The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between changes in water efficiency, profit and risk for firms in the global Consumer Packaged Goods industry. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between changes in water efficiency, profit and risk for firms in the global Consumer Packaged Goods industry. This study also aims to consider the moderating effect of operational efficiency on those relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of 155 firms with annual corporate social performance and financial performance data from Bloomberg for the years 2010–2019, this study employs first-differencing panel regression models to obtain our results.
Findings
This study finds strong evidence that operational efficiency moderates the relationships between water efficiency, profit and risk. For operationally efficient firms, increasing water efficiency increases profit and reduces risk. But for firms that are not operationally efficient, this study finds the opposite effects. These findings suggest a threshold level of operational efficiency that firms should achieve before they can reap financial benefits from increases in water efficiency.
Originality/value
Despite the increasing importance of water efficiency as a measure of corporate social performance, its effects on financial performance are not well studied. The relationship between operational efficiency and water efficiency has also not been examined. This work provides empirical evidence to better understand these important relationships. The major implication for managers is that operational efficiency is a foundational capability that should be developed before focusing on efforts to improve water efficiency. For operationally efficient firms, improvements in water efficiency can be an important mechanism to increase profitability and reduce risk.
Details
Keywords
Brian C. Briggeman, Keri L. Jacobs, Phil Kenkel and Gregory Mckee
The purpose of this paper is to explore the recent financial trends affecting grain and farm supply cooperatives.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the recent financial trends affecting grain and farm supply cooperatives.
Design/methodology/approach
Review of and descriptive analysis of current cooperative finance topics.
Findings
In recent years three important trends have become apparent among grain marketing and farm supply cooperatives. These farmer-owned firms have been rapidly investing in infrastructure, reformulating profit distribution and equity strategies, and have pursued consolidation with other cooperatives.
Originality/value
Grain and farm supply cooperatives are changing at a rapid clip to meet the needs of their evolving and growing farmer-owners. New research is needed to help these cooperatives meet these needs, and this paper identifies new areas of research in cooperative finance.
Details
Keywords
William L. Jacobs and Brian H. Kleiner
Value systems in the traditional American business are primarily designed around the profit oriented philosophy. Measures that focus on non‐financial performance are generally…
Abstract
Value systems in the traditional American business are primarily designed around the profit oriented philosophy. Measures that focus on non‐financial performance are generally pushed aside or ignored. Bonuses and other incentive programmes reward performance for short term quarterly financial results rather than long term overall performance. Performance measures such as customer service, environmental awareness, ethics, citizenship and employee relations have not been widely used to evaluate a firm's performance. Because non‐financial measures are not easily quantifiable, they are considered less important in judging a company. Firms that do track non‐financial areas never give these areas the same weight as financial measures. When conflict arises between the two areas, financial considerations generally prevail.
The purpose of this paper is to cover problematic issues concerning context, culture, strategy and processes affecting the development of performance management in the City of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to cover problematic issues concerning context, culture, strategy and processes affecting the development of performance management in the City of Stoke‐on‐Trent local strategic partnership (LSP) between 2005 and 2007.
Design/methodology/approach
The author consulted LSP stakeholders and drew on selected literature on strategy and aspects of soft systems methodology (SSM).
Findings
The paper enables the appreciation of performance management as involving various strategic‐related business processes. The development of such processes, in response to central government, represented a rationalising and corporate approach to management.
Originality/value
The paper draws upon different but complementary research approaches and provided an SSM‐style conceptual model of a partnership and its focal management set within a complex context.
Details
Keywords
Brian Jacobs and Steven Suckling
A critical problem for managers in South Staffordshire Council's one‐stop‐shop customer contact centre, known as South Staffordshire Solutions, was how to assess the achievement…
Abstract
Purpose
A critical problem for managers in South Staffordshire Council's one‐stop‐shop customer contact centre, known as South Staffordshire Solutions, was how to assess the achievement of “customer focus” in local services. The purpose of the paper is to view how managers adopted a model of self‐assessment to address the problem.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper shows how the EFQM Excellence Model enabled managers to effectively self‐assess critical performance issues relating to customer focus. It also shows how the assessors used the fundamental concepts of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model to identify a range of service interrelationships affecting customers.
Findings
The paper finds that the assessors need to take account of the interrelationships between customer focus, results and learning to assess delivery of value to external customers. The EFQM Excellence Model provided South Staffordshire Council with an effective way of self‐assessing customer‐related issues.
Practical implications
The paper shows that self‐assessment enabled managers in the customer contact centre to assess customer focus within the broader context of the Council's Balanced Scorecard commitment to enhancing performance under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA).
Originality/value
In this paper the assessors used the EFQM model to develop a narrative about sustained customer value creation by combining the fundamental concepts of the model with thinking about the unique value proposition offered to customers by the service.
