Search results

1 – 8 of 8
Per page
102050
Citations:
Loading...
Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 May 2021

Emilio Emilio Passetti, Massimo Battaglia, Lara Bianchi and Nora Annesi

The study analyses how management control supports the organisation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

8549

Abstract

Purpose

The study analyses how management control supports the organisation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Design/methodology/approach

Video interviews with top and middle-level managers who were directly involved in handling the response to the COVID-19 crisis in late winter and spring 2020 form the empirical base. The object-of-control framework and the distinction between organic and mechanistic management controls inform the exploratory case analysis of a large food retail cooperative in Italy.

Findings

Both organic and mechanistic management control mechanisms enabled an immediate response and management of the crisis. The use of cultural, action and results controls supported employees' health and safety coordination, a tight monitoring of financial performance and social interventions in support of the local community.

Originality/value

The study provides original exploratory insights on the use and role of management control in the context of an unprecedented emergency and an unplanned setting (i.e. a pandemic crisis), which is an under-investigated topic in the accounting literature. The study shows how management control operated, linking moral and technical aspects as well as facilitating organisational adaptation and pandemic effects mitigation.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 34 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 July 2020

Emilio Passetti, Massimo Battaglia, Francesco Testa and Iñaki Heras-Saizarbitoria

This paper aims to analyse the extent to which health and safety action controls, results controls and informal controls affect the integration of health and safety issues into…

4722

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse the extent to which health and safety action controls, results controls and informal controls affect the integration of health and safety issues into management actions, which in turn leads to improve health and safety performance. It also investigates the extent to which those health and safety control mechanisms contribute complementarily to the integration of health and safety issues.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of 108 Italian non-listed firms tests a set of hypotheses based on complementarity theory and object of control framework.

Findings

Not all the health and safety control mechanisms positively influence the integration of health and safety issues into business practices and external stakeholder relations. Complementarity between health and safety control mechanisms is significant only for higher health and safety performance companies, indicating that the health and safety control mechanisms operate as a package.

Research limitations/implications

The health and safety performance measure could be replaced in future research by improved inter-subjectively testable information, although collecting health and safety quantitative data is difficult. An additional limitation is the response rate.

Practical implications

The findings encourage companies to design and use a comprehensive set of health and safety control mechanisms to promote a healthy workplace.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the management control, sustainability management control and health and safety accounting literature. The paper provides an in-depth interdisciplinary analysis of the effectiveness of different control mechanisms in the context of health and safety that hitherto has rarely been investigated despite the multiple importance of the topic.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 33 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 21 May 2018

Emilio Passetti, Lino Cinquini and Andrea Tenucci

The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent the implementation of internal environmental management and voluntary environmental information is related to…

3664

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent the implementation of internal environmental management and voluntary environmental information is related to organisational change.

Design/methodology/approach

Organisational change literature provided a framework for the analysis of the materials which were collected through a mixed method. Data on internal environmental management were collected through a survey, while a quality disclosure index was used to assess the quality of the environmental voluntary disclosure. Interviews were used to enhance the quantitative results interpreted according to the four pathways proposed by Tilt (2006) and characterised by several levels of internal environmental management and voluntary disclosure.

Findings

The results indicated that companies implement more internal activities than external disclosure. Environmental planning and operational practices were the most important changes carried out. When environmental management accounting and environmental disclosure were also implemented, environmental aspects were more integrated within companies, thus revealing that a more structured integration of sustainability aspects within organisational values had taken place. The results underline the importance of primarily establishing a set of internal changes, driven by environmental planning, to promote organisational change.

Research limitations/implications

The study presents a larger empirical analysis of the organisational change pathways followed by companies, showing similarities and differences among the four pathways. The results underline the importance of both dimensions for studying organisational changes. The framework of Tilt has been enriched, considering a more precise explanation of the internal aspects and adding the concept of the quality of disclosure as proxy to assess organisational change.

Originality/value

Organisational change is investigated through an extensive analysis of internal and external aspects and collecting quantitative and qualitative evidence. The analysis complements previous sustainability accounting literature focussed on the analysis of internal environmental management and external disclosure.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 19 October 2012

Lino Cinquini, Emilio Passetti, Andrea Tenucci and Marco Frey

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the content, frequency and quality of intellectual capital voluntary disclosure (ICVD) and the changes that took place over two years…

2315

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the content, frequency and quality of intellectual capital voluntary disclosure (ICVD) and the changes that took place over two years (2005 and 2006) in a sample of 37 sustainability reports published by Italian listed companies.

Design/methodology/approach

The intellectual capital framework consists of three levels: “IC categories”, “IC items” and “IC indicators”, while content analysis was performed using a quality multidimensional scheme composed of three disclosure profiles, namely, time orientation, nature of information and type of information.

Findings

The findings evidence a high and increasing incidence over time of ICVD, with strong emphasis on human capital disclosure, which represents the most reported category, followed by relational and organisational capital. ICVD is mainly expressed in non‐financial, quantitative and non‐time‐specific terms with a low level of forward‐looking information.

Research limitations/implications

This study is based on a small sample of sustainability reports; the content analysis process entails some subjective judgments.

Practical implications

From a firm perspective, sustainability reports can be used in synergy with annual reports and other public and private documents to provide IC information. From a user perspective, sustainability reports can be used to acquire IC information over and above information acquired from other documents.

Originality/value

Sustainability reports and ICVD quality have thus far been investigated only to a limited extent. The paper also discusses the potential of ICVD in sustainability reports from a user perspective.

