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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between annual report human capital (HC) disclosures and HC management practices.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between annual report human capital (HC) disclosures and HC management practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used two sets of data. Disclosure data were collected from annual reports. Data on management practices was collected by e‐mail questionnaire. Sixteen of the most traded companies on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (SSE) were included in the study.
Findings
Results indicated that there is limited association between the two sets of data. Even though the association was significant on an aggregate level, more detailed testing showed no systematic associations. There was, however, a significant association between internal management practices and companies' perceived importance of disclosure, even though this was not reflected in actual disclosure.
Research limitations/implications
The most important limitations of the study are that it was based on a small non‐random sample of companies from only one country and used annual report disclosures from a single year. Also, the study focuses on quantity rather than quality of disclosures.
Originality/value
A feature of previous research is that it tends to focus on HC (intellectual capital) from either an external or internal perspective. This study is the first that links HC annual report disclosure and internal HC management practices.
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Gudrun Baldvinsdottir, Andreas Hagberg, Inga‐Lill Johansson, Kristina Jonäll and Jan Marton
The purpose of this paper is to provide a structured overview of literature in the nexus of trust and accounting. This can serve as a basis for future research, and thus provide a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a structured overview of literature in the nexus of trust and accounting. This can serve as a basis for future research, and thus provide a framework for asking more precise and focused research questions.
Design/methodology/approach
All papers published in prominent accounting journals during a 15‐year period were examined. Papers pertaining to the field of trust and accounting were categorized and analyzed in more detail, and qualitatively classified in accordance with selected dimensions. The review focused on papers explicitly exploring the link between accounting and trust.
Findings
A large proportion of the papers is in the field of management accounting (MAN). The majority of published papers in the field are based on sociological theory, but there are some economics‐based papers. Sociologically based analysis seems to provide more structure, but is also less paradigmatic in nature than economic theory. Only a small number of papers have an explicit definition of the concept of trust. The authors' conclusion is that the state of research has been developing to become more paradigmatic in recent years.
Originality/value
This is the only literature review that provides a comprehensive overview of research on trust and accounting. Thus, it is an aid to future research in the area.
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This paper aims to develop and test a new way of modeling airline operations and apply it to measure and compare the efficiency of international airlines, with a special focus on…
Abstract
This paper aims to develop and test a new way of modeling airline operations and apply it to measure and compare the efficiency of international airlines, with a special focus on deregulation effects. The paper elaborates on the choice of variables, following the early work of Schefczyk (1993) and Scheraga (2004). The value chain of the airlines determines the variables included in three different models. Using data envelopment analysis, the efficiency scores show that North American airlines are more efficient in producing services offered to customers. Few differences are found between regions in allocating service output to match demand. One plausible explanation for this difference is that airlines operate within competitive environments. In a highly competitive market, management decisions focus on productive actions and cost reduction. In a less competitive environment, there is a higher degree of adjustments of the services produced. Using the Malmquist productivity index, measurements reveal that there is a catch-up effect for the European and Asian/South American airlines service production during the studied time period, which was from 1990 to 2003.
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Nina Kilbrink, Jan Axelsson and Stig-Börje Asplund
The purpose of this study is to explore how critical aspects can be defined in a learning study on welding without conducting any pre-tests.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore how critical aspects can be defined in a learning study on welding without conducting any pre-tests.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors focus on empirical examples from a learning study on welding conducted in six iterative cycles, with conversation analysis and variation theory approach (CAVTA) as a theoretical basis. The welding lessons have been video-recorded, and in the study, the authors analyze examples where the teachers try to identify critical aspects of a vocational practical object of learning in interaction. CAVTA permeates the complete process, where the analysis has been part of the iterative cycles and further developed when the six cycles were completed.
Findings
The results show how critical aspects can be made visible in the interaction between teacher(s) and student(s) in the enacted learning situation. In the process, the authors work with the three concepts expected critical aspects, displayed critical aspects and targeted critical features in relation to a vocational practical object of learning where conducting a pre-test to define critical aspects is not educationally possible.
Originality/value
Teaching vocational practical objects of learning could be seen as something different from teaching other kinds of objects of learning and the use of the traditional pre-tests in learning studies may be problematic. From that follows, that other ways of finding the critical aspects for the students regarding a vocational practical object of learning might be needed. In this study, such a way is presented.
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This study aims to examine whether companies adopt digital platforms for corporate whistleblowing systems (CWSs), as more substantive corporate social responsibility (CSR…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether companies adopt digital platforms for corporate whistleblowing systems (CWSs), as more substantive corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, by following the existing practices of their industry peers (competitive pressure) and/or geographical location peers (legitimacy pressure).
Design/methodology/approach
This study identifies 446 focal companies in the European Economic Area that introduced new CWSs during 2017–2021. Then, the peers are defined as companies with existing CWS practices that are similar in size to each focal company. Using a quantitative approach, this study uses a logistic regression model.
Findings
This study finds that companies are more likely to adopt digital CWS if their country peers (not, industry peers) have done so, especially the ones operated in countries where governments build CSR partnerships with companies through cooperative consensus. However, the role of country peers is less prominent when companies have CSR committees.
Practical implications
This study shows the importance of country norms over competitive pressure in CSR. Nevertheless, the results offer additional insights for policy-makers by showing that country regulations mandating CWSs are not significant in promoting the adoption of digital CWS nor reducing the role of country peers.
Social implications
Providing CWSs with digital platforms may show corporate commitment to better preventing social misconduct and improving social responsibility.
Originality/value
While most literature focuses on the role of industry peers and/or community peers in a single-country setting, this study examines the role of country peers specifically on digitalization regarding CSR and governance.
