Public relations practice in sport is not always evident, yet to the contemporary sports business, it has much to offer. This paper explores the value of public relations to…
Abstract
Public relations practice in sport is not always evident, yet to the contemporary sports business, it has much to offer. This paper explores the value of public relations to professional sports organisations. Cricket was chosen in particular because although it does not enjoy the same popularity as soccer in the UK, it has an extremely loyal fan base and widespread support at grass roots level. A critical finding from this research is that the communications strategies recommended for use in cricket are equally applicable to other sports.
The main reason for conducting this research was to conduct an analysis of the extent of public relations activity in domestic first‐class cricket in an attempt to offer a…
Abstract
Purpose
The main reason for conducting this research was to conduct an analysis of the extent of public relations activity in domestic first‐class cricket in an attempt to offer a strategy for effective, proactive public relations.
Design/methodology/approach
The research objectives were achieved by using an exploratory case study approach to evaluate the extent of public relations within the two cricket clubs, Durham County Cricket Club and Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The constructivist approach was adopted, as primary qualitative research strategies provided the bulk of the findings. A purposive sample of respondents was identified for semi‐structured, open‐ended interviews that were conducted face‐to‐face and via the telephone.
Findings
Public relations is extremely important at Durham County Cricket Club. Durham CCC's approach to public relations is the exception rather than the rule amongst the 18 first‐class counties. Yorkshire CCC does not have a dedicated public relations professional on the marketing team. Though there is clearly a place for public relations, other commercial techniques seem to be more important at Yorkshire. The consensus is that public relations is essential to the future success of the sport but the reality is that it is not fully implemented to the extent that it should be or that many in the game would like it to be. If cricket is to have a viable future, it must address its image problems and become more appealing to a demographically different audience than has traditionally been the case. Public relations, more than the other elements of the contemporary promotional mix, offers a potential solution.
Research limitations/implications
The major limitation to this research was that interviews could not be arranged with a Yorkshire player to balance that held with the Durham player. The information gathered by the researcher was necessarily indirect but it was felt that this did not invalidate the research, as a range of secondary sources was used to underpin the primary research findings. As this research was a snapshot in time, it would be useful to conduct further regular research in order to monitor changes in attitudes and approach to public relations in cricket.
Practical implications
The findings from this research are applicable to all sports and can be implemented and adapted accordingly. It is felt that all sports organisations regularly need to review their communications strategies and implement public relations much more widely.
Originality/value
No such research has previously been conducted and all the findings and recommendations are original. Durham CCC has already implemented some of the proposals and the author's continuing work with other sports organisations has been founded on this research.
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Hannah R. Marston, Linda Shore, Laura Stoops and Robbie S. Turner
Fabrizio Granà, Giulia Achilli, Cristiano Busco and Maria Federica Izzo
This paper draws on the case of a multinational energy company to explore the role played by management control systems (MCSs) in enacting governance policies at the local…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper draws on the case of a multinational energy company to explore the role played by management control systems (MCSs) in enacting governance policies at the local (subsidiary) level.
Design/methodology/approach
This research mobilizes the literature on governmentality to interpret MCSs as technologies of government that can be drawn upon to translate governance policies into practice. In particular, the authors discuss this process by interpreting “governance” as an epistemic object, that is an object that generates knowledge because of its inherent incompleteness and abstract nature.
Findings
The paper shows how MCSs act as technical objects insofar they attract, bind and engage local subsidiary managers in the generation of knowledge about governance policies (i.e. the epistemic object) set at the global level, thereby enacting these policies locally.
Practical implications
The findings have practical implications by showing how subsidiary managers engage with MCSs to translate and implement broader governance policies in their daily activities.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the accounting literature on governmentality by showing the role of MCSs as technologies that enact governance at the local level through the process of knowledge generation that these technologies enable. Such knowledge is triggered by the engagement between different participating subjects, attracted by MCSs in the attempt to define governance in practice.
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Maria Gabriella Baldarelli, Mara Del Baldo and Stefania Vignini
The issue of gender inequality in the Italian universities and academic context does not seem to be particularly debated and is really rare. Starting from this “lack of interest”…
Abstract
Purpose
The issue of gender inequality in the Italian universities and academic context does not seem to be particularly debated and is really rare. Starting from this “lack of interest”, the paper aims to inquire into the “state-of-the-art” of existing inequality in the scientific and academic path of Italian female scholars and academia, answering the following research question: Is discrimination between women and men linked to the number of scientific contributions in periodicals and their presence within academic boards of scientific accounting associations and journals in Italy?
