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Article
Publication date: 20 July 2012

Giulia Romano and Andrea Guerrini

The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is a relation between corporate governance and the publication of corporate accounts that fail to comply with legal and…

1883

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is a relation between corporate governance and the publication of corporate accounts that fail to comply with legal and regulatory provisions governing their preparation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses all the Italian listed companies that from 2002 to 2010 were subject to accounting enforcement actions. From the literature review, 11 hypotheses were developed in relation to six issues: CEO Chairman duality, board size, board independence, the presence of an audit committee and its composition, the presence of nomination and remuneration committees and, finally, the presence of a big audit firm. Using non parametric tests, the paper compares the governance characteristics of fraudulent firms with those of a control sample of comparable firms.

Findings

It is found that board independence is the sole effective mechanism in detecting financial reporting fraud. The results show that firms committing accounting fraud have a lower percentage of independent directors on the board and fewer non‐executive and independent directors on the audit committee than the matched control sample.

Research limitations/implications

The main limit of this research is the small number of companies observed, even if this limit reflects the size of the Italian Stock Exchange. Another caveat is the endogeneity problem that impacts much of the board literature.

Originality/value

This paper extends the accounting literature related to financial reporting fraud since it analyses the issue for the first time with reference to Italy, one of the most relevant European Union countries.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 27 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

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Article
Publication date: 23 August 2011

Andrea Guerrini, Giulia Romano and Bettina Campedelli

The purpose of this paper is to carry out an analysis of Italian water utility companies to determine whether their performance was related to certain relevant variables that have…

3082

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to carry out an analysis of Italian water utility companies to determine whether their performance was related to certain relevant variables that have been broadly discussed in the existing literature. Among these are ownership structure, size and diversification. In addition, the paper considers another variable – the geographical location.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviewed the annual financial statements of 80 Italian water utility companies between 2004 and 2008. It also obtained data regarding tariffs, volumes supplied and population served from Conviri, the Italian national authority for water. Finally, the paper discusses the significant differences among clusters, using parametric statistic methods.

Findings

It was found that ownership structure, size, diversification and geographical location had an impact on the performance of water utility companies, although with different degrees of significance.

Research limitations/implications

Further studies are necessary in order to improve the way that performance of water utilities is assessed. First of all, it might be helpful to improve our data categories, adding financial data, tariffs, volumes supplied and population served for more than one year and obtaining segmental reports for multi‐utilities. In addition, it would be interesting to apply other methods, such as DEA analysis, to confirm our research findings.

Practical implications

For a local authority it is convenient to entrust water services to publicly owned companies because they apply lower tariffs and make higher investments pro capita on the pipe network. Moreover, since economies of scale and scope exist, a company's growth and diversification should be encouraged.

Social implications

In Italy the water industry is currently the focus of a vast political debate. As a matter of fact, a recent law (n. 133/2008 article 23‐bis modified in November 2009) encourages private administration of this industry. The results led to an improvement in the debate on the strategic choices and organizational structure of water utilities, giving helpful suggestions to policy makers and local authorities for developing future strategies.

Originality/value

The research findings improve the existing literature on performance assessment regarding water utilities, for the first time focusing on the Italian context, where companies with different features coexist: public and private utilities, small, medium and large companies as well as mono and multi‐utilities.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 24 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

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Article
Publication date: 5 May 2015

Andreas Wibowo and Hans Wilhelm Alfen

The purpose of this paper is to present a yardstick efficiency comparison of 269 Indonesian municipal water utilities (MWUs) and measures the impact of exogenous environmental…

616

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a yardstick efficiency comparison of 269 Indonesian municipal water utilities (MWUs) and measures the impact of exogenous environmental variables on efficiency scores.

Design/methodology/approach

Two-stage Stackelberg leader-follower data envelopment analysis (DEA) and artificial neural networks (ANN) were employed.

Findings

Given that serviceability was treated as the leader and profitability as the follower, the first and second stage DEA scores were 55 and 32 percent (0 percent = totally inefficient, 100 percent = perfectly efficient), respectively. This indicates sizeable opportunities for improvement, with 39 percent of the total sample facing serious problems in both first- and second-stage efficiencies. When profitability instead leads serviceability, this results in more decreased efficiency. The size of the population served was the most important exogenous environmental variable affecting DEA efficiency scores in both the first and second stages.

Research limitations/implications

The present study was limited by the overly restrictive assumption that all MWUs operate at a constant-return-to-scale.

Practical implications

These research findings will enable better management of the MWUs in question, allowing their current level of performance to be objectively compared with that of their peers, both in terms of scale and area of operation. These findings will also help the government prioritize assistance measures for MWUs that are suffering from acute performance gaps, and to devise a strategic national plan to revitalize Indonesia’s water sector.

Originality/value

This paper enriches the body of knowledge by filling in knowledge gaps relating to benchmarking in Indonesia’s water industry, as well as in the application of ensemble two-stage DEA and ANN, which are still rare in the literature.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 February 2022

Davide Giacomini, Diego Paredi and Alessandro Sancino

This paper aims to understand stakeholders' sentiments with respect to company policies in the water utilities (WU) sector and to explore if and how these sentiments could be a…

1947

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to understand stakeholders' sentiments with respect to company policies in the water utilities (WU) sector and to explore if and how these sentiments could be a source for organisational learning.

Design/methodology/approach

This study investigates the use of social media in WUs’ and stakeholders’ reactions as a source of data for organisational learning. This paper relies on a mixed-methods approach based on sentiment analysis of Facebook (FB) pages and semi-structured interviews with sustainability managers from a sample of Italian WUs.

Findings

Findings show that WUs increasingly use FB mainly to promote and disclose environmental issues and as a source of information for organisational learning. A longitudinal analysis of environmental disclosure via FB reveals a growing trend of both companies’ posts and stakeholder interactions and significant differences among organisations in their ways of using information and knowledge obtained from social media.

