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1 – 5 of 5Lino Cinquini, Antonio Leotta, Carmela Rizza, Daniela Ruggeri, Andrea Tenucci and Mariastella Messina
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the controller’s practice is constructed through the use of cloud technologies. Thus, the authors explore the possibilities that cloud…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the controller’s practice is constructed through the use of cloud technologies. Thus, the authors explore the possibilities that cloud technologies offer and how, through these technologies, actors can co-author a process that leads them to relate themselves to the world.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt pragmatic constructivism to investigate the construction of the controller’s practice through cloud technologies. Drilling down to a single case study, they chose two IKEA stores in Italy to ascertain, through interviews, how the controller’s practice has changed since switching to a cloud-based information management platform.
Findings
This case evidence sheds light on how cloud technologies help to construct the controller’s practice. Managers' interactions are now partly governed and partly supported by information in the cloud. Workers can collect and share data, promoting knowledge production at a range of organisational levels.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to studies on the hybrid nature of management control practice. The authors underline how using cloud technologies helps to construct controller’s practice. More specifically, using cloud technologies allows the controller to orchestrate a co-authoring process through which managers integrate facts, possibilities, values and communication to form a functioning construct causality. Overall, the result is better support for decision-making.
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Marta Tkaczyk, Anna Salina, Jouni Lyly-Yrjänäinen and Teemu Laine
New service businesses carry opportunities for industrial companies. The different cost management and management control implications of those service businesses deserve…
Abstract
Purpose
New service businesses carry opportunities for industrial companies. The different cost management and management control implications of those service businesses deserve attention, which is a widely under-researched area in management accounting and control literature. Digital twins could hold potential in unveiling and supporting those new service business opportunities, as a unique approach of this paper. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the possibility and potential for creating a digital twin of a service, especially to unveil the management accounting and control implications of the digital twin in developing new service businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper investigates the potential of a digital twin in unveiling cost and control implications of new service businesses by examining the characteristics of a digital twin in the service business development context. The paper use an in-depth interventionist case study, where the designed animations illustrate the possibilities of a digital twin of a service. The animations showing the service process characteristics were first used as a communication tool and eventually those animations were actively used in customer cases for different purposes. This motivated the idea for examining the implications of such animations representing a digital twin of a service.
Findings
The paper provides empirical insights regarding the potential for developing and using a digital twin of a service for different cost management and management control purposes. The digital twin of a service may include all main details of a new service offering, simulating the functionality of a service, hence making the performance and the implications of the new service concept clear for all the stakeholders. The digital twin of the service enables defining the processes, setting targets and helps communication about the value generation. Thus, they represent a significant toolkit for the management accounting and control function of the manufacturers.
Originality/value
This paper is among the first attempts to understand the digital twin of the service. The paper is unique in providing financial and control implications of digital twins also in the context of service business development. The in-depth interventionist approach enabled an exceptional exploration process on the subject. The article paves the way toward further research on managing the digital twins of services in the future.
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Nora Annesi, Massimo Battaglia, Ilenia Ceglia and Francesco Mercuri
Organisations are confronted with the challenge of navigating various pressures arising from activities that shape environmental and social impacts, which stakeholders find…
Abstract
Purpose
Organisations are confronted with the challenge of navigating various pressures arising from activities that shape environmental and social impacts, which stakeholders find significant. This research endeavours to ascertain a process facilitating the analysis and seamless integration of sustainability into corporate strategy. The goal is to establish an “integrated” ESG governance framework adept at effectively managing institutional pressures.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employs an action research approach, focusing on a leading company within the sugar industry. The investigation delves into the relationship dynamics associated with business issues through a process that engages, either directly or indirectly, board members, top managers, as well as industrial and commercial customers, along with final consumers.
Findings
The formulation of a sustainability strategy serves as a guiding framework for the Board of Directors in effectively navigating tensions arising from environmental, social and economic pressures.
Research limitations/implications
The research contributes to bridging the realms of business governance and institutional theory (viewed under a paradoxical lens). On a managerial level, the study introduces a structured process aimed at seamlessly integrating sustainability objectives into governance, aligning with international ESG guidelines (OECD, 2023; WEF, 2020).
Originality/value
The originality of this research lies in crafting a sustainability strategy by the BoD that takes into account the impact of governance and responds to the demands of strategic stakeholders.
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Anna Young-Ferris, Arunima Malik, Victoria Calderbank and Jubin Jacob-John
Avoided emissions refer to greenhouse gas emission reductions that are a result of using a product or are emission removals due to a decision or an action. Although there is no…
Abstract
Purpose
Avoided emissions refer to greenhouse gas emission reductions that are a result of using a product or are emission removals due to a decision or an action. Although there is no uniform standard for calculating avoided emissions, market actors have started referring to avoided emissions as “Scope 4” emissions. By default, making a claim about Scope 4 emissions gives an appearance that this Scope of emissions is a natural extension of the existing and accepted Scope-based emissions accounting framework. The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of this assumed legitimacy.
Design/methodology/approach
Via a desktop review and interviews, we analyse extant Scope 4 company reporting, associated accounting methodologies and the practical implications of Scope 4 claims.
Findings
Upon examination of Scope 4 emissions and their relationship with Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions, we highlight a dynamic and interdependent relationship between quantification, commensuration and standardization in emissions accounting. We find that extant Scope 4 assessments do not fit the established framework for Scope-based emissions accounting. In line with literature on the territorializing nature of accounting, we call for caution about Scope 4 claims that are a distraction from the critical work of reducing absolute emissions.
Originality/value
We examine the implications of assumed alignment and borrowed legitimacy of Scope 4 with Scope-based accounting because Scope 4 is not an actual Scope, but a claim to a Scope. This is as an act of accounting territorialization.
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Md Shohel Parvez and Palash Saha
The purpose of this paper is to decrease musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) problems using a combined approach including design for Six Sigma, generic product development process, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to decrease musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) problems using a combined approach including design for Six Sigma, generic product development process, and ergonomic-safety philosophies.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 550 students voluntarily participated in this study. Kolmogorov–Smirnov and t-tests were used to analyze the collected anthropometry. A cause-and-effect diagram, Pareto’s chart, a brainstorming session, and a priority matrix were also used to extract the 22 design parameters of the product. Moreover, Cronbach’s alpha values were determined to verify the validity of qualitative and quantitative data.
Findings
Results showed that students are at a high risk of developing MSD issues. The most serious MSD problems among the students were neck pain (74%), back pain (73%), muscle and joint pain (67%), knee pain (57%), leg pain (54%), etc. Besides, all anthropometrics of males are higher than females except Hip Breadth. Among 12 anthropometries, two measurements and one measurement showed statistical significance at p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively. Six design parameters of the mounted desktop (Seat Height, Desk Height, Seat to Desk Clearance, Seat Width, Seat Depth, and Backrest Height) are the most crucial design parameters to design and develop the product.
Practical implications
The proposed design of the mounted desktop can be used in different tertiary educational institutes to reduce MSDs among students.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt that introduces a combined approach to reduce MSD issues by applying Six Sigma, a generic product development process, and ergonomics-safety philosophy to design and measurement of 22 design parameters of mounted desktop for university students.
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