Search results

Derives a first order perturbation algorithm for the computation of mean values and (co‐) variances of the transient temperature field in conduction heated materials with random field parameters. Considers both linear as well as non‐linear heat conduction problems. The algorithm is advantageous in terms of computer time compared to the Monte Carlo method. The computer time can further be reduced by appropriate transformation of the random vectors resulting from the discretization of the random fields.

We develop and validate measurement instruments for the business partner, watchdog, and scorekeeper roles of controllers. This study addresses calls to enhance the quality of survey research in management accounting by devoting more attention to scale development and especially to construct validity. By focusing on the activity sets of the controllers’ roles, we provide a theoretically and empirically grounded picture of their current roles. The measurement instruments presented in this study enable systematic research progress on controller roles, their relationships, antecedents, and performance outcomes.

Although the budgeting literature well documents managers' creation of budgetary slack in developed economies, lack of attention has been paid to this behaviour in emerging economies. It is doubtful that some unique characteristics, only existing in emerging economies, cause this behaviour to be different than the budgeting literature predicts. Since there is no study examining managers' creation of budgetary slack in emerging economies, such as Vietnam, to get insight into whether or not these characteristics cause the differences, the aim of this study is to replicate prior budgeting studies by using Vietnamese samples. Particularly, we investigated the impact of budgetary participation, budget emphasis, information asymmetry, and the interactions between these variables on managers' creation of budgetary slack. Data obtained from the questionnaire sent to 99 Vietnamese managers shows that the last two variables and the interaction between them induce managers' creation of budgetary slack. However, the results also indicate that the first variable and the interaction between this variable and the other two variables respectively have no impact on managers' creation of budgetary slack. These results provide some insight into the creation of budgetary slack of Vietnamese managers for future studies to extend the line of research.

Particles in granular matter can have very different and irregular shapes. The computational treatment of nonspherical objects is a major difficulty in the simulation of granular flows. In this paper, two basic strategies for contact resolution between objects described by level surfaces are presented and analyzed. They are based on the iterative solution of systems of nonlinear equations. The major difficulties are pinpointed and necessary steps toward a generic algorithm are proposed. A test case of colliding cardioids in two dimensions is used to demonstrate the algorithms and illustrate common pitfalls.

In this work, the authors aim to present a compact low-cost and portable spectral imaging system for general purposes. The developed system provides information that can be used for a fast in situ identification and classification of samples based on the analysis of captured images. The connectivity of the instrument allows a deeper analysis of the images in an external computer.

The wavelength selection of the system is carried out by light multiplexing through a light-emitting diode panel where eight wavelengths covering the spectrum from ultraviolet (UV) to near-infrared region (NIR) have been included. The image sensor used is a red green blue – infrared (RGB-IR) micro-camera controlled by a Raspberry Pi board where a basic image processing algorithm has been programmed. It allows the visualization in an integrated display of the reflectance and the histogram of the images at each wavelength, including UV and NIRs.

The prototype has been tested by analyzing several samples in a variety of applications such as detection of damaged, over-ripe and sprayed fruit, classification of different type of plastic materials and determination of properties of water.

The designed system presents some advantages as being non-expensive and portable in comparison to other multispectral imaging systems. The low-cost and size of the camera module connected to the Raspberry Pi provides a compact instrument for general purposes.

Corporate entrepreneurship (CE) has attracted considerable attention worldwide, and the challenges of managing employees’ entrepreneurial behaviours are increasingly recognised. However, the paucity of research on managers’ entrepreneurial behaviour in the United Arab Emirates multinational corporate environment creates a salient gap in the current understanding of how national and organisational cultures that not always align frame the critical problems of CE. This study aims to fill this research gap by examining multinationals’ CE antecedents drawing on an institutional perspective in Dubai.

The author conducts 54 in-depth interviews with middle managers in multinational enterprises. This study adopts a multiple case study research design to reveal whether an emergent discovery is exclusive to a particular case or is consistently replicated by multiple cases. The author has used abductive reasoning to systematically integrate analytical framework deduction with raw data induction.

This study’s findings indicate that CE in Dubai is ineffective and fragmented. Arguably, the cultural background of employees creates different circumstances and determinants of entrepreneurial behaviour. Hence, CE may not achieve epitome competencies without identifying multicultural nuances in an organisational context.

Existing research has placed relatively little emphasis on the role of individual national culture in multinational enterprises. This study’s results offer potentially valuable implications for theory, practice and future research addressing other emerging countries. This model presents a distinct CE architecture with compelling evidence for national culture (at the macro level), organisational culture, Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment Instrument and emergent factors (at the meso level) and individual middle managers' real-life experience (at the micro level).

