Many academic leaders have little formal leadership training, which can result in challenges to effective leadership, succession planning and burnout. This paper aims to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
Many academic leaders have little formal leadership training, which can result in challenges to effective leadership, succession planning and burnout. This paper aims to explore the leadership skills needed to be an effective senior academic leader in a Canadian medical faculty.
Design/methodology/approach
An anonymous voluntary survey of needed leadership skills and supports was sent to 60 senior academic leaders at the University of Alberta. This was followed by interviewing a purposive sample, using open-ended questions based on a multimodal needs assessment of senior academic leaders. The authors used an iterative process to analyze the data; anonymized transcripts were coded and categorized separately by two researchers, and themes were created.
Findings
The “ability to influence” was the highest rated needed leadership skill in the survey. The interviewed leaders (n = 12) were unanimous that they felt unprepared at the start of the leadership role. The survey and interviews identified five major themes for leadership skills: Mentoring, Finances, Human Resources, Building Relationships and Protected Time. Networking and leadership courses were identified as major sources of support.
Research limitations/implications
Although a single site study, the results were similar to another large Canadian medical faculty (University of Toronto, Lieff et al., 2013). While the survey had a 42% response rate (25/60), the survey responses were echoed in the interviews. Although the purposive sample was small, the interviewed leaders were a representative sample of the larger leadership group.
Originality/value
Academic leaders may benefit from a mentorship team/community of leaders and specific university governance knowledge which may help their ability to influence and advance their strategic initiatives.
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Zhuoming Wang, Muhammad Jahangir Ali and Mahmoud Al‐Akra
The purpose of this study is to examine whether the level of voluntary disclosure affects firm value in the Chinese capital market. It also investigates whether voluntary…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine whether the level of voluntary disclosure affects firm value in the Chinese capital market. It also investigates whether voluntary disclosure and the values of Chinese firms are influenced by the global financial crisis (GFC).
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a sample of 714 firm‐year annual reports of listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges over a period of five years from 2005 to 2009 and adopt a two‐stage OLS (2SLS) procedure.
Findings
It is found that the extent of voluntary disclosure has improved in China during the period studied. The multiple regression results indicate that more voluntary disclosure does not create value for Chinese firms. It is also observed that multinational ownership, non‐executive directors, and audit committee presence are positively and significantly associated with voluntary disclosure. Furthermore, the study reports that state and individual ownerships are negatively associated with firm value while multinational ownership and liquidity have a positive significant association with firm value. During the financial crisis, voluntary disclosure continues to increase, however, firm value has decreased.
Originality/value
Using data from the Chinese market, the study fills a research gap by examining the value relevance of voluntary disclosure and tests whether the Global Financial Crisis has influenced voluntary disclosure levels and Chinese firms' values.
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Michael Saker and Leighton Evans
This chapter is concerned with examining the families that play Pokémon Go together within the context of spatial practices. The chapter begins by outlining the general approach…
Abstract
This chapter is concerned with examining the families that play Pokémon Go together within the context of spatial practices. The chapter begins by outlining the general approach to spatiality that we adopt throughout this book, which is predicated on the ‘spatial turn’ within the social sciences. Here, spatial practices are understood as being socially constructed in day-to-day live, as opposed to being something simply given. In other words, ‘the concept of the city’ and the ‘urban fact’ (de Certeau, 1984, p. 1, italics in original) are not one and the same thing. Instead, the phenomenology of space is moulded in the social realm as part of the practice of everyday life, which has consequences for hybrid reality games (HRGs) like Pokémon Go. After delineating between ‘space’ and ‘place’ à la the ‘mobilities turn’, we shift our attention to embodied approaches to urban life. This begin with an examination of the art of the flânerie, which has been reimagined to account for the ubiquity of mobile media, and more recently, locative games. A review of the literature surrounding locative games demonstrates that, for the most part, concerns about spatiality have not extended to the kind of intergenerational play that is the focus of this book. Drawing on our original study of Pokémon Go, as outlined above, then, the chapter is driven by the following research questions. First, to what extent does Pokémon Go lead to families spending more time outside and how is this reshaping experienced. Second, what effect does this HRG has on the routes and pathways families choose to follow while traversing their physical setting, as well as the sites they frequent. Third, to what extent do families engage with the various elements of Pokémon Go and what does this suggest about the evolution of locative play in the context of earlier location-based social networks (LBSNs).
The UK Office for Library and Information Networking are engaged in a wide range of work in the area of metadata, in cooperation with various partners. Projects on metadata for…
Abstract
The UK Office for Library and Information Networking are engaged in a wide range of work in the area of metadata, in cooperation with various partners. Projects on metadata for Internet resource discovery, interoperability and digital preservation all point to the continuing need for something like traditional library services to organise, access and preserve networked information.
