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Article
Publication date: 2 March 2010

Adam Loch, Henning Bjornlund and Geoff Kuehne

Prolonged drought and climate change uncertainty have created an urgent need to re‐distribute water away from irrigators and back to environmental flows. Previous approaches to…

626

Abstract

Purpose

Prolonged drought and climate change uncertainty have created an urgent need to re‐distribute water away from irrigators and back to environmental flows. Previous approaches to achieve this objective have had mixed results. The current approach focuses on purchasing water from irrigators to bolster river flows for ecosystem health. However, governments are purchasing entitlements, not allocations, which do not provide large amounts of water for the money that is spent. This paper aims to review the policies and events that have driven this process.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a the review of the policies and events, the paper identifies how the regulatory/market‐based approaches have resulted in a status quo or path dependent situation, to the detriment of achieving sustainable water use.

Findings

Previous approaches have so far simply maintained path dependency, i.e. the consumptive pool at more or less existing levels. Government intervention to purchase entitlements from irrigators for the environment through water markets is meant to break the status quo, but questions whether this can be achieved from a solitary focus on entitlement recovery.

Practical implications

It is suggested that both historical approaches offer less reform value, and that appropriate market intervention is warranted. However, entitlement water purchasing alone may limit provision of wet water to key environmental sites during critical periods and perpetuate a continuation of the path dependency arrangements.

Originality/value

A suggested expansion of the water‐purchasing programme that utilises allocation based products to meet adaptive environmental flow strategies is provided. Such an approach may offer a more suitable framework for dealing with the uncertain outcomes of climate change and ecosystem needs.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 21 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

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Article
Publication date: 13 November 2009

Robert S. Clarkson

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the underlying causes of the series of banking disasters that unfolded from July 2007 onwards and to suggest what action should be…

993

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the underlying causes of the series of banking disasters that unfolded from July 2007 onwards and to suggest what action should be taken to avoid a repetition.

Design/methodology/approach

The practices and culture that have evolved in banking over recent decades are compared and contrasted with general principles of actuarial science and with Adam Smith's blueprint for a well‐functioning market economy as set out in his Wealth of Nations. Recent instances of financial turmoil such as the Northern Rock debacle and the global “credit crunch” are then viewed from a longer term perspective.

Findings

The serious weaknesses identified by comparisons with actuarial science and the wisdom of Adam Smith, amplified by perverse methodologies of finance theory and “fair value” accounting and unchecked by the lax regulatory framework, take not only the global banking industry, but also the entire global economy to the point where the self‐stabilising properties of Western capitalism are destroyed. To avoid a repetition, banking practices and culture must be completely rebuilt along actuarial and “Adam Smith” lines, the destabilising methodologies of finance theory and “fair value” accounting must be abandoned, and the new and more prudent approach must be rigorously enforced by a strong regulatory regime.

Originality/value

By adopting a longer term actuarial perspective, the paper identifies deeper problems and suggests more fundamental solutions than have generally been the case in the continuing debate as to the best way forward in rebuilding a robust financial system.

Details

Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1358-1988

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Publication date: 11 June 2021

Forough Nasirpouri Shadbad and David Biros

Since the emergence of the Internet in the twentieth century and the rapid growth of different types of information technologies (IT), our lives, either personal or professional…

Abstract

Since the emergence of the Internet in the twentieth century and the rapid growth of different types of information technologies (IT), our lives, either personal or professional, have become digitised. Adoption and diffusion of IT enhance individuals and organisational performance, yet scholars discovered a dual nature of IT in which IT usage may have negative aspects too. First, the inability to cope with IT in a healthy manner creates stress in users, termed technostress. Second, digitisation and adoption of new technologies (e.g. IoT and multi-cloud environments) have increased vulnerabilities to information security (InfoSec) threats. Although organisations utilise counteraction strategies (e.g., security systems, security policies), end-users remain the top source of security incidents. Existing behavioural research has approached technostress and InfoSec independently. However, it is not clear how technology-stressors influence employees’ security-related behaviours. This chapter reviews the interaction effect of these concepts in detail by proposing a conceptual model that explains that technostress is the main reason for employees’ non-compliance with security policies in which users with high-level perceptions of technostress are more likely to violate InfoSec policies. Counteraction strategies to mitigate technostress and security threats are also discussed.

