Joyce A. Mauro and Nicholas J. Mauro
Provides an explanation of Deming’s Theory of Profound Knowledge, which includes the four core values. Cites these as appreciation for a system, some knowledge of the theory of…
Abstract
Provides an explanation of Deming’s Theory of Profound Knowledge, which includes the four core values. Cites these as appreciation for a system, some knowledge of the theory of variation, a theory of knowledge and some knowledge of psychology. Defines leadership and the actions required to implement the Deming leadership method. Argues this implementation will clear most barriers which exist when starting any total quality management programme and will allow managers/supervisors to acquire enough knowledge to make the transformation from supervisory management to leadership excellence. States that only through applying the Deming principles first will any future improvement be successful.
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Evgenii Aleksandrov and Sara Giovanna Mauro
This paper aims to respond to the recent calls to discover the research developments in the field of public budgeting. Particularly, it explores whether and how research dialogue…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to respond to the recent calls to discover the research developments in the field of public budgeting. Particularly, it explores whether and how research dialogue unfolds within the public budgeting field over time and how to stimulate it further, by investigating the case of a specific journal oriented to budgeting topics.
Design/methodology/approach
Applying a case study strategy, this paper reviews previous studies on public budgeting published in one specific journal, the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management (JPBAFM), from its “online inception” in 1994 to 2020. Borrowing ideas from dialogue literature, the authors analyse 108 selected papers according to a multi-dimensional framework for exploring research dialogues taking into account the year of publication, authorship (and affiliation), research setting, method and theoretical approach, and, above all, research topics on budgeting.
Findings
The findings illustrate that whilst public budgeting research has been fluctuating over time in the JPBAFM, there is a growing interest in the topic over the last several years (2015–2020). Yet, the journal illustrates a limited dialogic development of the field of public budgeting, where produced knowledge has been significantly North America-oriented, normative and quantitative-dominated. Until recently, only a limited role has been given to dialogue formation between researchers and practitioners, but the current debate is increasingly being enriched by new perspectives and a wider range of experiences. Finally, public budgeting has been addressed from multiple perspectives over time, with a significant impact determined by performance and participatory budgeting. Although multiple topics are receiving growing attention, it is still under-developed in the inter-dialogue formation between topics and theories, despite the more recently growing use of different theoretical approaches and empirical and analytical rigour.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to one journal as a case study and does not claim to provide an overall reflection of public budgeting research and related empirical generalisations. Instead, the authors strive for a theoretical generalisation of multi-dimensional dialogue importance in the field.
Originality/value
The value of the research lies in a comprehensive analysis of research dialogue formation within public sector budgeting over time in an international journal that has actively engaged with public sector issues and, specifically, with budgeting. By so doing, this paper adds a critical stand on the value of dialogue in fostering inter-contextual and inter-disciplinary research in the field of public budgeting.
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Sara Giovanna Mauro, Lino Cinquini and Lotta-Maria Sinervo
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the under-investigated role played by different key organizational actors engaged in the practice of performance-based budgeting (PBB…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the under-investigated role played by different key organizational actors engaged in the practice of performance-based budgeting (PBB) (e.g. Ministry of Finance, National Audit Office, Sectoral Agencies) to explore how they influence the practice of PBB, contributing to lead the change or create resistance toward it.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical evidence has been collected through a multiple case study based on semi-structured interviews and document analysis in Sweden and Finland, which have long traditions with PBB, and has been interpreted through the lens of institutional and organizational change theory.
Findings
The results show that, despite the lengthy experiences with PBB, the lack of sound dynamics across key actors makes the budgetary use of performance information limited and partial, placing the reform in a “gray area” between the complete implementation of the practice and the total resistance toward it.
Originality/value
The knowledge obtained from the exploratory analysis has relevant implications for understanding differences and similarities across key organizational actors and underlining their crucial role in making a change feasible. Indeed, PBB may represent a radical change even in presence of embedded performance management systems.
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Elmas Yaldız Hanedar and Avni Önder Hanedar
The aim of this chapter is to understand effects of the recent crisis on the financial constraints that small and medium size enterprises have experienced in emerging economies…
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to understand effects of the recent crisis on the financial constraints that small and medium size enterprises have experienced in emerging economies. Using the firm level survey data provided by the World Bank, a descriptive analysis is conducted by calculating the average of the financial obstacles that the firms had experienced before and after the crisis, and the existence of statistical difference between the two periods is tested. The results indicate that the small and medium size enterprises suffer more from financial constraints relative to large firms. Financial constraints that the small and medium size firms had experienced are largely affected by the recent global financial crisis, relative to the large firms. However, effects of the financial constraints on real variables such as investment, innovation, and research and development expenditures cannot be examined due to data limitations. This chapter contributes to the limited literature of financial constraints experienced by the small and medium enterprises in emerging economies by taking the effect of the recent global financial crisis into account. The novelty of this chapter comes from the dataset: “The World Bank’s World Business Environment Surveys,” which provides a large sample of emerging countries.