Details

Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1469-1930

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 December 2021

Giulia Leoni, Alessandro Lai, Riccardo Stacchezzini, Ileana Steccolini, Stephen Brammer, Martina Linnenluecke and Istemi Demirag

This paper introduces the second part of a AAAJ special issue on accounting, accountability and management during the COVID-19 emergency. The authors analyse the themes that…

8741

Abstract

Purpose

This paper introduces the second part of a AAAJ special issue on accounting, accountability and management during the COVID-19 emergency. The authors analyse the themes that emerge from the second part of the special issue, which allows us to identify the diverse accounting and accountability practices across different geographical and organisational contexts. The authors also provide an overall picture of the contributions of the special issue, with insights into avenues of future research.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on the first part of the AAAJ special issue, the paper draws together and identifies additional emerging themes related to research into the COVID-19 pandemic and how it impacts accounting, accountability and management practices. The authors reflect on the contributions of the special issue to the interdisciplinary accounting research project.

Findings

The authors identify two macro-themes and outline their contributions to the accounting literature. The first deals with the changes and dangers of accounting and accountability practices during the pandemic. The second considers accountability practices in a broader sense, including reporting, disclosure and rhetorical practices in the management of COVID-19.

Practical implications

The paper shows the pervasive role of accounting and accountability in the unprecedented and indiscriminate health crisis of COVID-19. It highlights the important role of special issues in producing timely research that responds to unfolding events.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to current debates on the roles of accounting and accountability during COVID-19 by drawing together the themes of the special issue and identifying future interdisciplinary accounting research on the pandemic's aftermath.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 35 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 12 March 2018

Velia Gabriella Cenciarelli, Giulio Greco and Marco Allegrini

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether intellectual capital affects the probability that a particular firm will default. The authors also test whether including…

1957

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether intellectual capital affects the probability that a particular firm will default. The authors also test whether including intellectual capital performance in bankruptcy prediction models improves their predictive ability.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of US public companies from the period stretching from 1985 to 2015, the authors test whether intellectual capital performance reduces the probability of bankruptcy. The authors use the VAIC as an aggregate measure of corporate intellectual capital performance.

Findings

The findings show that the intellectual capital performance is negatively associated with the probability of default. The findings also indicate that the bankruptcy prediction models that include intellectual capital have a superior predictive ability over the standard models.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to prior research on intellectual capital and firm performance. To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study to show that the benefits of intellectual capital extend from superior performance to long-term financial stability. The research can also contribute to bankruptcy studies. By using a time frame covering decades, the findings suggest that intellectual capital performance measures can be included in bankruptcy prediction models and can effectively complement traditional performance measures.

Originality/value

This paper highlights that intellectual capital is associated with long-term financial stability and a lower bankruptcy risk. Firms realising the potential of their intellectual capital can produce a virtuous circle between higher performance and greater financial stability.

Details

Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 19 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1469-1930

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 17 March 2021

Waheed Ali, Jun Wen, Hadi Hussain, Nadeem Akhtar Khan, Muhammad Waleed Younas and Ihsan Jamil

In the era of knowledge economy, the significance of intellectual capital has been increasing globally. Similarly, recent studies have focused on the importance of green…

2539

Abstract

Purpose

In the era of knowledge economy, the significance of intellectual capital has been increasing globally. Similarly, recent studies have focused on the importance of green intellectual capital in mitigating environmental degradation. However, only a few studies have analysed green intellectual capital and its impacts in the specific case of Pakistan. Hence, this study aims to investigate the effects of green intellectual capital on green innovation adoption in Pakistan’s manufacturing small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

We used a data sample of 235 SMEs, gathered from the four manufacturing sectors of Pakistan including: textile, chemical, pharmaceutical and steel and analysed using a multiple regression analysis approach.

Findings

The empirical results of this research indicate that green human capital and green structural capital significantly increase green innovation adoption. However, it must be noted that green relational capital has a positive but insignificant impact on green innovation adoption in manufacturing SMEs in Pakistan.

Originality/value

The findings and recommended policy measures of this study are important for the managers of manufacturing SMEs and policymakers to mitigate environmental destruction and achieve sustainable development through green intellectual capital.

Details

Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 22 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1469-1930

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 21 November 2022

Yunlong Duan, Hanxiao Liu, Meng Yang, Tachia Chin, Lijuan Peng, Giuseppe Russo and Luca Dezi

Given that environmental issues have become increasingly critical in business operations, from the lens of guanxi, this study explores the impact of relational capital on green…

739

Abstract

Purpose

Given that environmental issues have become increasingly critical in business operations, from the lens of guanxi, this study explores the impact of relational capital on green innovation in a knowledge-driven context of new energy enterprises. Additionally, the moderating effect of corporate environmental responsibility (CER) on the above relationship is analyzed.

Design/methodology/approach

This study takes 162 Chinese new energy enterprises from 2010 to 2020 as the research sample. For empirical analysis, factor analysis is adopted to comprehensively measure relational capital, while green innovation is embodied in two dimensions, namely radical green innovation (RGI) and incremental green innovation (IGI).

Findings

Relational capital significantly promotes RGI and IGI. Moreover, it is found that implementing CER strengthens the positive relationship between relational capital and RGI but weakens the positive relationship between relational capital and IGI.

Originality/value

It is evident that existing literature on green innovation mainly focused on a single perspective rather than from different dimensions. In addition, few scholars have drawn from stakeholder theory to elucidate the interaction of relational capital with corporate responsibility practices. In this regard, this study examines the link between relational capital and green innovation while examining the moderating effect of CER, which provides valuable insights for future research on relational governance and innovation management. Furthermore, this study innovatively centers on new energy enterprises in China, which are pioneers and facilitators of green development, as the research subject. Considering relevant studies are still nascent in this domain, our empirical results are of extensive practical guidance for managers and practitioners to promote environmental sustainability.

Details

Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 24 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1469-1930

Keywords

1 – 8 of 8
Per page
102050