Mitigating inefficiencies in budget spending: evidence from an explorative study

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Rausch ◽  
Friederike Wall

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a greater flexibility in the budget time-structure, which allows for shifting budgetary funds beyond the budget year, does, in fact, mitigate inefficiencies in budget spending. Traditional budgets are usually tied to a finite time span, e.g. one year, and are heavily criticized both for hampering efficient resource allocation and also for encouraging dysfunctional budget spending behaviours such as wasteful spend-downs at the end of the budget year and inappropriate holding back of funds early on. Design/methodology/approach – A research framework is proposed which draws on critical perspectives developed in prior research and an analytical model put forward by Pollack/Zeckhauser that is adopted as the basis for the development of the hypotheses. In an explorative study, data from an empirical questionnaire survey administered to 219 practitioners, mainly managers, from Austria are then used to substantiate the hypotheses. Findings – Finite-period budgets and fully flexible budgets, which allow subordinates both to save unspent funds beyond the budget year and also to borrow funds from future budgets, cause inefficiencies in budget spending. Subordinates who are allowed to spend and save funds at their discretion without being threatened by the loss of funds or imminent debts seem to spend their budgets most efficiently. Originality/value – The present paper contributes to the management accounting literature by investigating a heavily criticized but rather underexplored area of budgeting and by subjecting theoretical propositions from prior research to explorative empirical testing. Enhanced understanding of the temporal effects of the budget cycle structure will help practitioners improve budget spending and should encourage further research.

Author(s):  
Sara Csillag ◽  
Zsuzsanna Gyori ◽  
Carmen Svastics

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse the barriers entrepreneurs with disabilities (EWD) face when establishing their own enterprises, as well as the supporting factors in starting and running a business. Design/methodology/approach This is an explorative study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with ten Hungarian entrepreneurs with physical disabilities or sight-loss, during the summer of 2018. Findings The paper classifies the barriers and supporting factors, as personal, economic and social. Based on the perceptions of the entrepreneurs, personal characteristics, identity and various types of family support play an important role in becoming entrepreneurs, but the entrepreneurial ecosystem generally is not favourable in Hungary, and there are no special support programmes focussing on EWD. Research limitations/implications Sample size is a serious limitation: the ten entrepreneurs do not represent in any sense the entire EWD community in Hungary, so the patterns found cannot be considered a generally valid picture. Originality/value The article contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship and disabilities, especially through the systematic review of the possible barriers and supporting factors and to the existing empirical body of knowledge by shedding light on the barriers and supporting factors in a rarely investigated region, in Central Europe: Hungary.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 322-332
Author(s):  
Eunok Park

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze provisions which are related to court’s intervention over an arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction under the revised Korean Arbitration Act (2016) and the UNCITRAL Model Law. Design/methodology/approach The author studies a theory about court’s intervention over an arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction by studying some scholarly writings and compares the revised provisions in the KAA (2016) with those in the KAA (2010) and the UNCITRAL Model Law (2006). Findings There is no clear and internationally unified answer to which theory between the prima facie test and the full review test is appropriate for court’s intervention to arbitration. The analysis of the provision shows that the revised ones in the KAA (2016) will make arbitration to be conducted faster and more efficiently by giving practical answers to issues raised. Research limitations/implications It has been just over one year since the KAA (2016) became effective, so it limits evaluation on whether these revised provisions related to court’s intervention over jurisdiction of arbitral tribunal is successful or not. Originality/value This study is comparatively new one after the KAA (2016) became effective. So, it is expected to provide a guidance for further studies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Aboramadan

Purpose From one year to another, more researchers join in the ever-growing field of interest of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Nevertheless, the literature on NGOs management is not as rich as what has been developed for private companies and bodies in the business world. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for managing NGOs effectively. Design/methodology/approach Reviewing the literature on NGOs management from different areas, the paper proposes a conceptual framework. Findings The paper provides a conceptual framework on how different management functions are involved in a mutual framework for managing NGOs. Research limitations/implications The author needs to empirically test the suggested framework using qualitative and qualitative techniques. Originality/value The author’s perspective on NGOs management is a subject of great interest for different NGOs stakeholders including: donors, communities, volunteers, managers and policy-makers.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziying Mo ◽  
Matthew Tingchi Liu ◽  
Peiguan Wu