Details

Information Technology in Organisations and Societies: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from AI to Technostress
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-812-3

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Article
Publication date: 25 September 2007

Nikolaos Bilalis, Emmanuel Alvizos, Lukas Tsironis and Luk van Wassenhove

The paper aims to present a clear methodological path for assessing the competitiveness of a specific industrial sector with the use of the Industrial Excellence Award (IEA…

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to present a clear methodological path for assessing the competitiveness of a specific industrial sector with the use of the Industrial Excellence Award (IEA) model. The paper introduces the concepts evaluated by the IEA model and addresses the ways with which varied management data may be analyzed in order to provide useful insights for improvement in industrial processes such as new product and process development, supply chain management, strategy formulation and deployment.

Design/methodology/approach

Sixty European textile companies provided information concerning their business processes over the course of three years in accordance with the Industrial Excellence Award (IEA) model developed by INSEAD Business Schools. Subsequently, the textile industry companies were compared with 73 excellence‐driven European manufacturers which either won or distinguished themselves in the award competition during the same time period. The management information from both datasets was treated with the proper statistical tools (according to their nature) in order to attain secure and minimally biased conclusions.

Findings

The benchmarking process revealed the areas in which the textile sector was lagging behind the excellence‐driven manufacturers. Furthermore, it detected their differences in specific measures of industrial management and business mentality. On a theoretical level, the analysis verified the general reliability of the IEA model's scales, aiming at assessing abstract management constructs while fine tuning them.

Research limitations/implications

The thorough inspection of the textile companies' performance attributes and characteristics has identified many of the sector's shortcomings that merit further investigation.

Practical implications

The results of the analysis served as valuable feedback to textile managers aiming at bettering their industrial processes in many ways, such as benchmarking their performance against their sector or other sectors, and observing trends that managers from other sectors are putting effort into in order to improve their performance.

Originality/value

The paper provides a clear‐cut methodology for the understanding and statistical analysis of multifaceted industrial management data included in excellence models.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 56 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

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Book part
Publication date: 30 March 2017

Julia M. Puaschunder

The 2008/2009 World Financial Crisis underlined the importance of social responsibility for the sustainable functioning of economic markets. Heralding an age of novel heterodox…

Abstract

The 2008/2009 World Financial Crisis underlined the importance of social responsibility for the sustainable functioning of economic markets. Heralding an age of novel heterodox economic thinking, the call for integrating social facets into mainstream economic models has reached unprecedented momentum. Financial Social Responsibility bridges the finance world with society in socially conscientious investments. Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) integrates corporate social responsibility in investment choices. In the aftermath of the 2008/2009 World Financial Crisis, SRI is an idea whose time has come. Socially conscientious asset allocation styles add to expected yield and volatility of securities social, environmental, and institutional considerations. In screenings, shareholder advocacy, community investing, social venture capital funding and political divestiture, socially conscientious investors hone their interest to align financial profit maximization strategies with social concerns. In a long history of classic finance theory having blacked out moral and ethical considerations of investment decision making, our knowledge of socio-economic motives for SRI is limited. Apart from economic profitability calculus and strategic leadership advantages, this paper sheds light on socio-psychological motives underlying SRI. Altruism, need for innovation and entrepreneurial zest alongside utility derived from social status enhancement prospects and transparency may steer investors’ social conscientiousness. Self-enhancement and social expression of future-oriented SRI options may supplement profit maximization goals. Theoretically introducing potential SRI motives serves as a first step toward an empirical validation of Financial Social Responsibility to improve the interplay of financial markets and the real economy. The pursuit of crisis-robust and sustainable financial markets through strengthened Financial Social Responsibility targets at creating lasting societal value for this generation and the following.

