Accounting academia in emerging economies: evolutions and challenges

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Albu ◽  
Catalin Nicolae Albu ◽  
Stefan Bunea ◽  
Maria Madalina Girbina
Keyword(s):  
Personal Experience ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Journal Ranking ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
National Journal ◽  
Post Communism

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the development of accounting academia in an emerging country situated in Central and Eastern Europe. Design/methodology/approach – First, the authors analyze publications in the main three local Romanian journals dedicated to accounting, using content analysis and statistical tests in line with the issues analyzed for accounting publications in the international literature. Second, they mobilize personal experience of, and observations of local developments by, the authors. Findings – The authors find that the decision of establishing a national journal ranking system in Romania in 2005 had both positive and negative consequences. Romanian accounting academics were asked after 2005 to focus on a very short notice on writing research papers, following a long period of communism and about 15 years of post-communism during which they wrote textbooks and professional papers. Journal and university rankings therefore influenced the publication behavior of such researchers, leading to searches for efficiency, ease of publications, publications outside accounting as well as to a difficult publication of their research outcome by internationally relevant accounting journals. Research limitations/implications – Publications in the three Romanian accounting journals for one year were analyzed and the personal experience of the authors mobilized. However, following this study, university administrators and national regulators can better ascertain the effect of their actions, and use these findings to better plan their future actions. Originality/value – This paper contributes to accounting research literature by offering insights into the current state of accounting research and publication in an emerging economy (Romania), and by investigating the institutional factors that may be responsible for this state of affairs.

Qualitative generalising in accounting research: concepts and strategies

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1100-1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee D. Parker ◽  
Deryl Northcott
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
General Applicability ◽  
Information Systems Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Quality Of Research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and articulate concepts and approaches to qualitative generalisation that will offer qualitative accounting researchers avenues for enhancing and justifying the general applicability of their research findings and conclusions. Design/methodology/approach – The study and arguments draw from multidisciplinary approaches to this issue. The analysis and theorising is based on published qualitative research literatures from the fields of education, health sciences, sociology, information systems, management and marketing, as well as accounting. Findings – The paper develops two overarching generalisation concepts for application by qualitative accounting researchers. These are built upon a number of qualitative generalisation concepts that have emerged in the multidisciplinary literatures. It also articulates strategies for enhancing the generalisability of qualitative accounting research findings. Research limitations/implications – The paper provides qualitative accounting researchers with understandings, arguments and justifications for the generalisability of their research and the related potential for wider accounting and societal contributions. It also articulates the key factors that impact on the quality of research generalisation that qualitative researchers can offer. Originality/value – This paper presents the most comprehensively sourced and developed approach to the concepts, strategies and unique deliverables of qualitative generalising hitherto available in the accounting research literature.

Customer experience management in medical tourism (case study: Iranian hospital’s medical tourists)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-226
Author(s):  
Hamed Dabaghi ◽  
Saeid Saieda Ardakani ◽  
Seyed Mohammad Tabataba’i-Nasab
Keyword(s):  
Medical Tourism ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Customer Experience ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Customer Experience Management ◽  
Data Saturation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the emerging phenomenon of medical tourism in the context of Iran from a customer experience management perspective and benchmark of their judgment including positive or negative, of the experience they have achieved of the Iranian health (medical) experience (CE) and suggest scenarios for the improvement of the Iranian customer experience management (CEM). Design/methodology/approach The research methodologies and research methods that are used in this descriptive-analytical research are based on an inspection of the remarkable literature related to medical tourism and customer experience management. The data gathering instrument is a researcher-made questionnaire based on the variables in the conceptual model extracted from the research literature. The study was conducted from May to August 2019. The population cohort of this study was the foreign patients calling selected Iranian hospitals and the sampling method was a purposive and snowball sample of prospective medical tourists. As the study was conducted throughout Iran, some important hospitals in Iran were selected by stratified sampling Yang et al. (2020b). The sample size and data saturation were 500 participants Lv and Song (2019). The collected data using the questionnaire were analyzed by SPSS software and statistical tests. Findings According to the results, the customer experience management statistical significance in the task aspect is (p = 0.0523), in the mechanical aspect is (p = 0.0563), in the human aspect is (p = 0.0544). The study showed positive customer experience among the patients who had been treated in the Iranian hospitals. Originality/value There is a lack of study that focuses on medical tourism and customer experience management in Iran. Therefore, based on the results of this study, the experience of medical tourists in Iran proved to be positive and satisfying. As little research has been conducted in the area of customer experience management (CEM) in Iranian medical tourism, future researchers can use these valuable results precisely and in more detail to benchmark more accurately the customer experience in all areas of medical and health tourism and other research areas in different aspects of CEM in Iran.

