Kristina Mitreska, Milé Terziovski and Andrew Rixon
The study tests the relationships between continuous improvement (CI) and clinical practices (CP) with perceived operational performance in Australian and New Zealand (NZ…
Abstract
Purpose
The study tests the relationships between continuous improvement (CI) and clinical practices (CP) with perceived operational performance in Australian and New Zealand (NZ) emergency departments.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey instrument was designed to collect data from Australian and NZ Emergency Department physicians to test a model developed from the literature, the continuous improvement and clinical practice (CICP) model. Hypotheses were developed and tested using bivariate correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis.
Findings
ED operational performance is positively impacted by CI culture, reinforced by an established CI governance structure built on employee education of CI tools and methods. The lack of nonclinical time allocation for CI activities has remained a major impediment for the implementation of a sustainable CI culture. The study found physicians experience tension between continuous improvement and clinical practice.
Practical implications
Developing a CI mindset across all levels of emergency departments would encourage staff to embrace change to support the implementation of CI and to improve clinical practices. The study highlights potential implications for national bodies, academics, policymakers and ED physicians. Study insights suggest that continuous improvement and effective clinical practices are crucial for enhancing ED performance results in their day-to-day responsibilities.
Originality/value
The paper is original by applying methodological rigour to identify the best predictors of performance in EDs and how a theoretical causal model can be tested to identify the best predictors of operational performance in EDs.
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Alexandra L. Ferrentino, Meghan L. Maliga, Richard A. Bernardi and Susan M. Bosco
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in…
Abstract
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in business-ethics and accounting’s top-40 journals this study considers research in eight accounting-ethics and public-interest journals, as well as, 34 business-ethics journals. We analyzed the contents of our 42 journals for the 25-year period between 1991 through 2015. This research documents the continued growth (Bernardi & Bean, 2007) of accounting-ethics research in both accounting-ethics and business-ethics journals. We provide data on the top-10 ethics authors in each doctoral year group, the top-50 ethics authors over the most recent 10, 20, and 25 years, and a distribution among ethics scholars for these periods. For the 25-year timeframe, our data indicate that only 665 (274) of the 5,125 accounting PhDs/DBAs (13.0% and 5.4% respectively) in Canada and the United States had authored or co-authored one (more than one) ethics article.
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Using a modem, telephone, and telecommunications software, a computer can put you in touch with people and services. A computer isn't needed to go online. With a computer…
Abstract
Using a modem, telephone, and telecommunications software, a computer can put you in touch with people and services. A computer isn't needed to go online. With a computer, however, services can be used more effectively and cheaply. The author defines and discusses modems, software, and several services, and notes one major problem with telecommunications: money.
Floriana Fusco, Pietro Pavone and Paolo Ricci
This study aims to explore to what extent stakeholder engagement affects the sustainability reporting (SR) process and if it succeeds in facilitating the encounter between demand…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore to what extent stakeholder engagement affects the sustainability reporting (SR) process and if it succeeds in facilitating the encounter between demand and supply of accountability, as well as the main challenges of this practice, by focusing on a crucial and under-investigated public sector area, the judicial system.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts an action research (AR) approach. Specifically, it focuses on a specific phase (i.e. stakeholder engagement) of the broader project that was carried on from 2019 in an Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office. Data were collected from multiple sources, i.e. written notes and reports gathered during meetings, the survey administered to stakeholders and the published sustainability reports.
Findings
Stakeholder engagement may be a valuable and effective tool for improving the level of accountability, as it increases the responsiveness of SR to the informative needs of stakeholders. However, the study also highlights some critical points that must be addressed to exploit this fully. Among these is the need to act upstream of the process by working on an accounting system that goes beyond the economic dynamics and can effectively answer the accountability demand.
Originality/value
The study contributes to theoretical and empirical knowledge by exploring a topic and a public sphere still limited investigated, i.e. the stakeholder engagement in sustainability in the judicial sector. The AR approach also presents some originality points, as it is low widespread in management and accounting literature.
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The paper examines case law and statutory provisions related to lifting the corporate veil. The aim of the paper is to explore recent case law in order to determine whether courts…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper examines case law and statutory provisions related to lifting the corporate veil. The aim of the paper is to explore recent case law in order to determine whether courts have moved away from an overly restrictive approach when dealing with cases relating to the corporate personality. To offer a full account of the exceptions to the corporate personality doctrine, this paper also examines cases where the veil of incorporation is lifted due to a breach of a statutory provision.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews recent case law and statutory provisions relating to lifting the corporate veil. The paper critically reviews the exceptions to the corporate personality doctrine which amount to lifting the corporate veil.
Findings
The paper finds that courts are more willing to lift the corporate veil compared to before. They have moved away from the restrictive approach and this is demonstrated by the tendency to find new exceptions to the corporate personality doctrine such as the interests of justice argument or lifting the veil in tort cases.
Originality/value
The paper offers an up-to-date assessment of the exceptions to the corporate personality doctrine and highlights the growing tendency to finding new ways of lifting the corporate veil.
