Gordon Abner, Cullen C. Merritt and Rachel Boggs
This study explores the benefits of accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), according to those who are engaged in the practice.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the benefits of accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), according to those who are engaged in the practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data through open-ended, semi-structured telephone interviews. The authors analyzed the data using an inductive methodology.
Findings
The authors found that CALEA police accreditation enhances organizational learning through the development of knowledge brokers, the creation of communities of practice, support for knowledge repositories, support for knowledge managers and greater levels of transparency.
Originality/value
This qualitative study, which focuses on the perceptions and experiences of those involved in the CALEA process, provides a valuable complement to the quantitative literature on accreditation by shedding light on the organizational learning resulting from accreditation.
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Shobha Panchal and Subhash Chand
The aim of this study is to analyze the existing literature available on corporate strategy and capital structure with the help of a bibliometric analysis.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to analyze the existing literature available on corporate strategy and capital structure with the help of a bibliometric analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 133 studies indexed in the Scopus database over the period from 1979 to 2024 are included and analyzed using the Biblioshiny package in RStudio along with VOSviewer for network visualization. Additionally, this study used biblioMagika and OpenRefine to harmonize and clean the data.
Findings
This study identified the leading contributors in terms of countries, authors, sources, and documents and used various analysis techniques. The USA, Canada, and the UK exhibited the most significant level of contribution. Furthermore, Bradford’s Law is applicable to the results of this study. The bibliographic coupling resulted in the five clusters indicating emerging themes in the field.
Research limitations/implications
The study’s findings will contribute to the academic landscape by providing an exhaustive examination of the concerned research field and will guide potential researchers for future research avenues. This study will also highlight the need for managers and policymakers to factor in diverse corporate strategies when shaping an organization’s capital structures.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to map the landscape of this field through the presentation of insights derived from bibliometric analysis.
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Aigul P. Salina, Xin Zhang and Omaima A.G. Hassan
The contribution of the banking industry to the financial crisis of 2007/8 has raised public concerns about the financial soundness of banks around the world with many countries…
Abstract
Purpose
The contribution of the banking industry to the financial crisis of 2007/8 has raised public concerns about the financial soundness of banks around the world with many countries still suffering the backlogs of this crisis. The continuous emergence of such crises at both national and international levels increases governments', bank regulators' and financial market participants' need for reliable tools to assess the financial soundness of banks. In this context, this study investigates the financial soundness of the Kazakh banking sector, which is ranked by the World Bank as the first in the world in terms of the percentage of nonperforming loans (NPL) to total gross loans in 2012.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data about all Kazakh banks over the period January 01, 2008 to January 01, 2014, the study identifies a number of accounting indicators that influence the financial soundness of banks using principal component analysis (PCA). Then, it uses the outcomes of the PCA in a cluster analysis and groups the Kazakh banks into sound, risky and unsound banks at two points in time: January 01, 2008 and January 01, 2014. This methodology was further tested against a ranking system of banks and proved to be more reliable in detecting risky banks.
Findings
Fifteen financial ratios were initially selected as accounting indicators for the assessment of bank financial soundness. Using PCA, twelve indicators were isolated, which explain five principal components of capital adequacy, return on assets, profitability, asset quality, liquidity and leverage. Then using the “k-means” method, the results suggest a structure of the Kazakh banking sector on January 01, 2008 that includes two groups of banks: sound and risky banks. On January 01, 2014, this structure of the banking system has changed to include three groups of banks: sound, risky and unsound banks. Thus, in 2014 a new group of banks has emerged, i.e. financially unsound banks.
Practical implications
The proposed cluster-based methodology has proven to be a reliable tool to detect the financial soundness of Kazakh banks, which makes us advocate its employability for bank monitoring and supervision purposes.
Originality/value
This study is the first to employ a cluster-based methodology to assess the financial soundness of a banking sector. This methodology can be used at a micro-level to determine the structure of a banking sector. Also, it can be used to monitor any changes in the structure of a banking sector and provide early warning signals about the financial health of banks.
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Rosemarie Santa González, Marilène Cherkesly, Teodor Gabriel Crainic and Marie-Eve Rancourt
This study aims to deepen the understanding of the challenges and implications entailed by deploying mobile clinics in conflict zones to reach populations affected by violence and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to deepen the understanding of the challenges and implications entailed by deploying mobile clinics in conflict zones to reach populations affected by violence and cut off from health-care services.
