Gregory John Lee and Alexander Davison
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and recommend formal guidelines for the initial design of country-level or sectoral payroll levy systems that are intended to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and recommend formal guidelines for the initial design of country-level or sectoral payroll levy systems that are intended to incentivize new firm training. The paper presents and illustrates two necessary conditions for new training to be stimulated, one involving transaction costs and the other the incentive payback. Ultimately, the purpose is to guide more successful designs for such systems in future.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is principally theoretical, but the South African levy-grant system of the late 1990s is used as a case study. The paper illustrates how World Bank data may have been used to guide the design.
Findings
The paper demonstrates how during the design phase, policy makers can employ knowledge of pre-incentive training levels of firms, and possibly also estimates of unit transaction costs, to estimate the number of employees that may be positively affected. In the South African case, the actual system used may have been underspecified and unlikely to reach many employees with new training.
Research limitations/implications
Future research may employ these guidelines in empirical studies of the relative success of payroll levies.
Practical implications
The practical value of the paper is formal guidelines for policy makers seeking to implement such payroll levy systems.
Social implications
Better design for these systems may have positive implications for productivity and social externalities while avoiding unnecessary waste.
Originality/value
While there have been several more general reflections of payroll levy systems, and empirical investigations of their efficacy, this is the first paper formally modeling and testing design guidelines that can be implemented practically in the pre-implementation phase.
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Garry D. Carnegie and Stephen P. Walker
The purpose of this paper is to extend the work of Carnegie and Walker and report the results of Part 2 of their study on household accounting in Australia during the period from…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend the work of Carnegie and Walker and report the results of Part 2 of their study on household accounting in Australia during the period from the 1820s to the 1960s.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a microhistorical approach involving a detailed examination of actual accounting practices in the Australian home based on 18 sets of surviving household records identified as exemplars and supplemented by other sources which permit their contextualisation and interpretation.
Findings
The findings point to considerable variety in the accounting practices pursued by individuals and families. Household accounting in Australia was undertaken by both women and men of the middle and landed classes whose surviving household accounts were generally found to comprise one element of diverse and comprehensive personal record keeping systems. The findings indicate points of convergence and divergence in relation to the contemporary prescriptive literature and practice.
Originality/value
The paper reflects on the implications of the findings for the notion of the household as a unit of consumption as opposed to production, gender differences in accounting practice and financial responsibility, the relationship between changes in the life course and the commencement and cessation of household accounting, and the relationship between domestic accounting practice and social class.
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Lídia Oliveira, Ana Caria and Patrícia Gomes
The paper aims to understand why and how paratextual elements are included in annual reports, hence how meaning is made through the workings of language and imagery.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to understand why and how paratextual elements are included in annual reports, hence how meaning is made through the workings of language and imagery.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive framework of analysis, combining Genette’s paratextual elements with Barthes’ rhetoric and denotation and connotation concepts, is applied to the case study of the dstgroup, a Portuguese engineering and construction group.
Findings
The study demonstrates the potential of the annual report as a communication tool between an organisation and its stakeholders. The framework of analysis evidences that the paratextual elements highlight and supplement accounting information and that the denotative and connotative meanings associated with them make visible and enhance intangible features of the organisation.
Originality/value
The paper extends theories from other interdisciplinary fields to accounting communication and proposes a comprehensive framework that combines the writings of Genette and Barthes. By exploring the Portuguese under-researched context, it also adds to the literature by analysing the rationales and choices of the preparers on the inclusion of paratextual elements in annual reports.
Propósito
Este artículo pretende entender por qué y cómo se incluyen elementos paratextuales en los informes anuales y, cómo se construye el significado a través del funcionamiento del lenguaje y las imágenes.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Se desenvolvió un marco de análisis global, que combina los elementos paratextuales de Genette y los conceptos de retórica y denotación y connotación de Barthes. Este marco se aplicó al estudio de caso del grupo dst, un grupo portugués de ingeniería y construcción.