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Book part
Publication date: 21 July 2020

Torben Juul Andersen

The environmental exposures to humankind have increased in number and intensity over past decades introducing the possibility of extreme incidents with irreversible impacts on…

Abstract

The environmental exposures to humankind have increased in number and intensity over past decades introducing the possibility of extreme incidents with irreversible impacts on business and society. The global integration of business and cross-border financial flows supported by digital technology increase the complexity and uncertainty of the business environment. In this context, the behaviors of individual players are interdependent with potentially nonlinear and unpredictable outcomes ascribed to complex wicked problems. As a consequence, organizational decision-makers may pursue false objectives from misinformed causation where stringent score-card controls will exacerbate the problems. The resolution to wicked problems requires cross-functional and collective interactions supported by a collaborative corporate mindset. The conventional control-based management practices fall short in dealing with disruptive developments where value-based stakeholder collaboration can provide resilient responses to unexpected abrupt events.

Details

Adapting to Environmental Challenges: New Research in Strategy and International Business
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-477-7

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Article
Publication date: 14 May 2024

Isabelle Cuykx, Caroline Lochs, Kathleen Van Royen, Heidi Vandebosch, Hilde Van den Bulck, Sara Pabian and Charlotte de Backer

This scoping review aims to explore how “food media”, “food messages” and “food content” are referred to in scholarly writing to enhance a shared understanding and comparability.

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Abstract

Purpose

This scoping review aims to explore how “food media”, “food messages” and “food content” are referred to in scholarly writing to enhance a shared understanding and comparability.

Design/methodology/approach

Following the PRISMA, ScR-guidelines, four scientific databases were screened on published manuscripts in academic journals, books and doctoral theses mentioning food media, content and messages within the prevalent meaning as in human communication.

Findings

Of the 376 included manuscripts, only a small minority (n = 7) provided a conclusive definition of at least one of the three earlier-mentioned concepts; 40 others elucidated some aspects of food media, messages or content; however, they emphasized different and, sometimes even, contrasting aspects. In addition, the review explores in which disciplines the manuscripts mentioning food media, messages or content occur, which methodologies are used and what target groups and media are most common.

Originality/value

Based on this aggregated information, a definition of food media, messages and content is proposed, aiming to enhance the comparability of diverse academic sources. This contribution invites scholars to critically reflect on the included media and content types when comparing studies on food media, messages or content.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 126 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Article
Publication date: 28 October 2014

Rolande Marciniak, Redouane E.L. Amrani, Frantz Rowe and Frédéric Adam

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of Cross-Functional Awareness (CFA) and to question how firm size influences the impact of ERP implementation strategies on…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of Cross-Functional Awareness (CFA) and to question how firm size influences the impact of ERP implementation strategies on CFA. Specifically, the paper questions whether size moderates the capability of the firm to achieve CFA.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors developed and empirically tested a conceptual framework using the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach. This study gathered data from a sample of 45 French SMEs and 55 French large firms.

Findings

The results show that ERP implementation strategies (flexibility, organizational vision, Business Process Re-Engineering, speed of implementation, and focus on core modules) have a direct positive relationship and, in large firms, an indirect relationship (via data quality improvement) with the emergence of CFA. The study also suggests that firm size moderates the resulting emergence of ERP-enabled CFA. The findings will help researchers understand the factors associated with ERP implementation and use that promote or inhibit successful use of ERP systems.

Research limitations/implications

Similar to many published ERP surveys, the sample size is small. In addition, the authors examined CFA in the survey from the perspective of a single respondent per firm. Finally, there may be a cultural limitation linked to the respondents all being French firms.