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to theorize and examine a Pygmalion perspective in how leader and coworker expectations predict in-role and ex-role employee green behavior (EGB).Design/methodology/approachUsing a time-lagged field study, data were collected from a sample of 71 leaders and 340 members to examine the hypothesized relationships with a multilevel model (group level and individual level).FindingsThe results showed that leader green behavior and self-efficacy for EGB (i.e. the Pygmalion process) mediate the relationship between leader expectations and EGB, while self-efficacy mediates the relationship between coworker expectations and EGB. In addition, this study found that the effect of coworker expectations and EGB via self-efficacy is stronger when leaders themselves demonstrate a higher level of green behavior.Originality/valueThis study also aims to provide a multilevel theory and investigates the interplay between multilevel variables in encouraging EGB. It also extends previous EGB literature through investigating a different process (i.e. the Pygmalion process) relating leader expectations for EGB to EGB. Moreover, this study develops implications of Pygmalion process on EGB from theoretical and practical perspectives.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Storm ◽  
Karis Jones

Purpose This paper aims to describe the critical literacies of high school students engaged in a youth participatory action research (YPAR) project focused on a roleplaying game, Dungeons and Dragons, in a queer-led afterschool space. The paper illustrates how youth critique and resist unjust societal norms while simultaneously envisioning queer utopian futures. Using a queer theory framework, the authors consider how youth performed disidentifications and queer futurity. Design/methodology/approach This study is a discourse analysis of approximately 85 hours of audio collected over one year. Findings Youth engaged in deconstructive critique, disidentifications and queer futurity in powerful enactments of critical literacies that involved simultaneous resistance, subversion, imagination and hope as youth envisioned queer utopian world-building through their fantasy storytelling. Youth acknowledged the injustice of the present while radically envisioning a utopian future. Originality/value This study offers an empirical grounding for critical literacies centered in queer theory and explores how youth engage with critical literacies in collaboratively co-authored texts. The authors argue that queering critical literacies potentially moves beyond deconstructive critique while simultaneously opening spaces for resistance, imagination and utopian world-making through linguistic and narrative-based tools.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 438-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Som Mungmonphoncharoen ◽  
Tawatchai Apidechkul ◽  
Pannipha Dokmaingam

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors associated with DF occurrence in recurrence villages in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Design/methodology/approach A case-control study was conducted between June 2017 and December 2017. A validated questionnaire was used to detect the factors associated with recurrence of DF. χ2 and logistic regression were used to detect the associations between variables at α=0.05. Findings In total, 213 cases and 436 controls were recruited into the analysis. Cases were recruited from 20 DF recurring villages, while controls were recruited from 20 non-DF recurring villages in Chiang Rai province. At community level, three variables were associated with recurrence of DF; size of the village (p=0.007), number of villagers (p=0.009), tribe (p=0.043) and distance to a hospital (p=0.003). Three variables were associated with DF at personal and family levels in multivariate model: children whose parents worked as daily employees, and government officers and traders were more likely to have DF 1.56 (95%CI=1.22–2.48) and 4.31 (95%CI=4.66–9.38) times greater than of those whose parents’ worked as agriculturists, respectively; children aged less than one year were 2.89 (95%CI=2.17–4.33) times more likely to have DF than those aged=6 and children who were under standard growth and over standard growth were more likely to have DF than those standard growth 1.61 (95%CI=1.18–2.53) and 7.33 (95%CI=4.39–10.37) times, respectively. Originality/value This is the original research article which was conducted in detecting the factors associated with recurrence of DHF in Northern Thailand.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-122
Author(s):  
Showkat Ahmad Wani ◽  
Asifa Ali ◽  
Shabir Ahmad Ganaie