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Alessandro Rebucci, Jonathan S. Hartley and Daniel Jiménez
This chapter conducts an event study of 30 quantitative easing (QE) announcements made by 21 central banks on daily government bond yields and bilateral US dollar exchange rates…
Abstract
This chapter conducts an event study of 30 quantitative easing (QE) announcements made by 21 central banks on daily government bond yields and bilateral US dollar exchange rates in March and April 2020, in the midst of the global financial turmoil triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak. The chapter also investigates the transmission of innovations to long-term interest rates in a standard GVAR model estimated with quarterly pre-COVID-19 data. The authors find that QE has not lost effectiveness in advanced economies and that its international transmission is consistent with the working of long-run uncovered interest rate parity and a large dollar shortage shock during the COVID-19 period. In emerging markets, the QE impact on bond yields is much stronger and its transmission to exchange rates is qualitatively different than in advanced economies. The GVAR evidence that the authors report illustrates the Fed’s pivotal role in the global transmission of long-term interest rate shocks, but also the ample scope for country-specific interventions to affect local financial market conditions, even after controlling for common factors and spillovers from other countries. The GVAR evidence also shows that QE interventions can have sizable real effects on output driven by a very persistent impact on long-term interest rates.
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Rocco Palumbo, Rosalba Manna and Mauro Cavallone
Telecommuting from home is back up on the agenda as a result of the unforeseen challenges brought by COVID-19. Working from home permits to avoid disruption in the ordinary…
Abstract
Purpose
Telecommuting from home is back up on the agenda as a result of the unforeseen challenges brought by COVID-19. Working from home permits to avoid disruption in the ordinary functioning of educational institutions triggered by social distancing. However, home-based telecommuting may have some side effects on employees, especially in terms of work-life balance. Soft Total Quality Management (TQM) initiatives are needed to address these side effects. The article intends to shed light on these issues, providing some food for thought to scholars and practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
Secondary data about the working conditions of 2,046 people employed in the education sector across Europe were investigated. A serial mediation analysis was designed to examine the direct and indirect implications of working from home on work-life balance.
Findings
The study suggests that home-based telecommuting may trigger work-to-life and life-to-work conflicts, due to the blurring of boundaries between work and everyday life. Soft tools, such as organizational meaningfulness (OM) and work-related well-being (WB), mediate the relationship between working from home (HW) and work-life conflicts (WLC), lessening the negative implications of working from home on work-life balance.
Practical implications
The design and the implementation of home-based telecommuting arrangements should include a special concern for soft TQM practices. Among others, OM and WB are likely to minimize the disruption of remote employees' jobs and interpersonal relationships. Failure to do so impairs the ability of home-based employees to make sense out of their working arrangements and to achieve a sustainable work-life balance.
Originality/value
This is one of the first attempts to illuminate the side effects of home-based telecommuting and to investigate the role of soft TQM in addressing these side effects.
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Jose Celso Contador, Walter Cardoso Satyro, Jose Luiz Contador and Mauro de Mesquita Spinola
The purpose of this paper is to identify, characterize, classify and conceptualize different perspectives on strategic alignment still in use, propose a taxonomy and definitions…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify, characterize, classify and conceptualize different perspectives on strategic alignment still in use, propose a taxonomy and definitions that allow understanding the various coexisting concepts, as well as investigate the implications of strategic alignment for data-driven sustainable performance of firms and supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
Bibliographic review was used.
Findings
The taxonomy proposes two classes of strategic alignment: (1) Align – more rigorous types of alignment: structure alignment, strategic congruence and strategy alignment; (2) Fit – less rigorous types of alignment: contingency strategic adjustment, strategic coalignment and strategic consistency. Companies are accumulating large amounts of data, which relevance varies widely. The strategic alignment can define criteria to select only the data that have strategic value, which restricts the amount of data to be analyzed. Each of the six types of strategic alignment is appropriate for a given situation in companies and/or supply chains.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations stem from the exclusive use of the taxonomy of strategic alignment, without considering the most diverse perspectives of strategy.
Practical implications
Decision makers will be able to identify more objectively which classes of data should be explored in each situation.
Social implications
Theoretical implications – The taxonomy proposal and the definition of each of the strategic alignment perspectives solve generalized misunderstandings resulting from the lack of a clear delimitation between the perspectives and the conceptual divergence between authors, who use them as equivalent or synonymous.