Practical implications

The findings will promote a better understanding of the concept of CFA and its benefits amongst managers, leading to increased productivity and efficiency with ERP. In particular, they will help practitioners identify and manage the right factors during ERP implementations.

Originality/value

In the expanding world of Enterprise System research, this paper is significant in that it studies the effect of ERP implementation on CFA rather than investigating the factors affecting ERP implementation or the outcomes of ERP implementations. To the best of the knowledge, this is one of the few papers that theoretically articulates and empirically explores the concept of CFA, and tests the relationship between implementation strategy factors and CFA, including the moderating role of size in the context of ERP. The contribution shows that the firm size effect should be examined at the level of SMEs and larger firms separately, rather than at an overall level.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 20 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1908

The endeavour that is being made at the present time to rouse public interest in the extremely important question of the purity of the national milk supply is one that deserves…

28

Abstract

The endeavour that is being made at the present time to rouse public interest in the extremely important question of the purity of the national milk supply is one that deserves unqualified praise. It is in no spirit of carping criticism that it is here pointed out that the partial and unofficial remedy by which it is proposed to diminish the risk to the consumer may in itself be indirectly a means of continuing what has become a grave public danger. No reasonable doubt can exist that pasteurization as a method of dealing with large quantities of milk in bulk and from all sources will be of considerable use. It will certainly tend, if carried into effect to the extent and in the way suggested, to greatly lessen the risk that consumers run at the present time. It will prevent a large amount of disease that arises from the consumption of impure milk. But such a method, however admirable and philanthropic in conception and sound in theory, is one that by no means answers all, or even a part of, the large number of important questions connected with the subject. The general public and honest milk dealers will, it is to be hoped, benefit by the new milk legislation that is proposed by the Local Government Board and by the London County Council. The public, however, is very apt to be caught by a phrase, and may, therefore, think that “milk pasteurization” is the beginning and the end of all that need or can be said on the subject. It is likely that the foundation of depots for the preparation and supply of pasteurized milk will blind its eyes to the fact that the evils which have rendered the establishment of such places necessary remain untouched. Indeed, the very fact that milk depots of this kind are at work may be used by interested persons as evidence that all hygienic requirements have been complied with, that for this reason veterinary considerations may be ruled “out of court,” and that the necessity for further legislation of a more fundamental and drastic kind no longer exists. The agitation that is taking place at the present moment is no new thing. For many years past the matter has engaged the most serious attention of those experts whose business it is to investigate and, as far as they are permitted, to control the quality of the milk supplies of both our town and country districts. For example, a perusal of the annual reports of the Local Government Board that have been issued since that Board was instituted in the early seventies, will satisfy any one, who takes the time and trouble to read them, that Public Analysts have from time to time animadverted in terms more or less strong on the poor quality of the milk supplied, and that even if the field of inquiry be limited to what may be called purely analytical standards the difficulties of the case are enormous, even if they be looked at from the best and the most hopeful point of view. At the present moment we are more concerned with the equally important hygienic aspect of the question. Local self‐government, while conferring a large amount of autonomy on administrative units, has naturally resulted in an almost entire absence of any definite national system that can deal with the important subject of food supply generally and milk supply in particular. At the present time it is left to the local authority to decide whether it will or will not apply for powers from the central authority—the Local Government Board—to put into force regulations under the Dairies, Cowsheds, and Milkshops Order, though in cases where this has been done the benefit to all concerned has been marked, and the necessity for such action demonstrated. The subject of the milk supply divides itself, roughly speaking, into three branches, which may be referred to under the headings of Production, Carriage, and Sale, though it is evident that no sharp line of demarcation can be drawn. With regard to all of these the law is either defective or nonexistent. Under the present “system” prosecutions are mostly instituted against persons of whom it is alleged that they have knowingly sold milk from which fat has been abstracted or to which water has been added, but even