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Ericka Costa, Lee D. Parker and Michele Andreaus
Within the accounting discipline and its literature, attention to the role of social and non-profit organizations has been growing, particularly with respect to issues of…
Abstract
Within the accounting discipline and its literature, attention to the role of social and non-profit organizations has been growing, particularly with respect to issues of accountability and social accounting. In response, the aim of this introductory article is to present the background for the book by highlighting (i) the relevance and rise of the non-profit sector worldwide, (ii) the limitations of the conventional accounting framework when applied/transposed to NPOs and (iii) the ‘social accounting project’ for NPOs. The article presents analysis and critique based on a literature review of the accountability framework for NPOs. After presenting key worldwide statistics regarding the growing non-profit sector, the article points out the skepticism regarding the adoption of traditional accounting principles and frameworks for NPOs. The article offers both an examination of how to improve the accounting system for NPOs and a discussion of the benefits emerging from the social and environmental accounting and reporting models. ‘The social accounting project’ for NPOs is presented as a pathway towards these innovative practices increasing organizational transparency. This article and the book overall provide new contributions to the research literature, fostering synergies among financial accounting and social accounting scholars engaging with the NPO subject area. Moreover it brings together studies from a range of disciplines, such as financial accounting, social accounting, economics, management, and third-sector studies. This cross-disciplinary approach offers a major contribution to our developing knowledge in this field.
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OWING to the comparatively early date in the year of the Library Association Conference, this number of THE LIBRARY WORLD is published so that it may be in the hands of our…
Abstract
OWING to the comparatively early date in the year of the Library Association Conference, this number of THE LIBRARY WORLD is published so that it may be in the hands of our readers before it begins. The official programme is not in the hands of members at the time we write, but the circumstances are such this year that delay has been inevitable. We have dwelt already on the good fortune we enjoy in going to the beautiful West‐Country Spa. At this time of year it is at its best, and, if the weather is more genial than this weather‐chequered year gives us reason to expect, the Conference should be memorable on that account alone. The Conference has always been the focus of library friendships, and this idea, now that the Association is so large, should be developed. To be a member is to be one of a freemasonry of librarians, pledged to help and forward the work of one another. It is not in the conference rooms alone, where we listen, not always completely awake, to papers not always eloquent or cleverly read, that we gain most, although no one would discount these; it is in the hotels and boarding houses and restaurants, over dinner tables and in the easy chairs of the lounges, that we draw out really useful business information. In short, shop is the subject‐matter of conference conversation, and only misanthropic curmudgeons think otherwise.
Teresa Waring, Rebecca Casey and Andrew Robson
The purpose of this paper is to address the call for more public sector empirical studies on benefits realisation (BR), to contribute to the literature on BR as a dynamic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the call for more public sector empirical studies on benefits realisation (BR), to contribute to the literature on BR as a dynamic capability (DC) within the context of IT-enabled innovation in a public sector context and to highlight the challenges facing organisations if they adopt a BR competence and capability framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical research conducted within this paper is an exploratory survey. Exploratory surveys are particularly useful when investigating a little known phenomenon and can help to uncover or provide preliminary evidence of association among concepts. This survey was a census of all National Health Service acute hospital trusts in England.
Findings
The study indicates that most hospitals that participated in the survey have a basic approach to BR and have yet to develop a more mature approach that would provide the strong micro-foundations of a BR capability.
Research limitations/implications
The BR framework that has been the basis of the survey is interesting in terms of its components but is limited with regards to the micro-foundations of a benefits realisation capability within an organisation. The research suggests that organisations in the public sector need to focus much more on staff development and recruitment in the area of BR to ensure that they have the appropriate skills sets for a rapidly changing environment.
Originality/value
The paper proposes a framework for BR capabilities and IT-enabled change, and suggests that although the concept of maturity is valuable when considering the micro-foundations of BR, DCs change and respond to stimuli within the external and internal environment and must be renewed and refreshed regularly.
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Diabetes is regarded as a global epidemic with 382 million people globally suffering from diabetes. It also has major implications on patients’ quality of life. There are also…
Abstract
Purpose
Diabetes is regarded as a global epidemic with 382 million people globally suffering from diabetes. It also has major implications on patients’ quality of life. There are also high cost of treatment associated with diabetes for both patient and healthcare provider. Telemonitoring represents an excellent technology opportunity to redefine health care delivery. Using technology for home-based care promises the ability to deliver more cost effective care whilst also enhancing quality of care and patient satisfaction. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The current research aims to contribute to the methodological design of action research projects in their use to implementation health technologies such as telemonitoring. In particular, it seeks create a model which can be used to demonstrate the efficacy of the use of the action research method as a viable alternative to the traditional randomised control trials methodology currently employed in healthcare.
Findings
The paper contributes towards the methodological design to investigate the area of practice making use of the telemonitoring programme within a Victorian Health Services Network using action research.
Originality/value
It intends to address the research problem of the low utilisation of telemonitoring within Monash Health as a whole, and more specifically within the diabetes unit. In this context the research intends to utilise the benefits of telemonitoring to improve clinical outcomes of patients by increasing insulin stabilisation. It is also intended the research organisation benefits by increased efficiency by decreasing clinical workforce time spent on managing patient insulin data.