This research aims to examine the interplay between social media engagement, motivation and materialistic values on purchase intention towards luxury fashion brands among young Chinese consumers in Hong Kong. The study explores three key areas: the correlation between social media engagement and luxury purchase intention, the motivational factors that influence this relationship and the role of materialistic values within this context.

The study employs a moderated mediation analysis approach to explore these relationships. A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 226 young Chinese respondents (aged 18–35) in Hong Kong. The survey aimed to measure the participants’ engagement with luxury fashion brands’ social media (predictor), materialistic values (moderator), intention to purchase luxury items (outcome) and their motivation regulation (mediator).

The study reveals a moderated mediation model. It indicates that consumers’ autonomous motivation, specifically intrinsic and identified regulation, acts as a mediator between social media engagement and luxury purchase intention. Interestingly, social media engagement has a more profound influence on the intrinsic motivation to purchase luxury items among consumers with less materialistic values.

This study pioneers in explaining luxury purchase intention in relation to social media engagement, autonomous motivation and materialism among young Chinese consumers in Hong Kong. Further, it highlights that by engaging in social media, non-materialistic consumers’ intrinsic motivation toward purchasing luxury goods can mirror that of their materialistic counterparts.

While prior control studies typically focus on organizations with an instrumental approach to corporate sustainability, this study concentrates on organizations with an integrative approach, as the latter is needed to address the grand challenge of sustainable development. As such organizations do not single out the financial objective as the dominant one, they pursue a hybrid mission. This study investigates how a control package can be designed that ensures the persistence of such a hybrid mission.

A case study is undertaken at a luxury hotel chain in which a financial and an environmental objective are continuously balanced. Self-determination theory is used to substantiate insights into how psychological need-supportive controls can be designed at all organizational levels.

This study highlights how controls are not only needed to direct staff behaviour towards the environmental objective but also to ensure that staff at all organizational levels prioritize the objectives in such way that the hybrid mission can be sustained. Besides structural differentiation and centralization of decision-making, the case organization designed need-supportive controls to foster staff's internalization of the environmental objective and value as well as of the integrative approach.

As the need-supportive socialization process fostered staff's integration of the environmental value, this study highlights the transformational potential of controls.

This study provides a unique account of a control package directing staff behaviour towards the balancing of multiple objectives.

Innovation in fintech presents great opportunities and huge challenges for accounting practices around the world. This paper aims to examine the impact of Fintech on accounting practices including financial reporting, performance management, budgeting, auditing, risk and fraud management. Fintech is proxied by the adoption of AI and big data analysis in accounting practices.

We chose African countries as our focus countries and surveyed chartered and qualified accountants in both Ghana and Nigeria. With 201 questionnaires qualified for our final analyses, we adopted the structural equation modelling to analyse the impact of Fintech on accounting practices.

The empirical results show that the impact of AI and big data on accounting practices is positive and significant, indicating that fintech could potentially mitigate the agency problem in accounting practices and lead to better accounting practices. Interestingly, we find that, in general, the impact of AI is larger than that of big data.

Our results provide significant insights to regulators, policymakers and managers about the future development of adopting fintech in the regulation and governance framework at both macro and micro levels for accounting practice.

This paper aims to provide an overview of the application of blockchain to agri-food supply chains, including key issues and trends. It examines the state of the art and conceptual structure of the field and proposes an agenda to guide future research.

This article performs a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer software on a sample of 205 articles from the WoS database to identify research trend topics.

The number of publications in this area has increased since 2020, which shows a growing research interest. The research hotspots are related to the integration of blockchain technology in the agri-food supply chain for traceability, coordination between all actors involved, transparency of operations and improvement of food safety. Furthermore, this is linked to sustainability and the achievement of the sustainable development gtoals (SDGs), while addressing key challenges in the implementation of blockchain-based technologies in the agri-food supply chain.

The application of blockchain in the agri-food supply chain may consider four key aspects. Firstly, the implementation of blockchain can improve the traceability of food products. Secondly, this technology supports sustainability issues and could avoid disruptions in the agri-food supply chain. Third, blockchain improves food quality and safety control throughout the supply chain. Fourthly, the findings show that regulation is needed to improve trust between stakeholders.

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the blockchain phenomenon in the agri-food supply chain by optimising the search criteria. Moreover, it serves to bridge to future research by identifying gaps in the field.