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Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 August 2024

Francesca Battaglia, Enrico Maria Cervellati, Dario Salerno, Gian Paolo Stella and Valeria Vannoni

This research aims to investigate the impact of exogenous shocks on individuals' risk tolerance, particularly when originating outside the economic or financial sphere. Focusing…

322

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to investigate the impact of exogenous shocks on individuals' risk tolerance, particularly when originating outside the economic or financial sphere. Focusing on Italy as the first Western country affected by COVID-19, this paper explores whether the pandemic led to a decrease in Italians' financial risk tolerance (FRT).

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a two-stage approach for data analysis. Initial examination of key variables used linear regression (ordinary least square [OLS]) with robust errors. Subsequently, a system of structural equations (structural equation model [SEM]) was used for a more nuanced exploration of hypothetical relationships between constructs and their observed indicators. SEM addressed reliability issues inherent in OLS, offering a robust analysis of structural models based on specified hypotheses. To assess the impact of COVID-19 on Italians' FRT, the Grable and Lytton Risk Tolerance Scale was used, measuring changes through a scored questionnaire with values ranging from 1 (greater risk aversion) to 4 (greater risk propensity).

Findings

This study used three distinct OLS regression models to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on Italians' FRT, considering mortality, infection and stringency rates. Findings revealed that older individuals exhibited lower risk tolerance across FRT dimensions, consistent with previous research. Men were more risk-prone, aligning with gender-related financial literacy disparities. Married respondents tended to be less risk-tolerant, supporting the idea that marital status influences risk attitude. Education level showed a slightly negative impact on investment risk. Professional instability, lower income and stock market inexperience were associated with lower risk tolerance. Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant positive effect, making respondents more risk-averse. SEM methodology was used to examine the moderating effects of COVID-19 proxies on FRT changes.

Originality/value

This research brings a novel perspective to the ongoing debate on exogenous shocks' impact on individuals' risk tolerance, particularly when originating outside the economic or financial domain. Focusing on Italy, the first Western country hit by COVID-19, this study uniquely investigates the pandemic's effect on Italians' FRT. With a large and representative sample, the findings contribute significantly to the literature on risk attitude, shedding light on the pandemic's impact. This study's originality lies in providing reliable evidence with policy implications, emphasizing the imperative for government intervention in addressing both health and economic issues in the wake of such external shocks.

Details

Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4179

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 September 2018

Ruwini Edirisinghe

The future construction site will be pervasive, context aware and embedded with intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to explore and define the concept of the digital skin of…

25681

Abstract

Purpose

The future construction site will be pervasive, context aware and embedded with intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to explore and define the concept of the digital skin of the future smart construction site.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a systematic and hierarchical classification of 114 articles from both industry and academia on the digital skin concept and evaluates them. The hierarchical classification is based on application areas relevant to construction, such as augmented reality, building information model-based visualisation, labour tracking, supply chain tracking, safety management, mobile equipment tracking and schedule and progress monitoring. Evaluations of the research papers were conducted based on three pillars: validation of technological feasibility, onsite application and user acceptance testing.

Findings

Technologies learned about in the literature review enabled the envisaging of the pervasive construction site of the future. The paper presents scenarios for the future context-aware construction site, including the construction worker, construction procurement management and future real-time safety management systems.

Originality/value

Based on the gaps identified by the review in the body of knowledge and on a broader analysis of technology diffusion, the paper highlights the research challenges to be overcome in the advent of digital skin. The paper recommends that researchers follow a coherent process for smart technology design, development and implementation in order to achieve this vision for the construction industry.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 November 2022

Kun Yun Lee, Munirah Ismail, Pangie Bakit, Norhaniza Zakaria, Nursyahda Zakaria, Norehan Jinah, Delina Kamil and Nor Hayati Ibrahim

Formal structured leadership training is increasingly incorporated as a regular fixture in developed nations to produce competent leaders to ensure the provision of quality…

2204

Abstract

Purpose

Formal structured leadership training is increasingly incorporated as a regular fixture in developed nations to produce competent leaders to ensure the provision of quality patient care. However, most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) rely on one-off external training opportunities for selected individuals as they lack the necessary resources to implement long-term training for a wider pool of potential health care leaders. This case study shares the establishment process of the Talent Grooming Programme for technical health care professionals (TGP), a three-year in-house leadership training programme specially targeted at potential health care leaders in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study aims to share a comprehensive overview of the ideation, conceptualisation and implementation of TGP. The authors also outlined its impact from the individual and organisational perspectives, besides highlighting the lessons learned and recommendations for the way forward.

