Search results

Recently, there has been a shift toward the embodied energy assessment of buildings. However, the impact of material service life on the life-cycle embodied energy has received little attention. We aimed to address this knowledge gap, particularly in the context of the UAE and investigated the embodied energy associated with the use of concrete and other materials commonly used in residential buildings in the hot desert climate of the UAE.

Using input–output based hybrid analysis, we quantified the life-cycle embodied energy of a villa in the UAE with over 50 years of building life using the average, minimum, and maximum material service life values. Mathematical calculations were performed using MS Excel, and a detailed bill of quantities with >170 building materials and components of the villa were used for investigation.

For the base case, the initial embodied energy was 57% (7390.5 GJ), whereas the recurrent embodied energy was 43% (5,690 GJ) of the life-cycle embodied energy based on average material service life values. The proportion of the recurrent embodied energy with minimum material service life values was increased to 68% of the life-cycle embodied energy, while it dropped to 15% with maximum material service life values.

The findings provide new data to guide building construction in the UAE and show that recurrent embodied energy contributes significantly to life-cycle energy demand. Further, the study of material service life variations provides deeper insights into future building material specifications and management considerations for building maintenance.

The COVID-19 pandemic and global lockdowns forced us all to spend more time online. This chapter compares in-person and online community building as a business support tool for women creative entrepreneurs. Four cycles of action research collected qualitative data and tested different iterations of a peer-coaching training programme, with two cycles held in person pre-pandemic and two held online peri-pandemic. Communities were created during the structured sessions and benefits are considered in the context of social capital generation. The affordability and accessibility of in-person and online support is also assessed. Results show online participants developed close bonds and rapport with their new community as quickly as participants at in-person sessions. These relationships were long-lasting, with several groups continuing to meet months after the study ended. The peer-coaching training approach provided a low-cost option for business support and the move to online increased accessibility. Putnam’s theory of bridging social capital explains why community building between diverse individuals is useful for entrepreneurs, as it introduces new perspectives and expands connections. Participants found underlying commonalities in their personal values and entrepreneurial experiences, which helped them build these connections. This study presents a comparison between the in-person and online sessions and proposes that online structured peer-coaching sessions can provide business support to women creative entrepreneurs by helping them increase their social capital.

This paper aims to better understand auditing practices as a social phenomenon and management practice through a comparative historical analysis of the emergence of statutory auditing in three European countries, namely, France, Great Britain and Germany between 1844 and 1935.

The authors’ approach is a comparative history relying on a literature review, books pertaining to the period of interest and relevant archives.

The three countries’ trajectories were similar. All featured the promulgation of acts at the second half of the 19th century, the development of the accounting profession and the introduction of new acts to further strengthen statutory auditing around the Great Depression. However, each country took a different path because of the degree of regulation. For instance, the regulation strength and the degree of professionalism differed considerably by country. Business secrecy was also a departure point; it ranged from the rejection of auditors as intruders in France to Germany’s exclusively internal auditing and the UK’s peer auditing. The countries also differed on perceptions of the auditor’s role. Auditors were seen through the lens of a general interest mission in France, as advisors to internal governance bodies in Germany and as shareholders’ agents in Great Britain.

This paper compares three main European countries in the specific context of the introduction of statutory auditing. The findings of this paper are helpful for the international harmonization of auditing standards, as the derived insights provide a better understanding of the differences in the standards’ implementation.

This paper aims to analyse how local agri-food systems (LAFS), compared to other production models, can offer innovative responses to the important environmental challenges facing food production under the twin transition. These responses are more conducive to community inclusion and local development.

The paper combines territorial development, clusters and industrial districts literature with studies on agri-food industry environmental problems and twin transition technologies to develop an agri-food systems typology. This typology is based on a territorial approach to environmental challenges of food production and serves to illustrate the ways in which LAFS can provide innovative responses to these challenges.

The study allows to visualise the differences between LAFS and other agri-food production models, showing how the operationalisation and implementation of digitisation occur at territorial level and how rural communities are involved in the process. The theoretical proposal emphasises not assuming that technology is inherently beneficial but ensuring that its implementation is inclusive and generates social value for the communities.

The paper aims to enrich future research by adopting a territorial perspective to study the twin transition challenges associated with food production systems.

From the customer-relationship theory and attachment theory approaches, this study proposes a serial mediation model to examine how celebrity attachment influences event attendees' intentions in the celebrity endorsement process in the context of events.

Paper-based and online surveys were used to collect data from 759 Vietnamese respondents, aged 15 and above, who followed domestic or international celebrities and were interested in various events taking place in Vietnam. A serial multiple mediation model was evaluated through covariance-based structural equation modeling.

The results confirmed the cognitive, affective and hybrid cognitive-affective pathways among antecedents, celebrity attachment and event participation intentions.

Future studies need to validate these findings across diverse cultural settings and larger participant pools to enhance their applicability. Exploring celebrity endorsement for events from an international follower perspective could offer valuable insights. Future research should consider these factors when interpreting results. It may benefit from conducting longitudinal or mixed-method studies to improve generalizability. Additional moderating variables are necessary, as research on the celebrity endorsement process for events evolves.

This study contributes to the literature on celebrity endorsement within event marketing, emphasizing the customer-brand relationship and attachment theory. It extends existing research that primarily examines how celebrity attachment influences event attendees' intentions in the celebrity endorsement process by validating a serial mediation model.

