M.J. Nieuwoudt, J.S. Wilcocks and O.V. Kilpert
Research, teaching and service are usually regarded as an academic’s main responsibilities. One of the most hotly debated issues in the international arena is what academics…
Abstract
Research, teaching and service are usually regarded as an academic’s main responsibilities. One of the most hotly debated issues in the international arena is what academics should devote their time to, since time is a limited commodity for academics and tradeoffs are necessary. The aim of this study was to establish the perceptions of South African accounting academics with regard to how they spend their academic time. Managers can use this information in efficiency planning and individuals can use this information to compare their effort allocations to those of their colleagues. A descriptive study was conducted in which a questionnaire was used to test, inter alia, the perception of how South African accounting academics at every SAICA‐accredited university use their academic time. Nine activities were tested that relate to management, teaching, research and service. It was found that South African accounting academics spent 10% of their time on management tasks, 78% on teaching, 5% on research and 7% on service. Half (50%, median) of the respondents spent 5% of their time on management tasks, 65% on tuition and 5% on enhancing their own knowledge. It appears as if excessive time is spent on teaching, whilst inadequate time is allocated to research activities. Time spent on service activities appears to be reasonable. An Accounting academic’s qualification appears to be the best indicator against which to measure time allocation. A clear pattern emerged in a comparison between qualification and time allocation in seven of the nine activities tested. The higher the respondent’s qualification, the more time is spent on management tasks, research for both non‐accredited and accredited journals, acting as external examiner and community work. The inverse is true for subject‐related administration and tuition.
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M.J. Nieuwoudt and J.S. Wilcocks
The South African government is restructuring tertiary education, and subsidies to universities that do not build and strengthen their research capacity will be severely…
Abstract
The South African government is restructuring tertiary education, and subsidies to universities that do not build and strengthen their research capacity will be severely restricted. Hence, academics must publish more research. This study used a questionnaire to gauge the personal opinions and perceptions of and attitudes towards research held by South African Accounting academics. The questionnaire was based on international debates and discourses on Accounting education and research that suggest factors that might affect research production and consumption, and on informal discussions with colleagues in the discipline. Tertiary institutions can use this constructive information to build a research culture and improve research output among these academics, by changing perceptions where needed and empowering Accounting academics to conduct research. The results indicate that the main limitations to research output are inadequate qualifications and a lack of skills with regard to conducting research (only 10 per cent of the respondents possess a doctoral degree), insufficient time for conducting research, financial factors, a lack of mentorship and departmental support, and difficulty finding research topics. The debate on “teaching versus research” is also ongoing.
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J.S. Wilcocks and J.J. Strydom
Liability for capital gains tax is determined in terms of the Eighth Schedule to the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962. According to the Eighth Schedule, the disposal of an asset is the…
Abstract
Liability for capital gains tax is determined in terms of the Eighth Schedule to the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962. According to the Eighth Schedule, the disposal of an asset is the event that triggers the liability for capital gains tax. It is therefore imperative to know what constitutes a disposal, because it is fundamental to the entire capital gains tax regime. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the definition of a disposal in order to ascertain whether a disposal, as defined, is intended to mean a transfer of ownership in an asset or whether a disposal could take place upon the occurrence of events or causae other than the transfer of ownership. A study of relevant literature was undertaken to analyse the definition of “disposal” in order to fully comprehend the intention and meaning of the term as it is contemplated in the Eighth Schedule. The current definition of a “disposal” could lead to uncertainty and anomalies. It is therefore recommended that the legislature should amend the definition of a disposal in the Eighth Schedule. The definition should refer to the disposal of an asset (other than a personal‐use asset) as being the transfer of ownership of an asset from one person to another or the loss of the ownership of an asset. Because the common law has clear principles regarding how ownership of different classes of assets is transferred, no confusion would arise regarding whether or when a disposal has occurred.
