George Bohoris, Jonathan Coombes, Tony Hamer and Alan Pickering
Deals with two main areas of the quality system of a world leaderin the vehicle lighting industry: conformance to recognized motorindustry quality standards (such as the Ford Q101…
Abstract
Deals with two main areas of the quality system of a world leader in the vehicle lighting industry: conformance to recognized motor industry quality standards (such as the Ford Q101 discipline) and implementation of a TQM programme. First discusses improvements to ensure compliance to standards then describes an approach employed to gain certification to the ISO 9000 standard. The strategy developed for achieving certification ensures that the problems encountered during the development of the quality system improvements will not be repeated. The second strategy is the TQM programme. Deals specifically with one element of this ‐quality costing. Describes how the costing system is being implemented, the problems encountered and the ways in which the company plans to overcome them. One of the main conclusions is that the resultant benefits are already extensive and are likely to prove essential to the future performance of the business.
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States that there was a time when nobody mentioned pensions unless someone had retired, but now pensions make headlines that affect people of all ages. Concludes that the UK state…
Abstract
States that there was a time when nobody mentioned pensions unless someone had retired, but now pensions make headlines that affect people of all ages. Concludes that the UK state pension is steadily shrinking, and regarding occupational schemes (defined benefit schemes) many employers are closing their final salary pension schemes.
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In order to realise economies of scale in the European single market for investment funds, asset managers have typically sought to distribute a single range of investment funds…
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In order to realise economies of scale in the European single market for investment funds, asset managers have typically sought to distribute a single range of investment funds into as many European markets as possible. They have therefore developed an ‘offshore’ business model: of establishing a single fund range in, say, Luxembourg or Dublin, and distributing that range throughout the EU. European legislation has evolved in support of that business model ‐ in particular, the UCITS Directive. However, persistent tax discrimination continues to undermine cross‐border sales. Tax discrimination is illegal, and the European Court of Justice has regularly ruled against countries with discriminatory fiscal regimes. The vagaries of the judicial process, though, and recent jurisprudence, may unwittingly lend strength to discrimination. Should asset managers therefore revisit their offshore business model, or should European institutions revisit the way they address issues of taxation in the Union?
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The article compares the major features of pension provision in the UK and in France. It considers why the UK population appears to be at best indifferent to their system of…
Abstract
The article compares the major features of pension provision in the UK and in France. It considers why the UK population appears to be at best indifferent to their system of provision, when overall it is financially secure, whereas the French system, which is faced with increasing costs, receives wide support. The significant differences in provision, apart from the method of funding, are in the level of coverage and the extent of member involvement. The article concludes that, if the UK system took some steps in this direction, perhaps employees would begin to perceive pension provision as the valuable benefit it is, and more employers would be encouraged to introduce, or retain, defined benefit occupational pension schemes.
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Martin Davies, Jan Duffhauss and Alan Mercer
The smaller warehouse cannot afford to use the most sophisticated computer systems but here is an introduction to what can be done to improve their picking systems.
Abstract
The smaller warehouse cannot afford to use the most sophisticated computer systems but here is an introduction to what can be done to improve their picking systems.
In this chapter, the author dwells on the effects of documenting and the failure to document, border lives and deaths. Despite their apparent differences, both practices function…
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In this chapter, the author dwells on the effects of documenting and the failure to document, border lives and deaths. Despite their apparent differences, both practices function as forms of erasure. While the Australian government has historically been keen to document the number of asylum seeker arrivals in this country, it has shown no interest in the numbers and names of those who have died in attempting to arrive here. In contrast, those who manage to cross the border, are subject to intense classificatory and numbering regimes. The latter manifests in bureaucratic control and excessive intervention, while the former reveals governmental denial of complicity in these deaths by not acknowledging them. Both practices share a refusal to encounter the other on ethical terms, reflecting the politics of numbers (Andreas & Greenhill, 2010) at and within the border. This also reveals a paradox, between being represented and not being represented. In the lacuna of details about border deaths, human rights organisations, researchers and advocacy groups have sought both to honour these deaths and to ensure that the scale of border violence is marked by statistical records on the numbers of border deaths. While it might seem that being ‘counted’ – or in Butler’s (2003, p. 41) terms – ‘represented’ is better than not being counted/represented at all, representation is never straightforward (Szörényi, 2009b, p. 185): being counted is often barely a form of representation, with such ‘numbering’ practices contributing to the effacement, rather than the recognition of refugees’ humanity.