Resultados
El estudio muestra el potential del informe anual como herramienta de comunicación entre una organización y sus grupos de interés. El marco de análisis evidencia que los elementos paratextuales resaltan y complementan la información contable y que los significados denotativos y connotativos asociados a ellos hacen visibles y realzan rasgos intangibles de la organización.
Originalidad/valor
Este artículo extiende teorías de otros campos interdisciplinarios a la comunicación contable y propone un marco global que combina los escritos de Genette y Barthes. Explorando el contexto portugués, insuficientemente investigado, también se añade a la literatura mediante el análisis de las motivaciones y opciones de los preparadores de los informes anuales sobre la inclusión de elementos paratextuales.
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Natasha Slutskaya, Alexander Simpson and Jason Hughes
The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibilities of incorporating such visual methods as photoelicitation and photovoice into qualitative research, in order to retrieve…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibilities of incorporating such visual methods as photoelicitation and photovoice into qualitative research, in order to retrieve something that, as a result of particular group socialisation, has been hidden, unspoken of or marginalised.
Design/methodology/approach
The research design combines 40 in‐depth verbal interviews with male butchers, with the use of photoelicitation and photovoice, in order to increase participant control of data generation.
Findings
Results suggest that photoelicitation enabled working‐class men to engage with themes which are rarely reflected on or discussed; which may sit uneasily with desired presentations of self; and which challenge traditional notions of gendered work. It prompted participants to elaborate and translate their daily experiences of physical labour into more expressive and detailed accounts. This provided room for the display of positive emotions and self‐evaluation and the surfacing of the aesthetics and the pleasures of the trade – aspects that might have been otherwise concealed as a result of adherence to identity affirming norms. Photoelicitation also evoked powerful nostalgic themes about the past: a lament for the loss of skills; the passing of the time of closer communities and more traditional values.
Originality/value
The use of photovoice and photoelicitation in the exploration of a class and gendered “habitus” has highlighted the power of visual methods to offer a closer look at what participants considered important, to open space for the emergence of unexpected topics and themes and to allow for more comprehensive and reflective elaboration on specificities of personal experiences and emotions.
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Célestin Charles Edward Cassal, who died on the 22nd December last, was the eldest son of the late Chevalier Hugues Stanislas Cassal, LL.D., formerly Professor of French Language…
Abstract
Célestin Charles Edward Cassal, who died on the 22nd December last, was the eldest son of the late Chevalier Hugues Stanislas Cassal, LL.D., formerly Professor of French Language and Literature in University College, London, and The Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
Martin Caraher and Robbie Davison
In the UK, food poverty has increased in the last 15 years and the food aid supply chain that has emerged to tackle it is now roughly 10 years old. In this time, we have seen the…
Abstract
In the UK, food poverty has increased in the last 15 years and the food aid supply chain that has emerged to tackle it is now roughly 10 years old. In this time, we have seen the food aid supply chain grow at a rate that has astounded many. Recently that growth has been aided by a grant of £20m from a large supermarket chain. It appears institutionalisation is just around the corner, if not already here. It also appears that there is far greater emphasis on dealing with the symptoms as opposed to solving the root causes of the problem. As an opinion piece, this paper reflects on some of the prevalent issues, and suggests some ways forward.
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Mahmut Demir and Yusuf Günaydın
This study aims to determine the influence of candidate employees' social media accounts (SMAs) on human resource (HR) professionals' hiring decisions as a job application…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to determine the influence of candidate employees' social media accounts (SMAs) on human resource (HR) professionals' hiring decisions as a job application reference in the tourism industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted in tourism businesses, such as hotels, travel agencies, restaurants, bars, and ground-handling service companies. In-depth, open-ended interviews with 16 questions were conducted to gather data face to face between October 15 and December 20, 2021, with 38 HR professionals. The research questions were analyzed using thematic analysis and discussed under three main themes.
Findings
The findings of this study showed that HR managers in the tourism industry generally prefer to examine candidates' SMAs rather than traditional references because they can quickly and cheaply screen many applicants.
