which integrated thinking has been adopted by a European energy company to shape and execute its purpose-driven strategy, as well as the benefits that have emerged. The paper uses the framework developed from the literature to introduce the contributions of the special issue and to suggest future research opportunities. Findings The study shows that while the literature on integrated thinking is still in its infancy, the evidence emerging from contemporary organizations supports empirical-driven research and stimulates a variety of theoretical and empirical contributions that will enable the academic debate to move forward. Originality/value The theoretical and practical insights offered by this study, together with those provided by the papers of this Meditari Accountancy Research special issue, will foster future research on integrated thinking. In particular, the framework developed in this paper may be drawn upon by researchers to plan new research projects on integrated thinking and its adoption within organizations.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazar Fatima Khan ◽  
Mohammed Naved Khan

PurposeWith the rise in adverse impact of excessive technology use, such as smartphone; the issue of smartphone addiction has gained the attention of researchers in recent years. Therefore, this study undertakes to review the literature on smartphone addiction research by identifying the current state of research in this domain and the future avenues that need to be addressed.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive bibliometric analysis was conducted on 652 articles extracted from SCOPUS database. Publications were extracted from Scopus by performing a keyword search of “Smartphone Addiction” OR “Problematic smartphone use”. Bibliometric methods such as performance analysis and science mapping were used to perform the overview of smartphone addiction research. In addition, VOSviewer software was used to organise, analyse and present the data. This study identifies the most prolific authors, journals, documents, collaborative work, major research themes, potential research avenues in this field of research.FindingsThe result shows that the research on smartphone addiction has increased recently, the dominance of research is found in few countries only. There is preponderance of research in this domain in Asian countries, particularly South Korea and still there is a significant scope for future research in this area, which is presented in detail in this study. The research on smartphone addiction has been mainly conducted in the field of medicine and psychology; the other subjects lack behind by a significant margin in terms of research publications in this domain. The findings suggest Elhai (US) is the most influential researcher in this field, and US has shown high collaboration in smartphone addiction research with other countries as well as with authors within its domestic territory. Thematic map obtained from R software presents the evolution of themes. It shows that quality of life, social support, self-efficacy, anxiety and depression are major variables studied over the period. Respondents in most of the studies were university students, as the young generation is technology-savvy and is more attracted to gadgets such as smartphones.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides an overview of research on smartphone addiction through an exhaustive bibliometric analysis to organise the fragmented literature on smartphone addiction and provide structure for future research in the domain. This is the first study of its kind on the subject. This study has found important future research avenues in the domain, which need to be addressed. Also, it will provide guidance to stakeholders from different backgrounds like, manufacturers, marketers, regulators, policymakers, consumers and academicians to contribute in controlling this problem as a part of their social responsibility.Originality/valueThis paper is unique in the sense that it, for the first time, attempts to provides valuable insights on the current status of research on smartphone addiction and also provides guidance for potential future agenda through bibliometric and content analysis techniques.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed H. Al-Dmour ◽  
Masam Abood ◽  
Hani H. Al-Dmour

Purpose This study aims at investigating the extent of SysTrust’s framework (principles and criteria) as an internal control approach for assuring the reliability of accounting information system (AIS) were being implemented in Jordanian business organizations. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on primary data collected through a structured questionnaire from 239 out of 328 shareholdings companies. The survey units were the shareholding companies in Jordan, and the single key respondents approach was adopted. The extents of SysTrust principles were also measured. Previously validated instruments were used where required. The data were analysed using t-test and ANOVA. Findings The results indicated that the extent of SysTrust being implemented could be considered to be moderate at this stage. This implies that there are some variations among business organizations in terms of their level of implementing of SysTrust principles and criteria. The results also showed that the extent of SysTrust principles being implemented was varied among business organizations based on their business sector. However, there were not found varied due to their size of business and a length of time in business (experience). Research limitations/implications This study is only conducted in Jordan as a developing country. Although Jordan is a valid indicator of prevalent factors in the wider MENA region and developing countries, the lack of external validity of this research means that any generalization of the research findings should be made with caution. Future research can be orientated to other national and cultural settings and compared with the results of this study. Practical implications The study provides evidence of the need for management to recognize the importance of the implementation of SysTrust principles and criteria as an internal control for assuring the reliability of AIS within their organizations and be aware which of these principles are appropriate to their size and industry sector. Originality/value The findings would be valuable for academic researchers, managers and professional accounting to acquire a better undemanding of the current status of the implementation of the SysTrust principles (i.e., availability, security, integrity processing, confidentiality, and privacy) as an internal control method for assuring the reliability of AIS by testing the phenomenon in Jordan as a developing country.


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.


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