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Ivo de Loo and Alan Lowe
The starting point for this paper is that the researcher is intimately bound up in all aspects of the research process. This idea of what is a critical aspect of much interpretive…
Abstract
Purpose
The starting point for this paper is that the researcher is intimately bound up in all aspects of the research process. This idea of what is a critical aspect of much interpretive methodology has been challenged by some proponents of the interpretive accounting research (IAR) project. The authors suggest that adopting some of the views expounded in the IAR project may lead to the accounting research community becoming isolated from other interpretive methodology inspired disciplines. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Currently popular views on IAR are informed by selective theoretical insights from interpretive sociology. The authors argue that these insights cannot provide a general frame with which to encapsulate accounting research that may be reasonably termed “interpretive.”
Findings
The authors’ reading of the literature suggests that the some of the IAR literature exhibits: a tendency to routinely make overly specific claims for what it is possible for interpretive research to achieve; the promotion of a somewhat reductionist view of what the bounds of interpretive research are. The authors suggest that these tendencies detract from the strengths of (adopting a broad view of) IAR.
Research limitations/implications
In expressing the authors’ concerns, the authors do not wish to make an exclusive argument for what IAR is and is not. This would not be in line with writing an interpretive paper. While the authors do not eschew the possibility of a limited building of knowledge by applying interpretive methodological stances neither do the authors see such activity as a central plank of interpretive research.
Practical implications
The authors believe that positivistic commentaries on qualitative enquiry should not be taken as exemplary of interpretive research (in accounting – or elsewhere). The authors feel that IAR needs to be more open to an array of subjectivist motivations, if it is to provide useful critique of the nature of day-to-day accounting practice.
Originality/value
The authors seek to go beyond the rather unhelpful debate about whether IAR should be seen to possess both objective and subjective elements. The authors argue that IAR suffers more from a lack of engagement and debate than it faces dangers from areas of interpretive methodology that adopt positions considered to be too subjectivist.
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The new authorities created by this Act, probably the most important local government measure of the century, will be voted into existence during 1973 and commence functioning on…
Abstract
The new authorities created by this Act, probably the most important local government measure of the century, will be voted into existence during 1973 and commence functioning on 1st April 1974. Their responsibilities and the problems facing them are in many ways quite different and of greater complexity than those with which existing councils have had to cope. In its passage through the Lords, a number of amendments were made to the Act, but in the main, it is a scheme of reorganization originally produced after years of discussion and long sessions in the Commons. Local government reorganization in Scotland takes place one year later and for Northern Ireland, we must continue to wait and pray for a return of sanity.
Nick Smith, Stacey Rand, Sarah Morgan, Karen Jones, Helen Hogan and Alan Dargan
This paper aims to explore the content of Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) from older adult care homes to understand how safety is understood and might be measured in practice.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the content of Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) from older adult care homes to understand how safety is understood and might be measured in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
SARs relevant to older adult care homes from 2015 onwards were identified via the Social Care Institute of Excellence SARs library. Using thematic analysis, initial inductive coding was mapped to a health-derived safety framework, the Safety Measurement and Monitoring Framework (SMMF).
Findings
The content of the SARs reflected the dimensions of the SMMF but gaining a deeper understanding of safety in older adult care homes requires additional understanding of how this unique context interacts with these dimensions to create and prevent risks and harms. This review identified the importance of external factors in care home safety.
Originality/value
This study provides an insight into the scope of safety issues within care homes using the SARs content, and in doing so improves understanding of how it might be measured. The measurement of safety in care homes needs to acknowledge that there are factors external to care homes that a home may have little knowledge of and no ability to control.