Lorraine Uhlaner Hendrickson and Dale B. Tuttle
Defines environmental entrepreneurship as entrepreneurial activity that benefits the environment. Building on this definition, presents two related conceptual schema that may be…
Abstract
Defines environmental entrepreneurship as entrepreneurial activity that benefits the environment. Building on this definition, presents two related conceptual schema that may be used to study environmental enterprises. Presents an environmental classification scheme that can be used to categorize the mission or market strategy for different environmental enterprises. Applies the Dynamic System Planning Model, an open systems model of organization effectiveness, to explore the ways in which an environmental market strategy focus may impact other management issues. Presents qualitative data gathered from interviews and case materials from four small environmental enterprises. The environmental focus influenced the management approach to resource acquisition in three of the four companies. Environmental entrepreneurs also shared the common characteristic of taking a proactive stance relative to government sanctions and incentives boosting their respective industries. Points out a few practical implications and suggestions for future research based on the findings. One of these implications relates to the basic premiss of environmental entrepreneurship: Is it healthy for a business to focus the entire business on the environmental sector? Suggests not, recommending instead that a company may reduce its risk and thus potentially prolong its existence by diversifying into both environmental and non‐environmental industry segments, as long as both are linked to the company’s core competences. Urges further study of corporate strategic issues of this type. Recommends directions for future research.
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William D. Brink and M. Dale Stoel
The purpose of this study is to identify the specific skills and abilities within the broad category of data analytics that current business professionals believe are most…
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify the specific skills and abilities within the broad category of data analytics that current business professionals believe are most important for accounting graduates. Data analytics knowledge is clearly important, but this category is broad. Therefore, this study identifies the specific skills and abilities that are most important for accounting graduates so that faculty can create classroom materials most beneficial for the future accounting graduates. In 2013, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business developed new standards for accounting programs, including standard A7, related to information technology and analytics. The intent of the standard clearly focuses on increasing the level of technology and analytics studied within the accounting curriculum. However, the specific details and methods for achieving the intent of A7 remain an open question. This chapter uses prior research focused on business analytics education to identify potential analytic skills, tools, techniques, and management issues of concern within the accounting profession. A survey of 342 accounting professionals identifies suggested areas of analytic competencies for accounting graduates. Specifically, the authors find preferences for skills related to data interpretation and communication over any individual technical skills or statistical knowledge. These skills suggest a role for accountants as intermediaries who may need to translate analytic activities into business language. Post hoc, the authors examine the survey results for differences based on respondent characteristics. Interestingly, female respondents report lower beliefs about the importance of analytic skills. The authors also find some differences when examining different demographics within the respondents.
It is argued that quality improvement efforts play an important role in industrial organizations by altering the role of the human resource management (HRM) function and the human…
Abstract
It is argued that quality improvement efforts play an important role in industrial organizations by altering the role of the human resource management (HRM) function and the human resource professional as TQM is consistent with a move towards a more strategic HRM approach. Investigates and empirically tests the current status of the quality improvement efforts in selected industrial organizations in Greece and analyzes the “HR elements” related to these efforts. Also examines the extent to which Greek industrial organizations differentiate in the way they utilise their human resources as well as in the influence their human resource/personnel departments enjoy. The main findings of the study were that HR function in Greek industrial organizations has been seriously neglected for years and the role of the personnel professionals in quality improvement efforts has been overlooked.
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This chapter presents a seven-part case developed for use in a graduate-level tax planning class. The case is organized in a taxpayer/business “life-cycle” approach. Over the…
Abstract
This chapter presents a seven-part case developed for use in a graduate-level tax planning class. The case is organized in a taxpayer/business “life-cycle” approach. Over the semester the case follows a married couple as they consider a number of investments, start a business, and expand the business. As the case progresses, the couple faces increasingly complex tax and business issues. The couple eventually winds down their involvement in the business and begins to plan for their retirement years. This chapter also provides a review of behavioral tax research published in the top accounting journals over the period 2004–2013. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how the case could be adapted by behavioral tax researchers in their research programs and perhaps by accounting firms in their training programs.
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Libraries can be seen as the collective identity of its employees engaged in providing a myriad of services to a community of patrons. Libraries can also exist in virtual…
Abstract
Purpose
Libraries can be seen as the collective identity of its employees engaged in providing a myriad of services to a community of patrons. Libraries can also exist in virtual settings, defined with descriptive parameters, described by a wider user group external to the library environment. The diverse nature of what constitutes libraries is illustrated by researchers, such as Marino and Lapintie (2015), who use the term “meta-meeting place” when describing its environs. Whatever model is used to describe contemporary libraries, the library environment usually has numerous needs and demands coming from a variety of stakeholders, from administrators to patrons. This chapter examines how we, as librarians, with users, co-construct library as both space and place.
Methodology/approach
We used a theoretical framework (social constructionism) to show how library identity is established by its users in the space planning process to address their needs and expectations and provided a case study of the main library at the University of South Florida.
Findings
We found that libraries are reflective of the vision and values of a diverse community and the social-political milieu in which they are housed. Librarians used a number of innovative methods and frames to create best/evidence-based practice approaches in space planning, re-envisioning library functions, and conducting outcomes/programmatic assessment. For librarians to create that sense of place and space for our users requires effective and open conversations and examination of our own inherent (and often unacknowledged) contradictions as to what libraries are or should be as enduring structures with evolving uses and changing users. For example, only a few of the studies focused on the spatial use and feel of libraries using new technologies or methodologies, such as social network analysis, discourse analysis, or GPS, to map the use of physical and virtual space.
Practical implications
First, new ways of working and engaging require reexamination of assessment and evaluation procedures and processes. To accomplish this, we must develop a more effective culture of assessment and to use innovative evaluation measures to determine use, user paths, and formal and informal groupings. Changes that affect patron and staff perceptions of library as place/third space may be difficult to assess using quantitative surveys, such as LibQual, that may not provide an opportunity for respondents to provide specifics of what “place” means to them. Second, it is important to have effective communication among all members of the library (patrons, library staff, and university administration) so that we design spaces/places that enhance the relationships among users, technology, pedagogy, and learning spaces, not just the latest “thing” in the literature.
Originality/value
This value of this review is to provide a social constructionist perspective (frame) on how we plan library space. This approach provides opportunities to truly engage our patrons and administration in the co-construction of what “our library” should be since it provides insight to group, place, and social dynamics.
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Anna Marie Johnson, Claudene Sproles and Robert Detmering
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.
Findings
The paper provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.