Mental health problems in later life are common and damaging experiences for individuals, their families and those who support them. Some become almost the defining feature of the…
Abstract
Mental health problems in later life are common and damaging experiences for individuals, their families and those who support them. Some become almost the defining feature of the older person and, while they are challenging professionally and costly for society, they are also influenced by the twin discriminations of stigma and ageism. In this, the last in our series on older people's mental health, we pull together some other key messages from the series and set them in the context of current and future service commissioning and provision. We point to remaining gaps in provision and suggest how commissioners might approach the problems of mental ill‐health in later life in a context of declining resources.
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Grant Samkin and Annika Schneider
The purpose of this paper is to examine the profiles of Australian, New Zealand and South African accounting faculty members. Additionally, the study investigates whether there…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the profiles of Australian, New Zealand and South African accounting faculty members. Additionally, the study investigates whether there are any differences in research productivity of the accounting faculty between countries as measured by peer-reviewed academic journal output.
Design/methodology/approach
This archival study uses details obtained from webpages of Departments of Accounting in the three countries to construct a profile of accounting academics.
Findings
Significant differences in the profiles of accounting academics were found that can be attributed to the institutional factors that exist in each country. Staffs at the junior lecturer and lecturer levels are more likely to be female, while senior lecturers and professors in all three countries were more likely to be male. While Australia and New Zealand had a similar percentage of staff holding PhD or equivalent academic qualifications, only a small proportion of the South African faculty held PhD or equivalent qualifications. A greater proportion of the South African faculty was professionally qualified compared to their Australian and New Zealand counterparts. New Zealand accounting faculty was more productive than their Australian colleagues, with South African academics being the least productive. Academics holding a doctoral qualification or equivalent were more productive than those that did not.
Research limitations/implications
The research limitations relate to the use of websites as the primary data source. Incompleteness of information, inconsistencies in the type of information presented and a lack of comparability of information across institutions and countries may have led to some errors and omissions. However, given the relatively large sample size of 2,049 academics, this was not deemed to materially affect the final analysis.
Originality/value
The paper provides an important contribution to the literature on accounting academics. It is the first of its kind to present a comprehensive “snapshot” of the profiles of accounting academics at the universities in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
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Viniti Seabrooke and Alisoun Milne
The number of older Asians in the UK is increasing placing greater numbers at risk of developing dementia. The emerging need to address early diagnosis is especially prominent in…
Abstract
The number of older Asians in the UK is increasing placing greater numbers at risk of developing dementia. The emerging need to address early diagnosis is especially prominent in areas where Asian communities are long established. This was the specific focus of a Dementia Collaborative Project in North West Kent. The project, working through a primary care practice, aimed to raise awareness of dementia and to facilitate early intervention and access to specialist dementia services. Using an evaluation methodology adopted by the Collaborative and working through a multiagency steering group, the pilot project successfully identified an appropriate primary care practice, established a link with a specially trained Asian nurse and devised a set of project materials. By inviting older Asian patients with memory problems to make an appointment with the nurse, and enclosing a culturally relevant information leaflet, older people were encouraged to come forward. Although the number of individual patients identified was small, the project outcomes include: significantly increased referral rates from black and minority ethnic communities to specialist services and greater awareness of dementia‐related issues in both primary care and Asian care services. Overall, the evaluation suggests that by engaging with a committed primary care practice it is possible to engage a hitherto marginal group of older people in early intervention in dementia and raise awareness about its benefits. That this approach underpins the development of a larger scale five year project in the same area additionally endorses its relevance for the mainstream population.
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Chris While, Russell Nunn, Lisa Donohue and Susan Koch
Education and support in the clinical setting promotes competence and confidence of staff as well as the provision of quality care. This paper will describe the development and…
Abstract
Education and support in the clinical setting promotes competence and confidence of staff as well as the provision of quality care. This paper will describe the development and evaluation of a dementia education programme that supported new clinical practice in dementia care for district nurses in an Australian context. Overall, staff who received training also required leadership at the clinical interface to support knowledge translation. Clinical nurse leaders in aged care were found to be an effective resource to facilitate learning and confidence when new practice was being introduced.
