Search results
1 – 10 of 165Paul Strebel, Margaret Cording and Jialu Shan
Getting rid of the contradictions between financial and sustainability reports is not straightforward, owing to their disparate financial-, environmental- and people-related data…
Abstract
Purpose
Getting rid of the contradictions between financial and sustainability reports is not straightforward, owing to their disparate financial-, environmental- and people-related data. The purpose of this paper is to show how a big step toward integrating the reports can be made by focusing on extracted value and subtracting it from reported profits. Value extraction is defined as value captured from stakeholders by distorting the competitive market process.
Design/methodology/approach
Value extracted is identified by looking at three ways in which it is done: manipulating markets to enhance profits, exploiting market distortions to socialize costs and privatizing benefits. These categories are related to one consolidated bottom-line using the data from JPMorgan’s 2012 reports. Application to the Western oil majors shows how one bottom-line can be used to assess the risks posed by value extraction to the economic sustainability of a firm.
Findings
Conservatively estimated, JPMorgan’s value extracted in 2012 was 25 per cent of reported profits. From 2007-2009, the average annual value extracted by Exxon and Chevron was 17 and 16 per cent of reported profits, respectively, whereas for BP and Eni, it was 23 and 30 per cent, respectively. Higher value extraction by BP preceded the Deepwater Horizon explosion and, in Eni’s case, the political disruption of its activities.
Research limitations/implications
It is difficult to get precise numbers on the value extracted because sustainability costing and related data are often neither available nor standardized.
Social implications
Reported profits minus value extracted, defined as competitive profits, provide a proxy for one bottom line that integrates the financial and sustainability reports.
Details
Keywords
Margaret Hedstrom and Alan Kowlowitz
State government archivists confront special problems in selecting and making available machine‐readable records with enduring research value. Today no more than half a dozen…
Abstract
State government archivists confront special problems in selecting and making available machine‐readable records with enduring research value. Today no more than half a dozen state archives have addressed the issue of electronic records and only two or three states have even rudimentary programs for selecting and preserving electronic records. The National Archives of the United States and Canada provide models for some aspects of program development, but archival programs in states and smaller government entities also face unique problems.
Jenny Mead, Patricia H. Werhane, R. Edward Freeman and Andrew C. Wicks
This case presents the dilemma of a multinational oil and gas company, ExxonMobil, as it factors in the ethical issues related to the environment and cultural differences in…
Abstract
This case presents the dilemma of a multinational oil and gas company, ExxonMobil, as it factors in the ethical issues related to the environment and cultural differences in deciding whether to proceed with building a pipeline in Chad and Cameroon, two of the poorest and most corrupt developing countries in West Africa. The many players in this project included the World Bank--which cofinanced the project and put restrictions into place that would hopefully prevent pipeline-related government corruption in both Chad and Cameroon--and many environmental and human rights groups that warned of potential disaster. The case also covers the environmental and social analysis of the areas that would be affected by the pipeline.
The author used narrative research as a research methodology.
Abstract
Research methodology
The author used narrative research as a research methodology.
Case overview/synopsis
Winston Thompson is the new Residential Manager of Drayson Residential Complex at Sybel University. After meeting with staff in his area of responsibility and learning about the complexities of his new position, Winston needs to determine the best way to build positive relationships with each member of the leadership team in his complex. In this case, students are challenged to determine the best relationship building approach for each staff member using concepts from leader–member exchange theory while also taking into consideration issues of race, age and gender.
Complexity academic level
This case is written for undergraduates in either an upper level leadership or organizational behavior course. The case can be adapted for graduate courses and executive education depending upon the work experience of the individuals.
