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1 – 3 of 3Pall Rikhardsson, Stefan Wendt, Auður Arna Arnardóttir and Throstur Olaf Sigurjónsson
This paper asks the question of whether more environmental uncertainty affects the design of performance measurement systems in terms of a greater variety of performance measures…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper asks the question of whether more environmental uncertainty affects the design of performance measurement systems in terms of a greater variety of performance measures and whether this leads to more management satisfaction with the performance measurement system and improved firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Information processing theory is used to frame the hypotheses and findings. A questionnaire was sent to the 300 largest companies in Iceland, where environmental uncertainty has been prevalent.
Findings
The results indicate that increased uncertainty leads to a larger variety of non-financial performance measures, such as customer measures. A positive relationship is found between management satisfaction with the performance measurement system and firm performance. However, the variety of performance measures was not linked to management satisfaction or firm performance.
Research limitations/implications
The results suggest that managers increase the variety of performance measures when uncertainty increases. However, it is not the variety itself that increases management satisfaction or improves firm performance.
Practical implications
Performance measurement design is affected by environmental uncertainty. Managers focus on important stakeholder groups such as customers under such conditions and can consult research and practice for the purpose of customer relationship management and customer profitability measurement to improve measurement selection.
Originality/value
This work focusses on performance measurement system design, examining the use of more than 50 different performance measures, and differentiates between small and medium-sized firms and between service and non-service firms.
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Elies Seguí-Mas, Guillermina Tormo-Carbó, Throstur Olaf Sigurjonsson and Auður Arna Arnardóttir
This study aims to identify students’ perceptions of the importance and objectives of sustainability and business ethics education, considering contextual factors (ethics-friendly…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify students’ perceptions of the importance and objectives of sustainability and business ethics education, considering contextual factors (ethics-friendly environments) and including the social desirability (SD) bias to strengthen data robustness and assess response truthfulness.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was administered to 170 business students at an Icelandic university to measure their attitudes and perceptions toward sustainability and business ethics courses. Descriptive statistics, Mann–Whitney tests, χ2 tests and multivariate regression were used for the analysis.
Findings
The results show no significant differences among participants, depending on individual and organizational factors. The authors did not find significant differences in gender, age or exposure to sustainability and business ethics courses concerning social desirability bias. Contextual solid factors can explain these results.
Originality/value
This study expands on previous research by examining students’ perceptions of sustainability and business ethics education in an “ethics-friendly environment” like Iceland, a new and fertile territory for business ethics education research. These elements are crucial for further research on students’ attitudes toward sustainability and business ethics and the role of this subject in university curricula.
Details