Findings

TGP set out to deliver experiential learning focusing on formal training, workplace experiences, practical reflection and mentoring by supervisors and other esteemed leaders to fulfil the five competency domains of leadership, organisational governance, communication and relationship, professional values and personal values. The successes and challenges in TGP programme delivery, post-training assessment, outcome evaluation and programme sustainability were outlined.

Practical implications

The authors’ experience in setting up TGP provided valuable learning points for other leadership development programme providers. As for any development programme, a continuous evaluation is vital to ensure its relevance and sustainability.

Originality/value

Certain aspects of TGP establishment can be referenced and modified to adapt to country-specific settings for others to develop similar leadership programme, especially those in LMICs.

Details

Leadership in Health Services, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1879

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 September 2023

Michelle Carr and Stefan Jooss

COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements and adapt their ways of working. Yet, we know little about how management control might be…

5815

Abstract

Purpose

COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements and adapt their ways of working. Yet, we know little about how management control might be enacted in the future of the sustainable workplace. The objective of the study is to examine the patterns of management control change in the Big 4 accounting firms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting an exploratory qualitative research design, the authors draw on 42 interviews with directors and associates in the Big 4 professional services firms.

Findings

The findings reveal two pathways of management control change including alignment and displacement. The authors found that relatively minor adaptions to action and result controls were relied upon to respond to substantial cultural and personnel control changes.

Originality/value

The contributions are threefold: the authors take a temporal perspective to (1) unpack the changes to management control arrangements; (2) theorise the findings by developing a three-dimensional taxonomy of change pathways encompassing pace, scope and longevity of management control change and (3) contextualise management control arrangements in a hybrid work setting.

Highlights

  1. COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements.

  2. Literature has focused on traditional, onsite work settings and largely ignored change pathways.

  3. The authors take a temporal perspective to unpack changes to management control arrangements.

  4. Big 4 firms adapted to hybrid work with substantial changes to personnel and cultural controls.

  5. The authors theorise the findings by developing a three-dimensional taxonomy of change pathways.

COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements.

Literature has focused on traditional, onsite work settings and largely ignored change pathways.

The authors take a temporal perspective to unpack changes to management control arrangements.

Big 4 firms adapted to hybrid work with substantial changes to personnel and cultural controls.

The authors theorise the findings by developing a three-dimensional taxonomy of change pathways.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 36 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 September 2023

Mingxiao Zhao and Indra Abeysekera

Chinese-listed firms with Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) play a crucial role in advancing the outward investment policy of China. Board diversity can be vital, and intellectual…

1493

Abstract

Purpose

Chinese-listed firms with Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) play a crucial role in advancing the outward investment policy of China. Board diversity can be vital, and intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) showing future earnings can build investor confidence in these firms. This study examines these two relationships in Chinese-listed firms with BRI projects during a predictable business outlook period (2019, pre-Covid period) and unpredictable business outlook period (2020, Covid period).

Design/methodology/approach

The study used least squares regression that analysed the target population comprising 79 listed Chinese firms with BRI projects in 2019 and 2020. The China Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) database provided board diversity data. Analysing annual reports using content analysis provided the ICD data, collected by following an established intellectual capital (IC) coding framework in the literature. After collecting board-related data, the study calculated the diversity between boards in firms (diversity of boards – DOB) using cluster analysis. The study estimated the diversity within each board (diversity in boards – DIB) using Blau's Index.