Originality/value

Theoretically, this paper builds an original link between disclosure via social media and organisational learning processes. Empirically, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to identify the quantity and quality of environmental disclosure via FB and the related stakeholders’ reactions.

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Article
Publication date: 1 May 2015

Chiara Cantù, Daniela Corsaro and Annalisa Tunisini

1172

Abstract

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 30 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

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Article
Publication date: 30 October 2019

Andrea Dominici, Fabio Boncinelli, Francesca Gerini and Enrico Marone

The purpose of this paper is to investigate preferences for wine made from hand-harvested grapes, and the interactive effect between this attribute and organic certification.

736

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate preferences for wine made from hand-harvested grapes, and the interactive effect between this attribute and organic certification.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected via an online choice experiment involving a sample of 408 Italian wine consumers. A random parameter logit was performed to estimate consumer preferences for wine attributes: harvest type, organic and the interaction between these. The experiment also includes geographical indications and price. Furthermore, a latent class model (LCM) is performed to investigate taste heterogeneity for the included wine attributes.

Findings

On average, consumers prefer the wine produced with hand-harvested grapes. The hypothesis of an interaction between organic and hand-harvested attributes is rejected. Using the LCM, the authors identify three segments with significant taste heterogeneity in terms of the magnitude and the sign of the parameters. Moreover, consumer attitudes towards food naturalness differ according to their belonging to the segments.

Originality/value

The novelty of this article is twofold. First, this study investigates, for the first time, the impact of the hand-harvested method on consumer wine preferences. Second, hand-harvesting and organic have independent values.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 122 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Article
Publication date: 5 August 2014

Luis Velazquez, Nora Munguia, Andrea Zavala, Javier Esquer, Markus Will and Bernd Delakowitz

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the deepening understanding of the diverging pollution prevention (PP) and occupational and safety practices undertaken in the Mexican…

618

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the deepening understanding of the diverging pollution prevention (PP) and occupational and safety practices undertaken in the Mexican maquiladora industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was outlined by a modified version of the PP Program based on a continuous improvement cycle, which identifies areas of opportunity and then, proposes ideas for solving problems. This study was carried out based merely on a quantitative approach. However, when this was not possible, parameters were determined under a qualitative or semi-quantitative approach.

Findings

Findings in this study have proven that Cleaner Production and Pollution Prevention (CP&PP) programs are successful to obtain not only environmental but also occupational benefits at the same time; therefore, they should not be seem only as an environmental tool but as a sustainability tool that have the potential to make possible the creation of a sustainable production system in the maquiladora industry where products and processes, and operations are designed to be not risky for Mexican workers, communities, and environment.

Practical implications

The study revealed empirical environmental and occupational practices that took place in nine maquiladoras located in the Northwest of Mexico and analyzes how these practices affect Mexican workers in this industry and their environment.

Originality/value

The study evaluated the feasibility and usefulness of CP&PP programs in the maquiladora industry under an integrative approach that takes into account environmental and occupational aspect in order to understand how this industry is changing their production patterns toward sustainability.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 23 May 2008

Christoph Dilk, Ronald Gleich, Andreas Wald and Jaideep Motwani

Innovation is one of the key drivers of economic success. However, the global environment is changing and makes innovation management more competitive. In order to sustain an…

2354

Abstract

Purpose

Innovation is one of the key drivers of economic success. However, the global environment is changing and makes innovation management more competitive. In order to sustain an advantage, companies seem to adopt more flexible schemes of organization. Specifically, innovation networks appear useful to researchers and practitioners. This paper aims to explore the current empirical relevance of this phenomenon in the automotive sector, the goals and performance of innovation networks as well as their formation and governance.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a series of semi‐structured interviews with managers from European automobile firms, insights into network approaches and strategies based on the analysis of 39 innovation networks are presented. The study comprises all relevant actors in the industry such as large OEMs as well as small and medium‐sized second‐tier and third‐tier suppliers.

Findings

The empirical survey was able to confirm that innovation networks are of high relevance in the automobile sector. It can be expected that innovation networks will spread further and gain more importance in the coming years. The most important goals that the involved companies aim to realize by using innovation networks include flexible access to technologies, intensified contact with clients and markets and long‐term bonding of suppliers and clients. The companies report a fairly good performance of their innovation networks. Finally, various aspects of network formation and governance have been identified.

Practical implications

Several deficits in current network management practices are identified. Improving these issues, the performance level of innovation networks could be raised even higher.

Originality/value

Building on previous work in this field, this paper adds empirical insights on innovation networks in the automobile business.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 46 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 5 November 2010

Luisa De Vita

The paper, starting from research conducted on the implementations of gender policy in six Italian regions, aims to explore the limits of the actual strategies and ask some…

1599

Abstract

Purpose

The paper, starting from research conducted on the implementations of gender policy in six Italian regions, aims to explore the limits of the actual strategies and ask some questions on the possibility to enter some principles of the diversity management (DM) approach in the Italian context.

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative research was conducted through a textual analysis of the Regional Operative Plain, and some interviews with the different stakeholders involved in the planning and implementations of the policies.

Findings

Starting from the characteristics of the regional policies, the research provides some indication of levels of applicability of the DM in the Italian context in terms of both definition and execution of the interventions.

Research limitations/implications

The paper presented has important implications for the field of equality and diversity in Mediterranean countries, but the research is based only on institutional policies and not on the organizational measures, so researchers are encouraged to deepen the organizational practices.

Originality/value

This paper aims to reduce the gap in the current literature that often does not consider the necessity of studying the detailed rules of defining and implementing policies in close relation with the characteristics of enterprises and institutions.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

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