The years of 1977–78 have seen more fuzzy sets and ill‐posed problems come along in mathematics in addition to sturdy statistics and robust estimations. Fortunately there has also…
Abstract
The years of 1977–78 have seen more fuzzy sets and ill‐posed problems come along in mathematics in addition to sturdy statistics and robust estimations. Fortunately there has also appeared a modest number of titles to help the reference librarian sort out mathematics, pure and applied. And although a computerized data base with online access is still awaited, its blur on the horizon is becoming more distinct. For now it remains necessary for the librarian to keep informed and assist other information seekers primarily by means of the printed word.
This paper examines the nature of propaganda and its use by corporations, particularly in the USA, over a period of nearly 100 years. It emphasises the invisibility of much of…
Abstract
This paper examines the nature of propaganda and its use by corporations, particularly in the USA, over a period of nearly 100 years. It emphasises the invisibility of much of this activity and propaganda’s importance for shaping acquiescence in corporate hegemony. The role played by corporate propaganda in the development of different forms of capitalism is addressed. The inculcation of accounting and finance students with values that serve corporate interests is considered: in this context propaganda is inferred in both the longstanding misrepresentation of Adam Smith, and the sustained illusion of competitive “free markets”. The role and language of the business media as a form of propaganda is considered, particularly regarding colonisation of social market economies by Anglo‐Saxon capitalism, which takes as incontestable the maximisation of shareholder value as the proper and necessary aim of corporate activity. It is argued that corporate propaganda has contributed to the accounting measure of business success being justified as an end in itself at the explicit expense of wider societal considerations.
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Stefan Jonsson and Michael Lounsbury
Recent empirical and theoretical developments related to the microprocesses of institutional logics have helped to cultivate a powerful theory of agency. We build on these…
Abstract
Recent empirical and theoretical developments related to the microprocesses of institutional logics have helped to cultivate a powerful theory of agency. We build on these developments to show how the institutional logics perspective can shed light on important questions related to frame construction and how institutions matter. In particular, we show how the emergence of an economic democracy frame in post-war Sweden generated different efforts to define that frame with concrete ideas and practices linked to different logics – socialism and neoliberalism. We show how socialists tried to define economic democracy as requiring a radical transformation in the nature of ownership and control embedded in the innovative financial practice of wage earner’s funds. In contradistinction, conservatives drew on neoliberal ideas and extant mutual fund practices to construct alternative meanings and practices related to economic democracy that enrolled citizens in Capitalism without challenging extant Capitalist ownership structures. While mutual funds and wage earner’s funds initially existed in a state of parabiosis – existing side by side without much interrelationship – struggles over the meaning of economic democracy led these practices to become competing solutions in a framing contest. Implications for the study of institutional logics, frames and the social organization of society are discussed.
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Barbara D. Merino, Alan G. Mayper and Thomas D. Tolleson
The paper aims to use a neoliberal ideology to frame an analysis of how the power of ideas can be used to maintain a failed corporate governance model based on stockholder primacy.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to use a neoliberal ideology to frame an analysis of how the power of ideas can be used to maintain a failed corporate governance model based on stockholder primacy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs the concept of corporate hegemony to provide an understanding of the conditioning environment in the USA in the 1990s. It examines the tactics that neoliberals used to gain consensus for their ideology and to skillfully deflect criticism in the face of significant policy failures that have had a global impact.
Findings
The paper highlights the power of ideology to create a desired outcome. It finds that Sarbanes‐Oxley represented a neoliberal victory in that it legitimated shareholder primacy and continued use of a failed corporate governance model.
Practical implications
Sarbanes‐Oxley did not address the systemic problems associated with deregulation; it will not resolve the basic problem of how to prevent corporate malfeasance in an economic environment that rewards arbitrage capitalism, high risk and a focus on short‐term profits.
Originality/value
If shareholder primacy weakens accountability, as the paper suggests, then accounting researchers need to develop models that focus on deregulation rather than on regulatory capture and the use of state power to promote private interests. Accounting academics need to assume the role of public intellectuals and to reject Milton Friedman's focus on negative freedom as the sole objective of economic activity and examine economic well being in terms of positive freedom.
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To determine the differences, as represented by information horizons mapping, in the health information-seeking behavior from a group of participants between March 2019 and April…
Abstract
Purpose
To determine the differences, as represented by information horizons mapping, in the health information-seeking behavior from a group of participants between March 2019 and April 2020 of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
In March 2019, the author conducted a study on health information-seeking behavior in which 149 participants drew information horizons maps in a health-related context. They also took health and information literacy assessments. This exact study was replicated using the same population in April 2020 to determine the differences in what the participants drew on their maps and how these changes interacted with their health and information literacy, their age and their education.
Findings
There is a statistically significant difference in the increased number of sources and the ranked quality of the sources that people used during the pandemic. Participants were much more likely to use credible sources and news sources, especially if they were older, more educated and had higher literacy levels – both health and information. They also relied heavily on social media. The participant group in the pandemic had a much heavier reliance on sources that are often used in a passive encountering way but engaging with them in an active information-seeking manner. The health information-seeking behavior in this study did not adhere to other research that found issue with information overload, avoidance and cyberchondria in response to crisis situations.
Originality/value
This article utilizes information horizons methodology to explore pre- and post-pandemic information-seeking. It is completely unique in this approach.