Findings

The findings indicate that in the predictable business outlook environment, DOB positively associates with ICD, and DIB negatively associates with ICD. In the unpredictable business outlook environment, the DIB and DOB interaction negatively associates with ICD, and DOB positively associates with ICD.

Research limitations/implications

The findings apply to Chinese-listed firms with BRI projects and further research is required to generalise findings beyond them. This study used annual reports to collect ICD, but a future study could examine BRI firms' social media and website disclosures. The attributes selected for board diversity dimensions can contribute to bounded findings, and future studies could expand the board diversity attributes included.

Practical implications

The findings provide insights into firms' board composition and structure associated with ICD.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies providing empirical evidence about board diversity and ICD of Chinese-listed firms with BRI projects.

Details

Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 24 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1469-1930

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 December 2024

Massimo Sargiacomo, Daniel Martinez, Stefania Servalli, Antonio Gitto and Antonio D'Andreamatteo

This study aims to examine how hospitals and regional and local health authorities in the Italian region of Marche accounted for and reported the use of emergency funds from the…

266

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how hospitals and regional and local health authorities in the Italian region of Marche accounted for and reported the use of emergency funds from the EU, the Ministry of Economic and Finance and administrative bodies called actuator subjects. Unlike a sudden impact disaster, such as an earthquake, the pandemic was slow moving and novel. This meant that the guidelines for medical, legislative, financial and administrative action were not as developed as those for sudden impact emergencies with which the Italian state was, unfortunately, experienced.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper investigates the Italian public healthcare setting since the declaration of the State of Emergency until its end—that is, from January 2020 to July 2021. We conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with nine key-actors working for national, regional and local administrative bodies. A range of related official documents were analyzed.

Findings

We show a non-linear and emergent account of standardization and coordination. We show how different state and transnational actors developed their own procedures to standardize COVID-related cost classifications and reports. These attempts also involved coordinating assemblages, at the center of which are templates imposed on hospitals and regional authorities by national state entities for cost-reporting practices and aggregation. Importantly, templates’ visual features enabled coordination across the different standardization initiatives that populated the emergency response effort.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides academics and policy makers with insights into the role played by accounting tools, templates, reports and guidelines to coordinate different cost standardization initiatives.

Originality/value

Accounting guidelines that standardize costs are known to be deployed hierarchically by states and transnational organizations for coordination purposes. We highlight, however, the emergence of not only hierarchical forms of coordination but also their interrelation with decentralized forms of coordination. These two types of coordinating assemblages, each standardizes cost through the accounting templates that they use. We demonstrate the emergent nature of coordination even within hierarchical entities like the state. Reporting templates are pivotal for understanding this coordination process. However, when a centralized coordinating body is absent, it is the visual features of accounting, rather than its imposition, that enable coordination.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 37 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 October 2024

Cemil Eren Fırtın

The aim of this paper is to add to knowledge regarding the role of accounting in managing a crisis, specifically to show the emergence of multiple and contesting accountings and…

312

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to add to knowledge regarding the role of accounting in managing a crisis, specifically to show the emergence of multiple and contesting accountings and their roles in governing crises.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical case concerns management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. The analysis is qualitative and based on documents.

Findings

The analysis reveals different enactments of the pandemic multiple: scientific, business, political, patient and household. Within these, accounting representations were used in contention with each other. On the one hand, efforts were made to control the pandemic by testing, quarantines, curfews and other restrictions, supported by the accounts of managerial, political and economic calculations. On the other hand, these accounts were challenged by counter accounts using medical professional calculations.

Originality/value

This study adds new knowledge about the role of calculations in crises by elaborating on the emergence, persistence, transformation and proliferation of accounts that enabled accountingization of the crisis. By understanding the pandemic as an object multiple, I unpack the multiplicity of accounting representations in different enactments. The study also provides new insights into discussions regarding the (in)completeness of accounting. More specifically, different enactments of the pandemic multiple were supported by the perception of completeness among the actors in their accounting representations. The study explored how accounting sustains different versions of objects that existed before accounting while simultaneously trying to relate the different versions: there were both flows and closures between the different enactments of pandemic. In contrast to the argument that the relative completeness of accounting can resolve multiple tensions and that absences trigger innovation, I observed differing interactions among accounting representations while perceived completeness became the source of managing and coordinating the object multiple. That is, accounting is not only used for coordination but also for maintaining the closeness of each enactment of the pandemic.