Cold water swimming for well-being

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Billie Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Personal Experience ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Prescribing ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Is Value

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the health and well-being benefits of outdoor, cold water swimming. Design/methodology/approach This paper describes the personal experience of one cold water swimmer. It also explores some of the research literature suggesting there is evidence of the benefits to the health and well-being of people of all ages. Findings The paper explores literature suggesting there is evidence of the benefits of “blue therapy” to the health and well-being of people of all ages. Originality This paper describes the personal experience of one cold water swimmer. However, a growing body of published literature suggests there is value in “blue therapy” informing future social prescribing programmes.

scholarly journals What counts for quality in interdisciplinary accounting research in the next decade

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Guthrie ◽  
Lee D. Parker ◽  
John Dumay ◽  
Markus J. Milne
Keyword(s):  
Core Values ◽  
Research Quality ◽  
Journal Ranking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
The Core ◽  
Citation Metrics ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the focus and changing nature of measuring academic accounting research quality. The paper addresses contemporary changes in academic publishing, metrics for determining research quality and the possible impacts on accounting scholars. These are considered in relation to the core values of interdisciplinary accounting research ‒ that is, the pursuit of novel, rigorous, significant and authentic research motivated by a passion for scholarship, curiosity and solving wicked problems. The impact of changing journal rankings and research citation metrics on the traditional and highly valued role of the accounting academic is further considered. In this setting, the paper also provides a summary of the journal’s activities for 2018, and in the future. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on contemporary data sets, the paper illustrates the increasingly diverse and confusing array of “evidence” brought to bear on the question of the relative quality of accounting research. Commercial products used to rate and rank journals, and judge the academic impact of individual scholars and their papers not only offer insight and visibility, but also have the potential to misinform scholars and their assessors. Findings In the move from simple journal ranking lists to big data and citations, and increasingly to concerns with impact and engagement, the authors identify several challenges facing academics and administrators alike. The individual academic and his or her contribution to scholarship are increasingly marginalised in the name of discipline, faculty and institutional performance. A growing university performance management culture within, for example, the UK and Australasia, has reached a stage in the past decade where publication and citation metrics are driving allocations of travel grants, research grants, promotions and appointments. With an expanded range of available metrics and products to judge their worth, or have it judged for them, scholars need to be increasingly informed of the nuanced or not-so-nuanced uses to which these measurement systems will be put. Narrow, restricted and opaque peer-based sources such as journal ranking lists are now being challenged by more transparent citation-based sources. Practical implications The issues addressed in this commentary offer a critical understanding of contemporary metrics and measurement in determining the quality of interdisciplinary accounting research. Scholars are urged to reflect upon the challenges they face in a rapidly moving context. Individuals are increasingly under pressure to seek out preferred publication outlets, developing and curating a personal citation profile. Yet such extrinsic outcomes may come at the cost of the core values that motivate the interdisciplinary scholar and research. Originality/value This paper provides a forward-looking focus on the critical role of academics in interdisciplinary accounting research.

In-prison therapeutic communities in California

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 142-158
Author(s):  
Rod Mullen ◽  
Naya Arbiter ◽  
Claudia Rosenthal Plepler ◽  
Douglas James Bond
Keyword(s):  
Personal Experience ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Government ◽  
Reducing Recidivism ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Over nearly six decades in prison, therapeutic communities (TCs) have waxed and waned in California. While there have been dramatic and demonstrable sucess with some of the most intractable populations in California prisons, the TC model has met substantial challenges, both bureaucratic and political. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This is a six-decade review of in-prison TCs in California based both on the research literature and from personal experience over 30 years providing both in-prison and community based TCs in California. Findings Despite well-documented success reducing the recidivism of violent offenders in California prisons (which is now the bulk of the population), the government has ignored the success of well implemented in-prison TCs, and has implemented a CBT model which has recently been documented to have been ineffective in reducing recidivism. The State is now at a crossroads. Research limitations/implications Documented research findings of success do not necessarily result in the implementation of the model. Practical implications There is evidence that violent felons are amenable to treatment. Social implications Public concern over the return of violent felons from prison can be ameliorated by the evidence of the effectiveness of TC treatment in prison. Originality/value There is no other publication which captures the narrative of the TC in California prisons over six decades.