The purpose of this paper is to identify “qualitative” factors influencing voluntary information disclosure in annual reports.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify “qualitative” factors influencing voluntary information disclosure in annual reports.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi‐structured interviews were held with twenty‐seven market participants in Malaysia to elicit opinions on issues related to voluntary information disclosure.
Findings
Analysis of interview responses revealed that factors influencing voluntary disclosure in annual reports include the quality of management, gaining analyst trust and promoting company shares, good news versus bad news, the existence of other channel of communication, governance structure and market forces.
Research limitations/implications
Some of the “qualitative” factors identified do not appear to be totally independent from one another. Further work using factor analysis can be an avenue for future research on accounting disclosure.
Practical implications
The results also suggest that some companies may be willing to share information to selected interested parties such as analysts during private meetings rather than in a public document such as the annual report. Thus disclosure in a corporate annual report should not be taken as a conclusive measure of a company's extent of voluntary reporting.
Originality/value
This paper is one of few studies which adopts an interview approach to identify “qualitative” factors influencing voluntary information disclosure in annual reports.
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Social Work education has seen some changes since my first paper on how The Archers could be used to enhance a student's understanding of service user experiences (Burrows, 2016)…
Abstract
Social Work education has seen some changes since my first paper on how The Archers could be used to enhance a student's understanding of service user experiences (Burrows, 2016). Social Work students still, however, need to understand the difficulties that their future service users may experience; learning is developed through lectures, seminars and workshops, and most of all through practice experience, but a real challenge for educators is how to show students the constant lived reality of families and communities who have complex difficulties. A visit to a household only gives a snapshot of their life, and service users may be guarded in their behaviour during a professional visit. My original paper considered the educational value of the ‘fly-on-the-wall’ perspective of The Archers, in catching unguarded moments and drawing attention to issues in the community. From the impact of rural poverty and unaffordable housing, through issues of mental health, hospital discharge, to adult survivors of child sexual abuse and the tangled webs of modern slavery, these issues will resonate with any social worker, in Adult, Children and Families or Mental Health fields. These are not just issues in a rural setting; professionals in more urban settings will recognise these as things the families and individuals they work with must deal with from time to time.
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Desi Adhariani and Charl de Villiers
This paper aims to explore the perspectives of corporate report preparers and other stakeholders on integrated reporting (IR) in a major Southeast Asian economy.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the perspectives of corporate report preparers and other stakeholders on integrated reporting (IR) in a major Southeast Asian economy.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey is used to explore perspectives on IR.
Findings
There is a limited level of knowledge regarding IR, but a high level of interest. Corporate report preparers paradoxically state that they can see the benefits of IR, yet they are reluctant to implement it.
Practical implications
Changes to university curricula, training sessions, seminars and conferences may be needed to disseminate information regarding IR.
Social implications
IR implementation may be stymied by the low levels of knowledge in Southeast Asia and hence lack of demand from stakeholders. High-quality reporting generally supports capital flows into a region and thus influences economic and social well-being. The integrated financial and non-financial information needs of stakeholders thus have an indirect impact on society.
Originality/value
Southeast Asia is an economic powerhouse and home to hundreds of millions of people. It is important to understand the potential for IR in this region. This is the first survey of its kind to explore these matters.
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Arnold Schneider and Jonathan Kugel
This chapter traces the evolution of personality trait research in the behavioral accounting literature and offers suggestions for past and future trends. These personality traits…
Abstract
This chapter traces the evolution of personality trait research in the behavioral accounting literature and offers suggestions for past and future trends. These personality traits include, among others, those measured by the Myers-Briggs Type and Five Factor models (FFMs), Type A/B, tolerance for ambiguity, locus of control, authoritarianism, and the Dark Triad components of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. In a broad spectrum analysis of accounting journals without regard to timing or geographics, we attempt to capture the major phases of personality trait research and provide suggestions as to the surrounding environment for such progressions in the literature. In addition to more established research streams, this chapter also discusses other personality traits that have only been marginally investigated in the accounting literature, and possible directions for future research.
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This chapter explores the fascinating relationship between the way we speak (our accents) and who we are (our identities) by investigating the ways in which accent is used in The…
Abstract
This chapter explores the fascinating relationship between the way we speak (our accents) and who we are (our identities) by investigating the ways in which accent is used in The Archers in the process of characterisation. It begins by describing the link between accent and identity in everyday life, arguing for a perspective in which the way we speak is seen as contributing to the active performance of our identities rather than something through which our identities are passively reflected. The main part of the chapter describes two small studies into the ways in which The Archers both uses and reinforces existing language-based stereotypes in order to help in its presentation of clear and recognisable characters.