Details

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, vol. 36 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1096-3367

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 February 2023

Martin R.W. Hiebl

This paper aims to identify specific challenges and opportunities when crafting literature reviews of qualitative accounting research. In addition, it offers potential remedies to…

8474

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify specific challenges and opportunities when crafting literature reviews of qualitative accounting research. In addition, it offers potential remedies to frequent challenges when conducting such reviews.

Design/methodology/approach

This piece is based on recent methodological advice on conducting literature reviews and my own experience when conducting and publishing reviews that primarily cover qualitative accounting research.

Findings

The author chart three typical advantages and three typical use cases of literature reviews of qualitative accounting research, as well as the typical process steps and outputs of such reviews. Along with these process steps, The author identifies three overarching specific challenges when conducting such reviews and discusses potential remedies. Overall, this paper suggests that literature reviews of qualitative accounting research feature idiosyncratic challenges but offer specific opportunities at the same time.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to offer advice on the specific challenges and opportunities when conducting literature reviews of qualitative accounting research.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 December 2003

Garee W. Earnest

Participation in a leadership-focused study-abroad program is a highly effective way to learn about leadership, based on student responses that cite powerful leadership learning…

92

Abstract

Participation in a leadership-focused study-abroad program is a highly effective way to learn about leadership, based on student responses that cite powerful leadership learning experiences. To operate effectively in the expanding global arena, current and future leaders will need the ability to deal with different cultures and languages almost on a daily basis. Leaders will need to be prepared to lead in fast-changing environments that include a multiplicity of cultures and traditions and a complex labor force. While traditional approaches to leadership education will continue to provide a firm foundation for tomorrow’s leaders, new leadership approaches will be as important, if not more so, in the global world. A leadership-focused study-abroad program offers an excellent teaching technique for preparing participants in the leadership process.

Details

Journal of Leadership Education, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1552-9045

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 July 2020

Nurul Shahnaz Mahdzan, Rozaimah Zainudin, Mohd Edil Abd Sukor, Fauzi Zainir and Wan Marhaini Wan Ahmad

The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the financial well-being (FWB) of Malaysian households and to construct a subjective FWB index with present and future time…

11221

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the financial well-being (FWB) of Malaysian households and to construct a subjective FWB index with present and future time perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 1,867 respondents across five major regions in Malaysia. Adapting the InCharge Financial Distress/Financial Well-being (IFDFW) Scale by Prawitz et al. (2006) and the method of computing an index by Devlin (2009), this study develops an FWB index using subjective measures that include future time perspectives (retirement). The index was employed to measure the FWB across low-, middle- and high-income groups and socio-demographic characteristics.

Findings

This study finds evidence that Malaysians' FWB is at an average level (46.8). Middle-income households' FWB (46.1) flanks between the financial well-being index (FWBI) levels of the low-income (37.4) and high-income households (58.7). Across age groups, education levels and employment sectors, the FWB of Malaysians significantly varies, although not across different ethnics, religions, zones and residential areas. Overall, the results suggest that the detrimental effects of FWB are perceived by all Malaysian households nationwide regardless of their religion, ethnicity and residential areas.

Practical implications

The results of this study complement the other well-being indices used by policymakers and may serve as a useful input for government and policymakers for them to formulate appropriate strategies to promote higher FWB of Malaysian households based on their socio-demographic characteristics.

Originality/value

This study used primary data and developed a subjective FWB index that leverages on people's perceptions of their own financial well-being while including present and future time perspectives. The main contribution of this paper is to construct an index that is easily interpretable and that complements the existing FWB indices, and to identify the segments of society that have low vis-à-vis high FWB.

Details

Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2515-964X

Keywords

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