Top European football clubs and social networks: a true 2.0 relationship?

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noelia Araújo ◽  
Pablo de Carlos ◽  
Jose Antonio Fraiz
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Effective Interaction ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
European Football ◽  
Facebook Pages

Purpose – In the scenario of today's Information Society, social networks are powerful promotional tools that football clubs can use to their own advantage by managing efficiently and effectively their image so as to enhance their appeal to sponsors and firms looking for marketing and advertising for their products. By analyzing a series of items that appear in the foremost European football clubs’ official Facebook pages, the purpose of this paper is to provide both descriptive and quantitative accounts of the extent to which those football clubs succeed in managing the potential for interactivity that their official Facebook profiles provide. Design/methodology/approach – The authors take as the basis of the quantitative analysis the volume of reactions from the fans of the clubs’ official Facebook pages displayed in the form of comments or clicks on the button “Like,” taken as a function of the type of posts published under the Facebook “Timeline” tag. Besides elaborating upon the data thus collected in terms of a descriptive study, the authors conduct correlation range statistical tests (Spearman's ρ coefficient) and an analysis of variance in order to obtain quantitative results on which the authors support the concluding statements. Findings – There is a mild positive correlation between a club's ranking according to UEFA and both the number of fans and the degree of effective interaction displayed in the club's official Facebook pages. Regarding the different types of content to be found in the posts, there is also a significant difference between the important volume of reactions to those most frequently posted and the very limited response displayed to the least frequently posted types. In this sense, it is to be stressed the moderate response obtained by the content openly demanding the users’ interaction (polls, contests, greetings, or encouraging messages, etc.). Research limitations/implications – The authors believe that the most important limitation is the small size of the sample, having a scope of 20 European football clubs, and its short time frame, since the data referred only to March 2013. Nonetheless, these are the most representative clubs in the European scenario, since they comprise UEFA's top 20 ranking. Practical implications – It is interesting to study, as the authors do in the contribution, different aspects regarding the design of football clubs Facebook pages and the activity shown therein, so as to learn how to improve their effectiveness in providing for a true interactive experience. Research on the types of content to be found in the posts available on Facebook's “Timeline” tag that can contribute to establishing a deeper engagement on the part of the fans can thus be very useful to anyone devising marketing strategies for a football club. Originality/value – The research literature on the use of social networks such as Facebook by sports organizations and, more particularly, by football clubs, is still very scarce. Past contributions have been focussed on the presence of football on the Web 2.0 in general terms, and on comparing different online interactive tools. Nonetheless, they do not tackle the questions related to the types of content provided by a particular social network, the response to them by the users, and with it, the characterization of their effectiveness as communications, marketing, and promotional tools.

Buyer beware: health choices information broadcast to the public

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Birnbaum
Keyword(s):  
Public Information ◽  
Scientific Publication ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Doctor Patient Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Report Quality ◽  
Health Choices ◽  
Hospital Compare

Purpose – This paper is based on the author’s 2015 Northwest Patient Safety Conference presentation, consistent with a conference theme of improving doctor-patient communication. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Ongoing systematic accumulation and critical review of research literature regarding design of effective public information websites, conducted from 2008-2015 while the author was supervising the prototyping, refinement and evaluation of healthcare-associated infections public information websites. Findings – In 2005, the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched its Hospital Compare website, announced as an enormous step forward by providing objective information to inform consumer choices. Subsequently, many other websites and programs emerged to report quality-of-care ratings of hospitals and doctors, and provide other advice intended to help the public inform their choices. When objectively evaluated to a scientific publication-level standard, websites like Hospital Compare show relatively low usage and disappointing impact; individual providers rank so differently across ratings websites that it is difficult to see how trustworthy conclusions could be drawn; and much of the advice offered through popular media is not supported by believable evidence. Further, research shows healthcare professionals and members of the lay public view concepts of evidence and evidence-based decisions quite differently. Badly informed misguided decisions can have negative consequences for providers, patients and public trust. Originality/value – Populism and celebrity seem to have trumped science during recent growth of public information resources for health choices. This paper summarizes serious flaws underlying resulting information products, indicating necessary changes to better serve a legitimate need.