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Jan Karlsson, Elsie Anderberg, Shirley Booth, Per Odenrick and Marita Christmansson
The purpose of this paper is to analyse and describe the learning that takes place in the interaction between academics from different disciplines and perspectives in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse and describe the learning that takes place in the interaction between academics from different disciplines and perspectives in collaboration with practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
The research draws on theories of learning that view it in relation to context, where the most significant features of the learning process concern discerning new aspects of a phenomenon. The study focuses on the workplace learning of researchers in a multidisciplinary programme at the National Institute for Working Life in Sweden (NIWL). Data was collected from semi‐structured interviews. In the analysis the learning experienced was discerned by identifying how the participants spoke of developing and changing in their work as researchers.
Findings
The investigation identified five categories of learning of the academics in the multidisciplinary research programme, namely: deepened awareness of perspectives and concepts; practical development; new awareness of one's competences and professional learning process; flexible professionalism and practical usefulness; insights into research and development processes.
Practical implications
The study contributes to an increased understanding of how knowledge production and academics' workplace learning is constituted in multidisciplinary contexts and research programmes involving practitioners from outside academia.
Originality/value
In organising and supporting learning and knowledge exchange in inter‐ or multidisciplinary research programmes with (or without) practitioners, it is essential to be aware of the importance of relational and contextual implications for academics' learning processes.
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Somayeh Roshanfekr, N.M. Tawil and N.A. Goh
This research work is an introduction to sustainable construction. A few significant indicators and many related subsets, which are crucial to green sustainable construction and…
Abstract
This research work is an introduction to sustainable construction. A few significant indicators and many related subsets, which are crucial to green sustainable construction and also to green buildings, are mentioned in this study. An ecocity is one that utilizes all the critical elements of the environment. Urban sustainable construction is a vital criterion in this context. Sustainable construction paves the way for the building industry to progress towards achieving realistic standards of performance, particularly in view of economic, environmental, and social concerns. Sustainability is a popular expression that has given rise to various activities throughout the world once people began to grasp the implications of sustainable construction. Sustainability, which is an important factor in reducing the negative environmental effects of construction, includes improving the control and efficiency in the use of raw materials, land and power consumption. The lifetime of a building is based on some factors that are prognostic regarding the manufacture, remodelling, support, utilization, and administration of the building, and finally, the sources of utilization and waste formation, annihilation and devastation. All of these give rise to a range of ecological issues in the life of a building. Generally, a sustainable building and construction involves a reduction in the utilization of energy and also wastage from the beginning of the construction process and throughout the lifecycle of the building. Moreover, the environment is faced with mounting devastation due to the exploitation of natural resources for building construction and the replacement of agronomic regions by residential areas.
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Dennis C.S. Law and Jan H.F. Meyer
The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) is a quantitative instrument for collecting student feedback on programme quality that has been tested and practically used in Western…
Abstract
Purpose
The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) is a quantitative instrument for collecting student feedback on programme quality that has been tested and practically used in Western university response‐contexts. The purpose of this paper is to adapt and partially validate a Chinese translation of the CEQ, for application in the new context of post‐secondary education in Hong Kong.
Design/methodology/approach
From a population of about 2,515 students in six institutions, 1,572 responses were obtained, representing a response rate of 62.5 percent. Given that a Chinese CEQ has never been tested in this new context, an exploratory approach was adopted by examining the psychometric properties of the CEQ constituent scales and their underlying factor structure as exhibited via item‐correlation analysis and exploratory factor analysis.
Findings
The alpha values of the CEQ scales in the present study are generally lower than those of the other reported studies. The results of exploratory factor analysis indicate that the degree of overlap among the constructs as measured by the CEQ scales is more extensive than most other reported studies, resulting in only four factors being explicitly indicated, with some constructs being overshadowed by other more salient constructs and failing to exhibit in the factor structure.
Practical implications
While broadly supporting the potential of CEQ‐type surveys in informing the quality endeavour, the findings of the present study (and those of some related tests on Chinese students that have recently been reported) suggest the need for further development of the CEQ for application in the Chinese context in general, and the context of Hong Kong post‐secondary education in particular.
Originality/value
The paper cross‐validates the CEQ in a new context.
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This chapter addresses the nature of reflective classroom practice in a Hong Kong setting where action research has been undertaken by both the student teachers and the teaching…
Abstract
This chapter addresses the nature of reflective classroom practice in a Hong Kong setting where action research has been undertaken by both the student teachers and the teaching practice supervisor. It is based on a cross-case study of the processes through which student teachers learn to teach. Specifically, the analysis focuses on how student teachers reflect on their experiences in learning to teach. The data are based on student teachers’ reported thoughts about their learning over a period of 1 year. The results contribute to the understanding of reflective classroom practice by highlighting first, student teachers’ perceptions about learning to teach and second, their reviews on classroom practice. The discussion also adds to the literature on teacher development taken from the novice-expert research tradition. Accordingly, implications for curriculum development in teacher education are drawn.
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Katherin Marton and Cornelia McCarthy
The paper investigates the relationship between China’s net direct foreign investment position and economic development and the investment development path (IDP) theory introduced…
Abstract
The paper investigates the relationship between China’s net direct foreign investment position and economic development and the investment development path (IDP) theory introduced by Dunning (1981). Using annual data for the period 1979 to 2005 and a fourth order single variable polynomial function we demonstrate that form of the IDP for China and conclude that China entered stage 3 of the path postulated by the IDP theory. By analyzing key factors which have impacted FDI inflows and outflows we find that certain idiosyncratic characteristics of Chinese companies and institutional factors may limit the significant increase in the multinationalization of Chinese firms which would be required for the country to move along the IDP.
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