Details
Keywords
Rachel Jenkins, Howard Meltzer, Brian Jacobs and David McDaid
The European Union‐supported Child and Adolescent Mental Health in an Enlarged Europe (CAMHEE) project aimed to provide an overview of the challenges, current practice and…
Abstract
The European Union‐supported Child and Adolescent Mental Health in an Enlarged Europe (CAMHEE) project aimed to provide an overview of the challenges, current practice and guidelines for developing effective mental health promotion and mental illness prevention policy and practice across Europe. As part of this work, an analysis was undertaken of the situation in England, making use of a bespoke data collection instrument and protocol.Our analysis suggests that there has been significant effort and investment in research, needs assessment, policy, human resource and service developments in CAMHS over the last 20 years, leading to a more detailed understanding and availability of services. Much of the emphasis has been on assessment and management of difficulties, however in recent years attention has begun to focus on mental health promotion. National standards and programmes such as Every Child Matters (Department for Education and Skills, 2004) have acted as catalysts for a number of national initiatives.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to explore how accounting is entwined in the cultural practice of popular music. Particular attention is paid to how the accountant is constricted by artists in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how accounting is entwined in the cultural practice of popular music. Particular attention is paid to how the accountant is constricted by artists in art and the role(s) the accountant plays in the artistic narrative. In effect this explores the notion that there is a tension between the notion of the bourgeois world of “the accountant” and the world of “art for art's sake”.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on the cultural theory of Pierre Bourdieu to understand how the character of the accountant is constructed and used by the artist. Particular attention is paid in this respect to the biography and lyrics of the Beatles.
Findings
Accounting and accountants play both the hero and the villain. By rejecting the “accountant villain”, the artist identifies with and reinforces artistic purity and credibility. However, in order to achieve the economic benefits and maintain the balance between the “art” and the “money”, the economic prudence of the bourgeois accountant is required (although it might be resented).
Research limitations/implications
The analysis focuses on a relatively small range of musicians and is dominated by the biography of the Beatles. A further range of musicians and artists would extend this work. Further research could also be constructed to more fully consider the consumption, rather than just the production, of art and cultural products and performances.
Originality/value
This paper is a novel consideration of how accounting stereotypes are constructed and used in the field of artistic creation
Details
Keywords
In March 2014, the minister responsible for public housing in the state of New South Wales in Australia announced that all 600 public housing tenants living in the historic…
Abstract
In March 2014, the minister responsible for public housing in the state of New South Wales in Australia announced that all 600 public housing tenants living in the historic heritage-listed adjacent inner-city neighbourhoods of Millers Point and The Rocks in Sydney were to be moved and the homes sold to the highest bidder on the open market. There were to be no exceptions, and the last public housing resident was moved from the area in July 2018. A common view is that public housing areas in countries with a residualised welfare system are characterised by attenuated social ties, anomie and bleakness. This chapter examines neighbouring, social ties, mutual assistance and sense of community among public housing tenants in Millers Point and demonstrates that this is not always the case. Drawing on 48 in-depth interviews with residents, plus observation, I show that the social connections among public housing tenants in the area were unusually strong and enduring. I argue that in order to understand why this was so, we need to look at the physical and social features of the area. Following on from the seminal work of Jane Jacobs, the New Urbanism movement argues that compactness, mixed land use and walkability are crucial enablers of social interaction and neighbourliness. These physical features were present in Millers Point. There is now a recognition by New Urbanism scholars that physical elements in themselves rarely create community and that the social features of neighbourhoods also have to be taken into account. In the case of the public housing tenants in inner Sydney, the key social features were longevity of residence and homogeneity. Another crucial aspect was a strong sense of social obligation. This was partially due to the presence of strong trade unionism in the area historically and the intermittent nature of employment at certain periods, which ensured neighbours rallied round to help those who were less fortunate.
Details
Keywords
Winifred Asare-Doku, Jane Rich, Brian Kelly and Carole James
Previous research has suggested high levels of unaddressed mental health needs among male-dominated work settings. The mining industry has been a recent focus internationally…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research has suggested high levels of unaddressed mental health needs among male-dominated work settings. The mining industry has been a recent focus internationally. This paper aims to critically examine research regarding organizational mental health interventions for people working in mining industries.
Design/methodology/approach
The narrative review used a systematic standardized search strategy in six databases and grey literature from 1990 to 2019.
Findings
Of the 418 studies identified, seven studies (five quantitative and two qualitative studies) met the inclusion criteria. Analysis of these studies revealed the organisational interventions available to address mental health needs of miners. Interventions were categorised into organisational and individual-focused approaches. Evidence shows there is great potential in conducting workplace mental health programs, yet further research is required to create a strong evidence base for substantiated policy and practice implications.
Practical implications
Mental health interventions and programs should be available in mining industry to enhance mental health. Organisations can also improve mental health by implementing significant changes in the work environment and identifying workplace factors that induce strain and contribute to psychological distress in employees. Attempt can be made at restructuring safety policies and practices to include mental health, addressing organisational structures such as work schedules and providing training for managers and supervisors.
Originality/value
This review focuses on the unique characteristics pertaining to male-dominated mining industries and workplace mental health interventions which are aimed at supporting employee mental health.