Purpose This paper aims to explore the Google Arts and Culture platform in terms of parameters used for categorizing the digital collections by it; the total number of items and their types; top contributing artists; top ten historical events and figures; and the top ten countries having maximum artworks. Design/methodology/approach An online method was used to collect the relevant data for achieving the objectives of the study. Data were harvested from the official website of Google Arts and Culture (https://artsandculture.google.com/) during the period of 15 May to 31 May 2018, and the same was tabulated in MS Excel for analysis and interpretation. Findings The findings revealed that Google Arts and Culture includes a total of 6,272 artists, 228 media and 121 art movements. Moreover, there are a total of 641 historical movements; 6,250 historical figures; 9,692 places; 3,226 museum views; 1,702 zoom views; 39,607 featured videos; and 5,528 featured stories; 122 items organized by color and 954 organized by time. Originality/value The present study is first of its kind that focuses on exploration of diverse arts and cultural heritages of different countries and by diverse artists made visible by Google Arts and Culture initiative. It will significantly reinforce the art and cultural heritage lovers to acquire the knowledge pertinent to various types of arts and cultures that prevailed in antiquity across the globe and also make aware the conservators about how to use digital technologies for efficient preservation and visibility of unique artworks, artists and the places whom they belong.


2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 712-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Bacon ◽  
Kathleen Azali ◽  
Alexandra Lara Crosby ◽  
Benjamin Forster

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify shared themes and concerns of two local and critical archives by comparing their design and day-to-day practice. Design/methodology/approach The action research has drawn on the experience of collaboration between a Sydney-based community space (Frontyard) and the Surabaya-based co-working community (C2O) over one year. Each space houses a small physical library of books, which is the focus of this analysis. Findings Hacking has emerged as a key value of both archives. A hacking approach has shaped the design of each space and the organisation each archive. Hacking frames the analysis of each collection in this study. Practical implications Pragmatic and political understanding of such archives have implications for better quality and more authentic exchange between the communities that make use of these libraries in Indonesia and Australia. Originality/value While some work on local critical archives has been done in Indonesia and Australia, no research to date has made specific comparisons with the aim of sharing knowledge. Because these archives are often temporary and ephemeral, documenting the work that goes into them, and their practitioners’ perspectives, is urgent, making possible shared knowledge that can inform the ways communities make decisions about their own heritage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-337
Author(s):  
Sungsu Kim ◽  
Yan Jin ◽  
Bryan H. Reber

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to elaborate on the notion of crisis distance and to investigate its influence on publics' crisis responses (i.e. crisis severity, crisis emotions, organizational reputation and supportive behavioral intentions). In addition, this study aims to unearth the underlying mechanisms behind the effects of crisis distance.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted an online survey by recruiting a representative US sample to examine the proposed research questions.FindingsThis paper offers empirical evidence that each dimension of crisis distance (i.e. temporal, social and hypothetical crisis distance) is associated with publics' crisis responses. Furthermore, by investigating distance-crisis-organizational sequence models, the ways in which crisis distance ultimately motivates publics' supportive behavioral intentions was revealed.Originality/valueAs an explorative study to propose a crisis distance model, the current research provides a springboard for expanding the existing scholarly literature on the nature of crisis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 867-888
Author(s):  
Sławomir Wawak ◽  
Krzysztof Woźniak

PurposeThe objectives of the study were to demonstrate the suitability of methodology based on a text mining toolset for detecting trends in scientific papers and to find trends that were present in the field of project management during the research time span (2000–2019).Design/methodology/approachAn approach based on text mining tools supported by expert analysis was adopted due to an extensive number of publications in the field of project management. The novelty of the approach lies in the proposed method of trends discovery instead of the commonly used trends predefinition. The use of computer support allowed the full texts of papers, and not only abstracts, to be analysed, which significantly increased the reliability of the achieved results. Overall, 3,544 papers from seven journals were analysed.FindingsAs a result, 43 trends were discovered including seven long-lasting, four declining, 17 emerging and 15 ephemeris trends. Trends were analysed in comparison with the results of previous studies and project management frameworks. New trends and potential gaps were discussed.Originality/valueThe results highlight the topics of research that gain popularity among researchers, and which are related to the current problems that arise in project management. Therefore, the results can help focus studies on the most important areas, as well as find new ones which are not so popular yet. The knowledge of current trends is also important for those project managers who seek to improve the efficiency of their work.


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