Design/methodology/approach
This research combines an integrated literature review and an instrumental case study. The literature review comprises two targeted reviews to provide insights: one on conflict zones and one on mobile clinics. The case study describes the process and challenges faced throughout a mobile clinic deployment during and after the Iraq War. The data was gathered using mixed methods over a two-year period (2017–2018).
Findings
Armed conflicts directly impact the populations’ health and access to health care. Mobile clinic deployments are often used and recommended to provide health-care access to vulnerable populations cut off from health-care services. However, there is a dearth of peer-reviewed literature documenting decision support tools for mobile clinic deployments.
Originality/value
This study highlights the gaps in the literature and provides direction for future research to support the development of valuable insights and decision support tools for practitioners.
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Michelle Stella Mars, Ian Seymour Yeoman and Una McMahon-Beattie
Sex tourism is well documented in the literature, but what about porn tourism? Whether it is a Ping Pong show in Phuket or the Banana show in Amsterdam, porn and tourism have an…
Abstract
Purpose
Sex tourism is well documented in the literature, but what about porn tourism? Whether it is a Ping Pong show in Phuket or the Banana show in Amsterdam, porn and tourism have an encounter and gaze no different from the Mona Lisa in the Louvre or magnificent views of New Zealand’s Southern Alps. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper explores the intersections of tourism, porn and the future as a conceptual framework.
Findings
Four intersections are derived from the conceptual framework. Intersection 1, the Future of Tourism, portrays the evolution of tourism and explores its technological future. Interaction 2, Porn in Tourism, distinguishes between soft- and hard-core porn tourism. Intersection 3, Portraying Porn as a Future Dimension, delves into futurism, science fiction and fantasy. The fourth intersection, the Future Gaze, conveys the thrust of the paper by exploring how technological advancement blends with authenticity and reality. Thus the porn tourist seeks both the visual and the visceral pleasures of desire. The paper concludes with four future gazes of porn tourism, The Allure of Porn, The Porn Bubble, Porn as Liminal Experience and Hardcore.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper is that this is the first paper to systematically examine porn tourism beyond sex tourism overlaying with a futures dimension. Porn tourists actively seek to experience both visual and visceral pleasures. Tourism and pornography both begin with the gaze. The gaze is an integral component of futures thinking. Technology is changing us, making us smarter, driving our thirst for liminal experiences. Like the transition from silent movies to talking pictures the porn tourism experience of the future is likely to involve more of the bodily senses.
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Sport is an important economic activity, and understanding the role of teams and managers is necessary, yet managers – specifically their brand personas – have been the subject of…
Abstract
Purpose
Sport is an important economic activity, and understanding the role of teams and managers is necessary, yet managers – specifically their brand personas – have been the subject of limited research. The purpose of this research is to explore the brand persona of a football manager, using Arsène Wenger as a case.
Design/methodology/approach
Due to the exploratory nature of the study, qualitative methods were used to explore the brand-building activity. Media reports and images that centred on Arsène Wenger's words covering a three-year period were analysed. In total, 1364 articles and 23 images were analysed in NVivo, using both a priori and emergent codes.
Findings
The findings show the construction of the brand persona in three main dimensions pertinent to his role as a manager. The first is the performance in the managerial role in which Arsène Wenger is appointed, the second is associated with the person (including emotions and self-expression) and the third is the context (i.e. football) in which the manager operates.
Research limitations/implications
The research focused on one manager while he was managing a premier league club and is limited to England.
Practical implications
While proposing a theoretical model, this study proposes football clubs understand a manager's persona in relation to the club's brand and the interactive effect. The support of the club on the persona is also indicated.
Originality/value
Football managers have received some research attention, but there has been no analysis of their brand personas. This study expands the understanding of the contribution of the manager to the club brand.
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This paper provides evidence from the Philippines that strong presidents (termed here as hyper-presidents) have failed to address systemic corruption despite their anti-corruption…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper provides evidence from the Philippines that strong presidents (termed here as hyper-presidents) have failed to address systemic corruption despite their anti-corruption rhetoric and promises.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a case study methodology to review how “strong presidents” have dealt with the problem of corruption in the Philippines and to examine their handling of grand corruption scandals. Data were collected from court decisions, congressional reports, news reports, journal articles, and other academic publications.