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is primarily developed through a deductive analysis of the literature strands concerning gender accounting, accounting in academia and the role of women in universities and academia. Second, within the inductive perspective, the authors have chosen to inquire into the scientific publications of women on the oldest Italian journal in the accounting field – the Rivista Italiana di Ragioneria e di Economia Aziendale (RIREA). Subsequently, the position and career of women were analysed in academia investigating their presence and role within the boards of a sample of Italian journals and the main Italian accounting scientific associations
Findings
Accordingly, this paper concentrates on gender inequalities in university and academia in Italy and on eventual obstacles that get in the way of the existence of scientific contributions in journals and of career progress of those women who carry on scholarly work in accounting.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis confirms the need to open more space for women at the summits of political, economic and cultural institutions, including accounting academia and scientific journals. The paper has some limitations concerning the consideration of only Italian journals and academic associations. Then, we will develop the analysis in comparative terms, as attention will be addressed on the participation in scientific committees and boards of some of the major international scientific associations of accounting. Moreover, we will consider the narrative approach describing the stories of Italian women and accounting scholars to carefully investigate the reasons for this persistent discrimination.
Originality/value
The innovative contribution of the paper is due to the fact that the authors are unaware of previous studies aimed at investigating if female accounting scholars are under-represented compared to their male colleagues within the top positions of the most prestigious Italian accounting associations and scientific journals. Previous research also did not investigate the existence of correlation between Italian women’s scientific productivity, their under-representation within academia and scientific career.
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Jonida Carungu and Matteo Molinari
This paper explores the stereotype of the accountant in Florentine medieval popular culture based on literary works and from a historical perspective. It aims to highlight how…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the stereotype of the accountant in Florentine medieval popular culture based on literary works and from a historical perspective. It aims to highlight how stereotypes change with time and represent the cultural and historical evolution of a society. This research challenges Miley and Read (2012), who stated that the foundation of the stereotype was in Commedia dell'arte, an Italian form of improvisational theatre commenced in the 15th century.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied a qualitative research method to examine the accountant from a medieval popular culture perspective. The analysis consists of two phases: (1) categorisation of the accountant stereotype based on accounting history literature and (2) thematic analysis of The Divine Comedy (1307–1313) and The Decameron (1348–1351). The authors explored a synchronic perspective of historical investigation through a “cross-author” comparison, identifying Dante Alighieri as the first key author of medieval popular culture. During his imaginary journey through The Divine Comedy, Dante describes the social, political and economic context of the Florentine people of the 14th century. Then, with its various folkloristic elements, The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio becomes the “manifesto” of the popular culture in the Florentine medieval times.
Findings
This study shows the change of the accountant stereotype from the medieval age to the Renaissance. The Divine Comedy mainly connotes a negative accountant stereotype. The 14th century's Florentine gentlemen (“i galantuomini”) are apparently positive characters, with an ordered and clean aspect, but they are accused of being usurers. Dante Alighieri pictures the accountant as a “servant of capitalism”, “dishonest person, excessively fixated with money”, “villain and evil” and “excessively rational”. Giovanni Boccaccio mainly portrays a positive accountant stereotype. The accountant is increasingly more reliable, and this “commercial man” takes a more prestigious role in the society. In The Decameron, the accountant is depicted as a “hero”, “gentleman”, “family-oriented person with a high level of work commitment” and “colourful persona, warm, and emotional”. Overall, the authors provided new evidence on the existence of the accountant stereotype in the Florentine medieval popular.
Originality/value
This study engages with accounting history literature accountants' stereotypes in an unexplored context and time period, providing a base for comparative international research on accounting stereotypes and popular culture. Additionally, it addresses the need for further research on the accountant stereotype based on literary works and from a historical perspective. Therefore, this research also expands the New Accounting History (NAH) literature, focussing on the investigation of the accountant stereotype connotations in the 14th century.
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Sónia Maria da Silva Monteiro and Beatriz Aibar‐Guzmán
The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of organizational change undergone by a large Portuguese business group within the context of the environmental agenda and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of organizational change undergone by a large Portuguese business group within the context of the environmental agenda and the role of accounting as a mechanism for change.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports the results of a case study conducted between 2006 and 2009. Information was obtained from semi‐structured interviews and secondary sources. Organizational changes were analyzed using Laughlin's model in order to identify which category reflected most of the changes introduced to address environmental matters.
Findings
This paper offers evidence that change is not a homogeneous phenomenon. Additionally, it confirms previous studies' findings which found that accounting did not play a significant role in the process of organizational change within the context of the environmental agenda.
Originality/value
This paper seeks to complement the research in this area by integrating observations from a case study into an existing model of levels of organizational change according to how a Portuguese business group incorporated environmental issues into its processes, policies and corporate culture.