Details
Keywords
David Philippy, Rebeca Gomez Betancourt and Robert W. Dimand
In the years following the publication of A Theory of Consumption (1923), Hazel Kyrk’s book became the flagship of the field that would later be known as the economics of…
Abstract
In the years following the publication of A Theory of Consumption (1923), Hazel Kyrk’s book became the flagship of the field that would later be known as the economics of consumption. It stimulated theoretical and empirical work on consumption. Some of the existing literature on Kyrk (e.g., Kiss & Beller, 2000; Le Tollec, 2020; Tadajewski, 2013) depicted her theory as the starting point of the economics of consumption. Nevertheless, how and why it emerged the way it did remain largely unexplored. This chapter examines Kyrk’s intellectual background, which, we argue, can be traced back to two main movements in the United States: the home economics and the institutionalist. Both movements conveyed specific endeavors as responses to the US material and social transformations that occurred at the turn of the 20th century, notably the perceived changing role of consumption and that of women in US society. On the one hand, Kyrk pursued first-generation home economists’ efforts to make sense of and put into action the shifting of women’s role from domestic producer to consumer. On the other hand, she reinterpreted Veblen’s (1899) account of consumption in order to reveal its operational value for a normative agenda focused on “wise” and “rational” consumption. This chapter studies how Kyrk carried on first-generation home economists’ progressive agenda and how she adapted Veblen’s fin-de-siècle critical account of consumption to the context of the household goods developed in 1900–1920. Our account of Kyrk’s intellectual roots offers a novel narrative to better understand the role of gender and epistemological questions in her theory.
Details
Keywords
Asks on whose behalf the black woman poet in the USA speaks, what type of language she uses and what audience she has. Points out that an earlier lack of tradition meant that…
Abstract
Asks on whose behalf the black woman poet in the USA speaks, what type of language she uses and what audience she has. Points out that an earlier lack of tradition meant that originally white styles of language were used and aimed at the white audience. Looks at the rise of the blues era and the “blueswoman”. Considers the work of Phillis Wheatley, Alice Dunbar Nelson, Anne Spencer and Angelina Grimke together with Margaret Walker and singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Finally, outlines the development of a political era and the growing sexual freedom of black women and the impact their writings.
Details
Keywords
André de Korvin and Margaret F. Shipley
Determining the proper sample size and frequency of sampling such that quality is assured while financial losses are not unnecessarily incurred is critical to an effective quality…
Abstract
Determining the proper sample size and frequency of sampling such that quality is assured while financial losses are not unnecessarily incurred is critical to an effective quality program. The main purpose of the present work is to design a fuzzy controller to adjust sample sizes and frequency of sampling according to potential fuzzy benefit/loss. A set of fuzzy rules is given where, depending on the antecedents, the sample size and/or sampling frequency may be decreased, remain static or be increased. At any given moment the proportion of defects in the sample determines the firing strength of the rules suggesting an appropriate sample size and sampling frequency. The firing strength is then modified to include an analysis of the decision maker’s belief that as sampling takes place and adjustments are being considered benefit or loss would be incorporated prior to any action or adjustment to sample size and/or frequency.
Details
Keywords
Kathy Boxall, Julie Nyanjom and Janine Slaven
This paper aims to explore the place of disabled guests in the new world of hotel and holiday accommodation shaped by the sharing economy.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the place of disabled guests in the new world of hotel and holiday accommodation shaped by the sharing economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses Levitas’s (2013) Utopia as Method as a methodological tool to develop the hypothetical future scenarios, which are used to explore the place of disabled guests in peer-to-peer holiday accommodation.
Findings
Analysis of the hypothetical scenarios suggests that without state intervention, the place of disabled guests in both traditional hotels and peer-to-peer holiday accommodation is far from secure.
Research limitations/implications
This is a new area and the authors’ discussion is therefore tentative in its intent.
Practical implications
Planners and policymakers should consult with, and take account of, the needs of disabled people and other socially excluded groups when regulating shared economy enterprises. It may be helpful to put in place broader legislation for social inclusion rather than regulate peer-to-peer platforms. Any recourse to markets as a means of resolving access issues needs also to acknowledge the limited power of socially excluded groups within both traditional and sharing economy markets.
Social implications
The hypothetical scenarios discussed within this paper offer planners, policymakers and tourism stakeholders opportunities to think through the access and inclusion needs of disabled guests in the shared economy sector.
Originality/value
The paper extends discussion of hospitality and disability access to include shared economy approaches and the place of disabled guests in the new world of holiday accommodation shaped by the sharing economy.
Details