scholarly journals Legitimating accounting change in charities: when values count more than regulation

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ciaran Connolly ◽  
Noel Hyndman ◽  
Mariannunziata Liguori

Purpose This paper seeks to explore the way charity accountants understand, interpret and legitimate or delegitimate the introduction of accounting and reporting changes (embedded in the extant charity statement of recommended practice), before these are actually implemented. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on 21 semi-structured interviews with accountants in large UK and Republic of Ireland charities, the manner and extent to which forthcoming changes in charity accounting are legitimated (justified) or delegitimated (criticised) is explored. Findings Acceptance of accounting changes in the charity sector by formal regulation may not be necessary for future required adjustments to practice to be legitimated. Using interviews carried out before the implementation of required changes, the results suggest that other factors, such as national culture, identity and mimetic behaviours, may play a major role in the homogenisation and acceptance of accounting and reporting rules. In particular, it is argued that mimetic pressures can be much more influential than regulative pressures in legitimating change in the charity sector and are more likely to lead to the embedding of change. Originality/value The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it explores rhetoric and legitimation strategies used before changes are actually implemented. Second, it contributes to filling a gap in charities’ research related to intra-organisational legitimation of managerial and accounting changes, illustrating institutional-field identity at work to preserve shared organisational values and ideas. Finally, the research illuminates the importance of particular contextual pressures and individual legitimation arguments during accounting-change processes.

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 574-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Bonfanti ◽  
Paola Castellani ◽  
Elena Giaretta ◽  
Federico Brunetti

Purpose This paper aims to examine the content dimensions and methods of accelerating the entrepreneurial learning (EL) triggered by participating in learning events, such as factory tours. It particularly focuses on the Italian case of Open Factory – an open-doors event of industrial manufacturing culture. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a qualitative approach using the “Gioia” methodology. Data were mainly collected through semi-structured interviews with firms participating in and organising Open Factory. Findings The dimensions of EL are learning from critical reflection, experience and external sources, while the enablers of EL (factors that accelerate learning) are varied and connected to organisational learning in the form of individual-, team- and institutional-level learning. Based on these results, this paper proposes a model for developing EL triggered by participating in learning events. Practical implications This research suggests developing appropriate organisational conditions inside firms, especially by entrepreneurs. These conditions are connected to sharing organisational values to foster learning, such as trust, commitment, involvement, awareness, sharing of experiences, exchange, autonomy and freedom. In addition, this study suggests ways that the EL model proposed in this research can be adapted to other learning events. Originality/value This is the first study to connect factory tours to learning events and EL. It highlights the ways that participating in the Open Factory event created the chance to develop learning across organisational levels inside firms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-306
Author(s):  
Nurdiana Gaus

Purpose The purpose of this paper, which is drawn on Indonesian academic women’s experiences, is to examine the extent to which the aesthetics of existence or true life of women academics in relation to the truth telling, played out within the interaction between philosophy and politics, is affected by the application of NPM in research and publication productivities, and the way in which women academics are voicing their opinions toward this issue. Design/methodology/approach In total, 30 women academics across two geographical region (east and west) universities took part in this research, sharing their perceptions and the way they criticize this policy to the audiences (Indonesian government), framed within the concept of parrhesia (truth telling), parrhesiastes (truth teller) of Foucault and the pariah of Arendt. Findings Using semi-structured interviews, this research finds that women academics in Indonesian universities have shown discursive voices and stances to the extent to which they agree and oppose this policy, showing the patterns similar to those of parhesiastes and pariah. The implication of this study is addressed in this paper. Originality/value This research, via the lenses of Parrhesia and Pariah, finds several kinds of philosopher roles of women academics in Indonesian universities, such as apathetic philosophers or depraved orators and Schlemihl figure of Pariah, and Parrhesiastic philosophers of Socrates and a conscious figure of Pariah.