Originality/value
From 1961 to 2019, no paper was found proposing taxonomy, typology, systematization, ranking, distribution or classification of strategic alignment. The strategic alignment can define criteria to select, within the large amount of data accumulated by the company, only those that have strategic value, what restricts the quantity of data to be analyzed and facilitates the decision of the leaders.
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Nurul Shuhada Mohd Gharib, Che Ruhana Isa and Zakiah Saleh
This study aims to explore the challenges in post-implementing the Outcome-Based Budgeting (OBB) model in budgetary practices in Malaysian Government agencies, in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the challenges in post-implementing the Outcome-Based Budgeting (OBB) model in budgetary practices in Malaysian Government agencies, in the context of government official’s perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology by collecting data from eight budget experts within federal government agencies through semi-structured interviews was used. Purposive sampling was used to select informants based on their relevant experiences and roles in the OBB model and associated budgetary processes. Data analysis involved thematic analysis using ATLAS.ti software, with member checking to enhance credibility.
Findings
Sustainability, innovation characteristics, organisational dynamics, individual capabilities and social context are identified as critical factors influencing the successful post-implementation of the OBB model in Malaysian federal government agencies. Organisational dynamics, encompassing policy control and Budget Review Officers role, as well as social factors, such as the presence of an OBB champion and broader buy-in, significantly impact the model’s effectiveness. These findings underscore the complex interplay of factors shaping the post-implementation phase of OBB in the Malaysian budgetary context.
Research limitations/implications
This study is constrained by its qualitative methodology and focus on the Federal Government of Malaysia, limiting the generalisability of findings. Future research using quantitative or mixed methods, expanded to include other government entities and comparative analysis across government levels is recommended to enhance understanding of OBB implementation challenges.
Practical implications
This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge on Performance-based budgeting (PBB) implementation, particularly in developing countries. By identifying critical success factors and barriers, it offers valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners seeking to improve public financial management. The study’s focus on Malaysia’s OBB experience provides timely and relevant information for addressing challenges in budgetary practices. Additionally, the research offers practical guidance for organisations navigating change management and building capacity for PBB implementation.
Originality/value
The study’s originality lies in its focus on the post-implementation challenges of the OBB within Malaysian Government agencies, which are largely under-studied. By using the Diffusion of Innovation theory, the study systematically investigates the interplay of sustainability, innovation characteristics, organisational dynamics, individual capabilities and social context in shaping OBB outcomes. Identifying sustainability and organisational dynamics as critical success factors contributes to the ongoing discourse on public sector budgeting reforms, particularly in developing country contexts.
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This chapter analyzes the rules and institutions that have characterized the European Monetary Union (EMU) during its prolonged crisis, stressing the limits of the strategy…
Abstract
This chapter analyzes the rules and institutions that have characterized the European Monetary Union (EMU) during its prolonged crisis, stressing the limits of the strategy pursued by the European authorities. It also examines the issues of current account imbalances, economic growth and the problem of debt, and their interconnections. The main purpose of this chapter is to indicate feasible economic solutions and political arrangements in order to complete the institutional system of the EMU. This requires appropriate reforms of its institutional architecture. But such reforms demand changes in the treaties in order to make the Eurosystem more consistent and endowed of democratic legitimacy, so to have appropriate tools, resources and policies that can contribute to the stability, cohesion and development of the Eurozone.
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Xiaolong Song, Yi-Hung Liu, Jiahua Jin and Jianguo Zhao
Gamification elements have been increasingly used in online weight-loss communities to help users lose weight. The purpose of this paper is to systemically examine whether and how…
Abstract
Purpose
Gamification elements have been increasingly used in online weight-loss communities to help users lose weight. The purpose of this paper is to systemically examine whether and how social interactions influence users’ continued participation in the context of online weight-loss competitions (OWCs).
Design/methodology/approach
This study empirically investigated sustained involvement in OWCs using a Cox proportional hazards model. Additionally, the research utilized a text-mining technique to identify various types of social support and explored their roles in sustaining participation behavior in OWCs.
Findings
Community response both within and outside OWCs positively influence users’ continued participation in OWCs. Moreover, whereas emotional support and companionship received within OWCs have a greater impact on users’ continued participation than informational support received within OWCs, informational support received outside OWCs has a greater impact on users’ continued participation than emotional support and companionship received outside OWCs.
Originality/value
This paper highlights users’ social needs in OWC engagement and provides empirical evidence on how different types and sources of social support influence continued participation behavior in OWCs. The research additionally provides management implications for online health community service providers.