Examining the economic consequences of concise integrated reports: a pitch

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 356-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Sinnewe
Keyword(s):  
Personal Experience ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Research Topic ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion of the application of the Faff (2015) pitch template to a financial accounting research topic. Design/methodology/approach The author recounts her personal experience with completing the template for a pitch that examines reporting conciseness in the context of integrated reporting. Findings The template was found useful in refining a research idea in a structured manner. Originality/value The letter also demonstrates how the template was used as a research collaboration tool when engaging with collaborators on research projects.

Gender is not “a dummy variable”: a discussion of current gender research in accounting

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris Hardies ◽  
Rihab Khalifa
Keyword(s):  
Control Variable ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Journal Ranking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gender Research ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Dummy Variable ◽  
Organizational Functions ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Gender

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reflect on the corpus of gender research in accounting journals, with the overall aim of evaluating the extent to which it has contributed to the understanding of the organization of accounting and its social and organizational functions.Design/methodology/approachGender articles have been critically analyzed. The selection included all gender papers published between the years 2000 and 2014, in 58 journals ranked A*, A and B from the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) journal ranking list. Patterns within the publishing norms of those journals were identified and critically reflected upon.FindingsGender research has been grouped into three categories, namely, gender as a dummy (or control) variable, gender as giving voice and gender as a process and organizing principle. Of these three categories, it can be contended that using gender as a dummy variable is very common, and it proved to be the least fruitful in explicating the roles of gender in accounting. Moreover, many published papers confuse sex with gender.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper discusses future avenues and approaches for research gender in accounting without, however, expanding on recent changes in gender research.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to systematically review gender research in the accounting field over the past three decades. Its key insight is to identify two persistent pitfalls within the current gender research practice, namely, the use of gender as a control variable only and the confusion of sex with gender. These pitfalls diminish the value of gender research overall and render it less relevant to the broader accounting literature. By using the term gender either as an add-on or, mistakenly, as a biological rather than cultural marker, the totality of those articles helps marginalize gender as an accounting research area because they fail to bring about the reconceptualization of accounting as a discipline. This stands in marked contrast to the achievements of gender approaches in other disciplines, such as sociology, history or work and employment. Articles that frequently decry the status of gender in accounting research turn out to be also reinforcing the marginalization of gender in accounting.

“It’s not just a diet, it’s a lifestyle”: An Exploratory Study into Community Preferences of Vegan Definitions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madelon North ◽  
Emily Jane Kothe ◽  
Anna Klas ◽  
Mathew Ling
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Advocacy Groups ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Ranking Order ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Community Preferences ◽  
Positivist Approach

Veganism is an increasingly popular lifestyle within Western societies, including Australia. However, there appears to be a positivist approach to defining veganism in the literature. This has implications for measurement and coherence of the research literature. This exploratory study assessed preference rankings for definitions of veganism used by vegan advocacy groups across an Australian convenience sample of three dietary groups (vegan = 230, omnivore = 117, vegetarian = 43). Participants were also asked to explain their ranking order in an open-ended question. Most vegans selected the UK definition as their first preference, omnivores underwent five rounds of preference reallocation before the Irish definition was selected, and vegetarians underwent four rounds before the UK definition was selected. A reflexive thematic analysis of participant explanations for their rankings identified four themes: (1) Diet vs. lifestyle, (2) Absolutism, (3) Social justice, and (4) Animal justice. These four themes represent how participants had differing perceptions of veganism according to their personal experience and understanding of the term. It appears participants took less of an absolutist approach to the definition and how individuals conceptualise veganism may be more dynamic than first expected. This will be important when researchers are considering how we are defining veganism in future studies to maintain consistency in the field.

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