2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Farmaki ◽  
Katerina Antoniou ◽  
Prokopis Christou

Purpose This study aims to examine the factors shaping the intentions of people to visit a hostile outgroup. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory, qualitative research approach was followed. Specifically, 77 semi-structured interviews with citizens of the divided island of Cyprus were conducted. Findings This study identifies several categories of visitors and non-visitors, depicted along a continuum, and concludes that there is a multiplicity of factors in the socio-political environment which influence the travel intentions of people. Originality/value This study not only imparts insights into the way travel decision-making evolves in politically unstable situations but also serves as a stepping stone towards understanding the conditions under which reconciliation between hostile nations may be encouraged by travel.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Norrman Brandt ◽  
Sofia Kjellström ◽  
Ann-Christine Andersson

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine people’s experience of a change process and if and how post-conventional leadership principles are expressed in the change process. Design/methodology/approach The study used a retrospective exploratory qualitative design. In total, 19 semi-structured interviews and 4 workshops were conducted and analyzed in accordance with a thematic qualitative analysis. Findings The post-conventional leadership appears to have facilitated an organizational transformation where explorative work methods aimed at innovation and improvement as well as holistic understanding was used. Dispersed power and mandate to employees, within set frames and with clear goals, created new ways of organizing and working. The leader showed personal consideration, acknowledged the importance of the emotionally demanding aspects of change and admitted the leader’s own vulnerability. Balance between challenge and support created courage to take on new roles and responsibilities. Most employees thrived and grew with the possibilities given, but some felt lack of support and clear directions. Practical implications Inspiration from this case on work methods and involvement of employees can be used on other change efforts. Social implications This study provides knowledge on leadership capabilities needed for facilitation of transformational change. Originality/value Few transformational change processes by post-conventional leaders are thoroughly described, and this study provides in-depth descriptions of post-conventional leadership in transformational change.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 740-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Hennekam ◽  
Subramaniam Ananthram ◽  
Steve McKenna

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how individuals perceive and react to the involuntary demotion of a co-worker in their organisation. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on 46 semi-structured in-depth interviews (23 dyads) with co-workers of demoted individuals. Findings The findings suggest that an individual’s observation of the demotion of a co-worker has three stages: their perception of fairness, their emotional reaction and their behavioural reaction. The perception of fairness concerned issues of distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational justice. The emotional responses identified were feelings of disappointment/disillusion, uncertainty, vulnerability and anger. Finally, the behavioural reactions triggered by their emotional responses included expressions of voice, loyalty, exit and adaptation. Originality/value Perceptions of (in)justice perpetrated on others stimulate emotional and behavioural responses, which impacts organisational functioning. Managers should therefore pay attention to the way a demotion is perceived, not only by those directly concerned, but also by co-workers as observers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.M. Wong

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the teaching innovations that have been implemented in higher education institutions in Asia and the perspectives of educators on them. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 educators who were affiliated with 23 higher education institutions in ten Asian countries/regions. The interviews covered information about the teaching innovations of the participants’ institutions, the characteristics of the innovative practices and the participants’ views on them. The relationships between the characteristics of institutions and their teaching innovations were also examined. Findings The results showed that the teaching innovations included two main categories, namely, those which involved the use of advanced technologies and those which did not. The innovations that involved the use of advanced technologies were mainly from larger institutions, while the other category was mainly from smaller ones and had been practised for less than 1.5 years. Differences were also identified between the two categories in terms of the aims and importance of innovations, innovative features, the evaluation of innovations and improvements needed for them. Originality/value The results highlighted that technology is only one of the many aspects of teaching innovations, which is different from the view prevailing in the literature. They also suggested that differences in the scale of institutions (in terms of number of students) possibly influences the kind of teaching innovations adopted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (7) ◽  
pp. 2089-2103
Author(s):  
Rosario Michel-Villarreal ◽  
Eliseo Luis Vilalta-Perdomo ◽  
Martin Hingley