Case studies are widely used in business education as an action-oriented teaching method to develop students’ problem-solving skills. While they are popular in the classroom, the authors know little about how best to design and use case studies and whether they improve students’ learning experience and outcomes. This paper aims to investigate whether pedagogically developed case studies lead to better student learning outcomes than do traditional case studies.

This large-scale, international quantitative research surveyed students (N = 159) at four major faculties of business and economics in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland to determine whether integrating pedagogical principles into the design phase of teaching cases and adhering to pedagogical principles in case study design affected students’ learning outcomes.

This study finds that pedagogically developed case studies have a more positive impact on student learning compared to traditional case studies. In addition, the authors found that students who have had previous experience with case-study work and who have positive perceptions of it had even better learning outcomes compared to students who have had no previous experience with case-study work and have negative perceptions of it.

Anecdotal accounts of using case studies in business education suggest that they have a positive impact on the teaching-learning process and learning outcomes, yet very few studies have surveyed students themselves to evaluate whether case-study teaching and learning does in fact lead to better learning outcomes. By empirically showing that teaching with pedagogically developed case studies leads to better learning outcomes, the study suggests that developing case studies using these methods can improve student learning. In addition, the study suggests that students with no prior experience with case studies or with negative prior experiences may need greater preparation and support to fully benefit from case-study work.

The purpose of this study is to analyse historical events to argue the improbable prospect of radical accounting reform in corporate financial reporting (CFR) due to the absence of abstract accounting knowledge as part of accountancy professionalisation (AP).

A historical database of CFR and AP events in the UK is categorised and analysed to observe the evolution of accounting in CFR from the perspective of the sociology of professions relating to abstract knowledge in professionalisation.

CFR has always been a statutory function in the UK dependent on arbitrary accounting rules rather than expert measurements based on abstract accounting knowledge. Accounting rules have evolved as part of AP and currently form part of the statutory regulation of CFR. The accountancy profession has eschewed abstract accounting knowledge in a mutually beneficial and uncompetitive relationship with the law profession in CFR.

The study is limited to the history of CFR and AP in the UK and its findings are contrary to the sociology of professions regarding abstract knowledge, consistent with the accountancy profession’s 19th-century experience of court-related services, and indicative of normative accounting research’s redundancy.

Regarding CFR and AP in the UK, the accountancy profession is an expert subordinate branch of the law profession and has no incentive to alter the status quo of statutory accounting rule compliance prevailing over abstract accounting knowledge-based expertise in CFR.

The study questions the optimism of prior research of accounting in CFR that suggests the possibility of radical reform using abstract knowledge.

The purpose of this study is to inquire about the structural possibility of “fair value” accounting being used to commit and conceal financial crimes such as fraud, theft, money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.

This study builds on the embezzler test, a recently developed test that examines whether normative architectures are sufficiently well equipped to cope with illicit financial flows that cross the boundaries of organizations and countries. This test was applied to both the entire “fair value” system and the “fair value” accounting that have been gradually introduced in modified historical cost accounting systems.

“Fair value” accounting is formulated in such a manner that it does not provide a means of detecting and penalizing potential criminals. Therefore, owing to the malfunctioning of its normative architecture, evidence of criminal wrongdoing that could be associated with “fair value” accounting systems is difficult to find because of the deprivation of mechanisms for detection and subsequent disciplining. Indeed, rather than reduce financial crime, “fair value” accounting reduces the possibility of finding criminal evidence.

A new research field can explore how “fair value” accounting allows financial crimes such as fraud, theft, money laundering, tax evasion and corruption to remain undetected and unpunished.

Unless private accounting standard setters as IASB and FASB can solve this fundamental problem regarding financial crime detection and penalizing, the case can be made for the phasing out of “fair value” accounting systems. The return of accounting norms to the government sphere may be a necessary pathway. This can only happen if policymakers produce necessary legislation.

To present a new research argument against “fair value” accounting systems, which demonstrates the limitations and fragilities of this accounting system regarding illicit financial flows and other financial crimes that rely on illicit financial flows.

This research highlights age-specific barriers to employment for older workers and the gap between activation policy design and implementation, focusing on difficulties in extending working life under employment support services.

This research employed a qualitative approach, utilizing semi-structured interviews to gather perspectives on extending the working lives of older adults. Eighteen experienced social workers who worked in employment support services for older workers who aged fifty-five and above participated in the study.

This study underscores the importance of comprehensively understanding the heterogeneity of individuals' circumstances and emphasizes the impact of intersectionality on the development of extending working life. It incorporates individual and familial difficulties, including considering caregiving responsibilities, health issues and housing challenges before exploring employment-related concerns. The study also highlights external factors influencing older workers' employment prospects, including employer perspectives, government support levels and public recognition of the necessity to extend working life.

This research sheds light on the impact of welfare-related stigma, which imposes obstacles and inflexibility on older workers seeking employment. It ultimately contributes to the sustainability and dynamism of the Asia–Pacific workforce while also informing regional discussions on social security and welfare services.

It uniquely employs the perspectives of social workers providing employment support services to highlight challenges and policy gaps in extending the working lives of older workers in Hong Kong. It also provides practical insights into strategies and mechanisms for extending working life across diverse social contexts.