Findings
The paper has two major findings. First, none of the strong presidents were able to build the social and political foundations for anti-corruption reform. Second, in dealing with corruption scandals, the strong presidents observed selective persecution and particularistic concealment (cover-ups) instead of allowing the rule of law to prevail. These findings dismiss the idea of the sufficiency of strong presidents, some of whom project the possession of the political will necessary to combat corruption in the country.
Originality/value
While the need for strong leaders has been emphasized in the anti-corruption literature, this paper argues that such leaders do not necessarily add to the political commitment needed to fight systemic corruption or even lay the political, institutional, and social foundations for reform. Strong presidents in the weak Philippine state are powerless against the institutions and culture that encourage and tolerate grand corruption.
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Nozomi Kawarazuka and Gordon Prain
This paper aims to explore ethnic minority women’s gendered perceptions and processes of agricultural innovation in the Northern uplands of Vietnam. The key research question asks…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore ethnic minority women’s gendered perceptions and processes of agricultural innovation in the Northern uplands of Vietnam. The key research question asks how women develop innovations and learn new agricultural practices within patriarchal family structures.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interviews including life histories were conducted with 17 female and 10 male farmers from different socio-economic groups; participant observation and key informant interviews were also carried out.
Findings
Women’s innovation processes are deeply embedded in their positions as wives and daughters-in-law. Their innovation tends to be incremental, small-scale and less technological, and they use innovation networks of women rather than those of the formal agricultural institutions, including bringing innovation knowledge from their birth family to the patrilocal household. Unlike men’s perceived innovation, women’s innovation is strongly linked to small-scale entrepreneurship, and it is a powerful approach in the sense that it strengthens the position of women in their families while improving the household economy.
Research limitations/implications
Identifying socially constructed innovation processes helps policymakers to rethink the introduction of ready-made innovation packages, both in terms of content and delivery, and to facilitate innovation for women, as well as men, in marginalized positions.
Social implications
Understanding the gendered processes of innovation instead of measuring gender gaps in innovation outcomes sheds light on women’s interests and preferences, which can inform policies for supporting women’s innovation and thereby lead to social change, including gender equity.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the understanding of gendered innovation processes and entrepreneurship associated with agriculture in rural areas in non-Western ethnic-minority contexts, which is an area that past and current research on entrepreneurship has relatively ignored.
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Massimo Sargiacomo and Stephen P. Walker
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how public/private hybrid and ambiguous organizations played pivotal roles in a governmental programme of housing reconstruction…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how public/private hybrid and ambiguous organizations played pivotal roles in a governmental programme of housing reconstruction following a major earthquake in central Italy in 2009. Venturing beyond the boundaries of institutional isomorphism and using a Foucauldian approach, the longitudinal analysis seeks to illuminate accounting and performance challenges and provide insights to the calculative techniques associated with evacuee housing.
Design/methodology/approach
In “act 1” this paper investigates the role of a consortium created during the recovery stage of the disaster to construct temporary housing. In “act 2” attention shifts to consortia established for the reconstruction of buildings in devastated communities. The total observation period is 11 years. 31 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 key-actors. A broad range of official documents was also consulted.
Findings
In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake a comprehensive reporting system was established to facilitate the construction of 19 new towns for 15,000 evacuees. The mix of accountants, engineers and architects who developed the system and a building prototype evidences the assembly of diverse calculative techniques by different experts and the de-territorialization of subject disciplines. During reconstruction technologies of government included the introduction of standardised systems and vocabularies that homogenised administrative procedures among diverse experts.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides academics and policymakers with insights to accounting, performance management and accountability in hybrid organizations in the largely unexplored realm of post-disaster evacuee housing. Further studies are needed to examine the politics of calculation in similar contexts.
Originality/value
This paper fills a gap in the literature by exploring the role played by individual experts working for hybrid organizations. Further, by exploring actual practices over an extended period of post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, the study highlights how experts intervened to solve problems at the meso-political level and at the micro-organizational level.