Originality/value
Social media (SM) is increasingly used as a crucial channel in recruitment within organizations. This paper contributes by filling a gap in HR management, which empirical studies on the influence of job applicant's SMAs on recruiters' hiring decisions have been limited so far.
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Michael Etgar and Dalia Rachman‐Moore
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of international expansion on the sales volumes of large‐scale retailers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of international expansion on the sales volumes of large‐scale retailers.
Design/methodology/approach
Sales data of 200 largest retailers from around the world reported in the 2004 Deloitte “Global Retail Power” survey were analyzed with regression analyses.
Findings
It was found that: even though internationalization makes a positive contribution to retailers' sales volumes its impact is small; this effect is not impacted by the moderating factor of the degree of retailer specialization along product lines; while another moderating factor, namely the identity of the retailer's country of origin, does make a difference.
Research limitations/implications
The research methodology and the nature of the data precluded the use of more “soft” measures such as measures of managerial cognitions, perceptions and attitudes to analyze their impact on the effectiveness of internationalization for retailers. The research used cross‐sectional data and further research should compare results in additional time points to capture the possible dynamic changes in this industry.
Practical implications
Retailers seeking to expand their sales volumes should not rely too much on internationalization but consider also other strategic options. They should therefore analyze carefully whether large investments in overseas operations are justified. This is particularly relevant for US retailers.
Originality/value
This paper focuses on the issue of internationalization as a viable retail strategy to achieve larger sales volumes. The study reaches its conclusions on the basis of an analysis of data from a large population of diverse, domestic‐only and international retailers from around the world from different sectors and countries of origin, who – the international retailers – operate in different countries.
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Othmar Manfred Lehner and Orthodoxia Kyriacou
Current accounting practice tends to split environmental complexities into quantifiable, codified elements, producing codified simplifications of the “complex” in pursuit of…
Abstract
Purpose
Current accounting practice tends to split environmental complexities into quantifiable, codified elements, producing codified simplifications of the “complex” in pursuit of environmental externalities. This has led to standardization, but has done little to motivate organizations to engage in more environmentally-aware behavior that transcends the coercive dimensions of codification. The work of Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) can bring new insights and perspectives to social and environmental accounting (SEA). In discussing Humboldt's philosophy of understanding the interconnectedness between people, their contexts (cultures) and their environment, the authors contribute to the emerging SEA literature on notions of interconnectedness and the web of accountabilities. The authors also explore how a Humboldtian approach may help break through the current epistemological boundaries of SEA by combining accurate measurement with imagery to make the “complex” manageable whilst embracing interconnectedness and hermeneutics.
Design/methodology/approach
In this conceptual paper, the authors humbly draw on Humboldt's legacy and explore the underlying philosophical assumptions of Humboldtian science. The authors then contrast these with current SEA approaches in the literature and derive new insights into their intentionality and practical use.
Findings
Re-examining Humboldt's pioneering work enables us to pinpoint what might be missing from current SEA approaches and debates. Humboldt upheld an “ethics of precision,” which included both measurement accuracy and qualitative relevance, and combined hands-on scientific fieldwork with the aesthetic ideals and interconnectedness of the age of Romanticism. Drawing on Humboldtian science, the authors propose focusing on the interconnectedness of nature and humanity, embracing the qualitative and hermeneutical and including aesthetics and emotion in environmental visualizations.
Originality/value
The paper elucidates why and how Humboldtian science might inform, guide and enhance the emancipatory potential of SEA in the 21st century. Specifically, the authors discuss Humboldt's approach of linking accurate measurement with imagery to convey a sense of interconnectedness.
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THE 31st annual meeting of the Library Association passed off very comfortably at Brighton, and if nothing particularly momentous occurred affecting librarianship, everybody…
Abstract
THE 31st annual meeting of the Library Association passed off very comfortably at Brighton, and if nothing particularly momentous occurred affecting librarianship, everybody enjoyed the various entertainments and the breezy weather. Brighton certainly deserved the title to breeziness which it claims, because it was stormy nearly every night or early morning during the run of the Conference, and members must be congratulated on the lucky manner in which it was found possible to dodge the showers.