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Arturo Molina-Collado, María Leticia Santos-Vijande, Mar Gómez-Rico and Juan M. Madera
The purpose of this study is to examine the scientific research related to sustainability in hospitality and tourism from 1994 to 2020 by conducting bibliometric and science…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the scientific research related to sustainability in hospitality and tourism from 1994 to 2020 by conducting bibliometric and science mapping analyses and to discuss the implications for prospective research opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
Keyword co-occurrences with 2,980 published papers collected from the Web of Science (Social Science Citation Index and Emerging Sources Citation Index) were used for the bibliometric-based analysis. The authors use SciMAT software which offers relevant outputs, such as research themes and graphical outputs (strategic diagrams, cluster networks and science mapping representing the temporal evolution of the themes).
Findings
The findings show that biodiversity conservation, sustainable attitudes, climate change, protected areas, satisfaction and environmental management were the focal motor-themes in the studied periods. Additionally, four areas for future investigation are identified and discussed: sustainable behavior and environmental sustainability; consumption, demand and economic growth; tourism development and strategies; and rural tourism, poverty, ethics and education.
Research limitations/implications
This analysis shows insightful results processing a high number of published documents. However, the authors recommend further research focused on qualitative literature review for each critical topic.
Originality/value
The authors are unaware of analogous, completed and recent work about sustainability in hospitality and tourism. The authors believe this article is of great value to academics and practitioners because it synthesizes and disseminates the research topic while providing an outstanding basis for identifying research opportunities.
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Maria Aristizabal-Ramirez and Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza
Development is a dynamic concept that pertains the evolution of human societies. Over the past few years policy makers, as well as academics, have incorporated a very important…
Abstract
Purpose
Development is a dynamic concept that pertains the evolution of human societies. Over the past few years policy makers, as well as academics, have incorporated a very important, yet sometimes neglected, component in the concept of development which is environmental costs and sustainability. One of the key aspects that affects sustainability is energetic consumption, therefore our aim is to determine if changes in oil, coal, and gas, prices during the period 2000–2010 influenced sustainable development.
Methodology/approach
We modified the Human Development Index (HDI) by adding energy consumption component, and propose what we call the Modified Human Sustainable Development Index (HSDI) which captures a broader definition of sustainable development. Then we employ econometric techniques to study the effects of changes in commodity prices on our index in the short run.
Findings
Our results show a nonlinear effect of commodity prices on our index, low and middle-income countries display a positive effect of prices on our HSDI, with smaller effects in the former ones, while high-income countries do not seem to exhibit a significant effect. While low and middle-income countries are typically commodity producers.
Middle-income countries are able to obtain larger benefits in terms of sustainable development due to a better institutional structure which constitutes an opportunity for them in the aftermath of the crisis.
Practical implications
Middle- and low-income countries should design policies that enable them to take advantage of the rises and protect their economies from the falls.
Originality/value
We address the problem of sustainable development and commodity prices in a post-crisi world, which was not reviewed in the literature. In addition we build a measurement of the Human Sustainable Development Index that considers energy consumption as one of its factors. Which is in line with previous results about energy consumption and the Human Development Index.
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Ilse Maria Beuren and Halison Rodrigo de Souza
This study sheds light on a paradox in the field of management accounting, since, on the one hand, the concern with the theoretical anchoring of research in this field has been a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study sheds light on a paradox in the field of management accounting, since, on the one hand, the concern with the theoretical anchoring of research in this field has been a constant and, on the other hand, there is a lack of a broad mapping of the theories adopted by these researchers. Thus, this article aims to map the theoretical anchoring of management accounting articles published in journals.
Design/methodology/approach
The analyses of the theoretical anchoring were concentrated on the 20-year time frame (2003–2022) of articles published in journals covered by the Scimago database. The text mining technique guided by quantitative synthesis and interpretation was applied in the analyses.
Findings
The parameterized searches resulted in 290 theories identified in 573 articles in the field of management accounting published in 70 journals. The theoretical anchoring of the articles, identified by the n-grams mapped in the titles, abstracts and keywords, was demonstrated by year, author and journal. Finally, the alignment between theoretical approaches and the categorization of theories adopted in the articles is highlighted.
Research limitations/implications
This research brings implications to the body of management accounting literature by adding knowledge about its theoretical foundations, to contribute to delineating the scope of this academic field.
Originality/value
Management accounting articles with systematic reviews have prioritized thematic and methodological aspects. Thus, by mapping the theoretical anchoring of articles published in journals, this study adds and extends discussions regarding the theories adopted by researchers to substantiate their research in this field.