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Martin E. Persson and Christopher J. Napier
The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges faced by an Australian accounting academic, R. J. Chambers, in the 1950s, in breaking into the accounting research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges faced by an Australian accounting academic, R. J. Chambers, in the 1950s, in breaking into the accounting research community, at that time, almost entirely located in the USA and the UK. For academics outside the networks of accounting research publication in these countries, there were significant, but not insurmountable obstacles to conducting and publishing accounting research. We examine how these obstacles could be overcome, using the notion of “trials of strength” to trace the efforts of Chambers in wrestling with intellectual issues arising from post-war inflation, acquiring accounting literature from abroad and publishing his endeavours.
Design/methodology/approach
The article uses actor-network theory to provide an analytical structure for a “counter-narrative” history firmly grounded in the archives.
Findings
Documents from the R. J. Chambers Archive at the University of Sydney form the empirical basis for a narrative that portrays accounting research as a diverse process driven as much by circumstances – such as geographical location, access to accounting literature and personal connections – as the merits of the intellectual arguments.
Research limitations/implications
Although the historical details are specific to the case being studied, the article provides insights into the challenges faced by researchers on the outside of international research networks in achieving recognition and in participating in academic debates.
Practical implications
The findings of this article can provide guidance and inspiration to accounting researchers attempting to participate in wider academic communities.
Originality/value
The article uses documents from perhaps the most extensive archive relating to an individual accounting academic. It examines the process of academic research in accounting in terms of the material context in which such research takes place, whereas most discussions have focussed on the underlying ideas and concepts, abstracted from the context in which they emerge.
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Alison Culverwell, Alisoun Milne, Reinhard Guss and Jackie Tuppen
Despite evidence that early identification of dementia is of growing policy and practice significance in the UK, limited work has been done on evaluating screening measures for…
Abstract
Despite evidence that early identification of dementia is of growing policy and practice significance in the UK, limited work has been done on evaluating screening measures for use in primary care. The aim of this paper is to offer a clinically informed synthesis of research and practice‐based evidence on the utility, efficacy and quality of dementia screening measures. The study has three elements: a review of research literature; a small‐scale survey of measures employed in three primary care trusts; and a systematic clinical evaluation of the most commonly used screening instruments. The authors integrated data from research and clinical sources. The General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG), Memory Impairment Screen (MIS) and Mini‐Cognitive Assessment Instrument (Mini‐Cog) were found to be: brief; easy to administer; clinically acceptable; effective; minimally affected by education, gender, and ethnicity; and to have psychometric properties similar to the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Although the MMSE is widely used in the UK, this project identifies the GPCOG, MIS and Mini‐Cog as more appropriate for routine use in primary care. A coherent review of evidence coupled with an in‐depth evaluation of screening instruments has the potential to enhance ability and commitment to early intervention in primary care and, as part of a wider educational strategy, improve the quality and consistency of dementia screening.
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Grietjie Verhoef and Grant Samkin
The purpose of this paper is to examine how the actions of the accounting profession, the state, universities, and academics have inhibited the development of South African…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how the actions of the accounting profession, the state, universities, and academics have inhibited the development of South African accounting research.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple history approach using traditional archival material and oral history is used.
Findings
Since the late nineteenth-century, a network of human and non-human actors has ensured that accounting education in South Africa retained a technical focus. By prescribing and detailing the accounting syllabuses required for university accreditation, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and its predecessors exercise direct control over accounting education. As a result, little appetite exists for a discipline based on academic enquiry or engagement with international scholars. While the SAICA claims to support accounting research, this support is conditional on its meeting the professional body’s particular view of scholarship.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations associated with this research are that it focusses on one particular professional body in one jurisdiction. The South African situation provides a cautionary tale of how universities, particularly those in developing countries, should take care not to abdicate their responsibilities for the setting of syllabi or course content to professional bodies. Accounting academics, particularly those in a developing country currently experiencing major social, political, and economic problems, are in a prime position to engage in research that will benefit society as a whole.
Originality/value
Although actor network theory has been used in accounting research and in particular to explain accounting knowledge creation, the use of this particular theoretical lens to examine the construction of professional knowledge is limited. This study draws on Callon’s (1986) four moments to explain how various human actors including the accounting profession, the state, universities, and accounting academics, along with non-human actors such as accreditation, regulation, and transformation, have brought about South African academic disengagement with the discipline.