here “the difficulties connected with the administration of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts in the case of milk have been a constant subject of discussion between the officers of local authorities and the Board's Inspectors.” What these difficulties are are well known to all who are brought into contact with the administration of the Food and Drugs Acts, but any one can satisfy himself as to them by reference to, say, the last annual report of the Board of Agriculture in this respect, keeping in mind, at the same time, the fact that only one aspect of the case is there dealt with. Under the heading of Production brief reference may be made to the subject of the cow and her surroundings. Much evidence exists which shows the urgent need for expert and unbiassed hygienic and veterinary inspection of all dairy farms, cowsheds, and cows. In much that has been recently written on the subject of pure milk in the daily press, it is somewhat remarkable to note that while the dangers that arise from drinking raw milk derived from tuberculous cows has been rightly insisted on, comparatively little reference has been made to the importance of cow and cowshed inspection. It is unfortunately the case in too many instances that the owners of cows are content to house the animals in sheds under conditions that are usually, though wrongly, thought to be fit only for pigs. This, of course, leaves entirely out of the question the fact that the animals themselves may be tuberculous or otherwise diseased, and therefore a source of most serious danger to the public health. With regard to carriage of milk it may be pointed out that the modern city draws its supply of milk from all over the country, and that this means a rail journey of frequently some hours' duration. Our modes of transporting and handling milk have not, however, kept pace with modern requirements. The frequently Arcadian simplicity of the methods in vogue would appeal the more strongly to lovers of the picturesque if they did not lead so often to the introduction of filth of all kinds into the milk cans. Lastly, regarding the sale of milk from retailer to consumer, the public itself is largely to blame for the objectionable practice of adding colouring matter to the milk. A general impression is abroad among the poorer, and therefore it may be presumed the more ignorant, consumers, that milk is not genuine unless it be what is called “cream coloured.” Hence the introduction of annatto or some less innocent substance. For the frequent presence of such substances as formaldehyde, boracic acid, and other “preservatives” no excuse of any kind exists. Such practices are simply means but too often resorted to of masking incipient putrefaction induced by tardy and uncleanly methods. At the same time, these dangerous chemical preservatives make the “food” more difficult of digestion, with results to young children and persons in weak health that are too obvious to need comment. In addition to all this the milk may be subjected, of course, to adulteration of the usual kind. Hence the present position is that against defective methods of production and sale, out‐of‐date methods of transport, absence of any national and compulsory system of inspection and control, and a law that is either deficient or hopelessly tangled, a semi‐philanthropic method is proposed which, though probably sound and admirable in itself, is almost certain to be used by the unserupulous as a means of preventing the important problem of our milk supply being attacked in the only way in which there is reasonable hope of success—that is, by an appeal to the cow and its surroundings. Unless the method of pasteurization be recognised as a useful but still a subordinate means of dealing with an already contaminated substance, it is more than likely that tinkering and generally unsatisfactory legislation will be resorted to, and that as a result of this the state of the milk supply will remain very much as it is at present.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1975

David Cairns

A YEAR OR TWO AGO there came into my hands a manuscript book about Edinburgh in the 1790s written in his old age in 1854 by a certain John Howell. This book, which had been sent…

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Abstract

A YEAR OR TWO AGO there came into my hands a manuscript book about Edinburgh in the 1790s written in his old age in 1854 by a certain John Howell. This book, which had been sent by a relative, proved to be of great interest both topographically and as a record of social life, and was eventually secured by the National Library of Scotland. A few months later, the Keeper of Manuscripts in the Library wrote to me again saying that he believed there might be further eighteenth‐and nineteenth‐century letters and papers in the possession of the former owner of the Howell manuscript, and asking whether she might be willing to allow these to be seen, and possibly acquired, by the Library. The papers turned out to be predominantly family papers, and the central figure in this context was John Brown, M.D., the Edinburgh essayist (1810–82), the author of three volumes of essays and papers, Horae Subsecivae, the best known of which are perhaps ‘Pet Marjorie’ and ‘Rab and his Friends’.

Details

Library Review, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0024-2535

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