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore food producers' motivations and challenges whilst participating in short food supply chains (SFSCs). This paper compares findings with previous literature and investigates the topic in the context of producers' motivations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper includes a literature review concerning producers' motivations to engage in SFSCs. A case study was designed to investigate motivations underlying producers' engagement in SFSCs, as well as the challenges that they face. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in a farmers' market located in Mexico. Thematic analysis is used to identify the principal issues for producers'. Propositions based on findings are presented.FindingsFindings suggest that small, large, part-time and full-time producers are willing to engage with farmers' markets for diverse primary economic and non-economic motivations. Individual and collective challenges were also identified.Originality/valueThis research helps to explain producers' motivations and challenges within SFSCs in an under-researched context, namely a focus on producers' and in the Global South.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-228
Author(s):  
Martijn van Ooijen ◽  
Antonie van Nistelrooij ◽  
Marcel Veenswijk

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to expand the theory on multistory cultural change by showing how a dominant narrative on construction safety dynamically interrelates and is contested on multiple intertextual levels in an organizational field of organizations contributing to the recovery of houses in an earthquake region.Design/methodology/approachAn ethnoventionist research approach was adopted in which interpretation of data to find narratives and designing interventions went hand-in-hand.FindingsWe found four distinctive composite narratives besides the dominant narrative to which five actors refer in their accounts, thereby contributing to three types of story patterns. These narratives disclose the taken-for-granted ideas and beliefs that characterize the challenge of changing organizational culture. One intervention, which intended multiple stories to touch the surface, was highlighted as a multistory intervention.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research could extend the knowledge on other change interventions that contribute to multistory cultural change processes.Originality/valueAdopting an ethnoventionist approach to provide deep insights on an unfolding cultural change process for both scholars and practitioners.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 536-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale Simons ◽  
Jos Benders ◽  
Jochen Bergs ◽  
Wim Marneffe ◽  
Dominique Vandijck

Purpose – Sustainable improvement is likely to be hampered by ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in care processes (the organization’s decision-making context). Lean management can improve implementation results because it decreases ambiguity and uncertainties. But does it succeed? Many quality improvement (QI) initiatives are appropriate improvement strategies in organizational contexts characterized by low ambiguity and uncertainty. However, most care settings do not fit this context. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a Lean-inspired change program changed the organization’s decision-making context, making it more amenable for QI initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – In 2014, 12 professionals from a Dutch radiotherapy institute were interviewed regarding their perceptions of a Lean program in their organization and the perceived ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in their clinical processes. A survey (25 questions), addressing the same concepts, was conducted among the interviewees in 2011 and 2014. The structured interviews were analyzed using a deductive approach. Quantitative data were analyzed using appropriate statistics. Findings – Interviewees experienced improved shared visions and the number of uncertain cause-effect relations decreased. Overall, more positive (99) than negative Lean effects (18) were expressed. The surveys revealed enhanced process predictability and standardization, and improved shared visions. Practical implications – Lean implementation has shown to lead to greater transparency and increased shared visions. Originality/value – Lean management decreased ambiguous objectives and reduced uncertainties in clinical process cause-effect relations. Therefore, decision making benefitted from Lean increasing QI’s sustainability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid Arar ◽  
Izhar Oplatka

Purpose It is widely accepted that educational leaders and teachers need to manage and regulate their emotions continually, mainly because schooling and teaching processes expose many emotions. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to trace the ways Israeli assistant principals, both Arab and Jewish, manage their emotions at work. Design/methodology/approach Based on semi-structured interviews with 15 assistant principals, it was found that they are required to manage their emotions in accordance with entrenched emotion rules in the culture and society. Findings Most of the Jewish female APs tend to display warmth and empathy toward teachers in order to better understand their personal needs and professional performances. In contrast, Arab APs suppressed or fabricated emotional expression in their discourse with teachers and parents, in order to maintain a professional façade and retain the internal cohesion of the school. Both groups of APs believed their emotion regulation results in higher level of harmony in the school. Empirical and practical suggestions are put forward. Originality/value The paper is original and contributes to the theoretical and practical knowledge.


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