John L. Daly and Michael A. Buehner
P-card (i.e., procurement card) programs have been praised as innovative means for procurement systems to save fiscal resources for municipal government while granting greater…
Abstract
P-card (i.e., procurement card) programs have been praised as innovative means for procurement systems to save fiscal resources for municipal government while granting greater purchasing discretion for departmental endusers. Using Hillsborough County (Tampa), Florida as a case study, the authors identify four critical factors that influence the successful implementation of municipal P-card systems. In the final analysis, the authors suggest that the distinction between organizational success and failure for these programs is likely to be a factor of organizational commitment more than technical capacity.
Yulia Kasperskaya and Michael Tayles
Several well‐known managerial accounting performance measurement models rely on causal assumptions. Whilst users of the models express satisfaction and link them with improved…
Abstract
Purpose
Several well‐known managerial accounting performance measurement models rely on causal assumptions. Whilst users of the models express satisfaction and link them with improved organizational performance, academic research, of the real‐world applications, shows few reliable statistical associations. This paper seeks to provide a discussion on the “problematic” of causality in a performance measurement setting.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual study based on an analysis and synthesis of the literature from managerial accounting, organizational theory, strategic management and social scientific causal modelling.
Findings
The analysis indicates that dynamic, complex and uncertain environments may challenge any reliance upon valid causal models. Due to cognitive limitations and judgmental biases, managers may fail to trace correct cause‐and‐effect understanding of the value creation in their organizations. However, even lacking this validity, causal models can support strategic learning and perform as organizational guides if they are able to mobilize managerial action.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should highlight the characteristics necessary for elaboration of convincing and appealing causal models and the social process of their construction.
Practical implications
Managers of organizations using causal models should be clear on the purposes of their particular models and their limitations. In particular, difficulties are observed in specifying detailed cause and effect relations and their potential for communicating and directing attention. They should therefore construct their models to suit the particular purpose envisaged.
Originality/value
This paper provides an interdisciplinary and holistic view on the issue of causality in managerial accounting models.
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Rosalind Searle, Karen V. Renaud and Lisa van der Werff
Adverse cyber events, like death and taxes, have become inevitable. They are an increasingly common feature of organisational life. Their aftermaths are a critical and…
Abstract
Purpose
Adverse cyber events, like death and taxes, have become inevitable. They are an increasingly common feature of organisational life. Their aftermaths are a critical and under-examined context and dynamic space within which to examine trust. In this paper, we address this deficit.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on pertinent theory and reports of empirical studies, we outline the basis of two alternative subsequent trajectories, drawing out the relationships between trust, vulnerability and emotion, both positive and negative, in the aftermath of an adverse cyber event.
Findings
We combine stage theory and social information processing theories to delineate the dynamics of trust processes and their multilevel trajectories during adverse cyber event aftermaths. We consider two response trajectories to chart the way vulnerability arises at different levels within these social systems to create self-reinforcing trust and distrust spirals. These ripple out to impact multiple levels of the organisation by either amplifying or relieving vulnerability.
Research limitations/implications
The way adverse cyber events aftermaths are managed has immediate and long-term consequences for organisational stakeholders. Actions impact resilience and the ability to preserve the social fabric of the organisations. Subsequent trajectories can be “negative” or “positive”. The “negative” trajectory is characterised by efforts to identify and punish the employee whose actions facilitated the adverse events, i.e. the “who”. Public scapegoating might follow thereby amplifying perceived vulnerability and reducing trust across the board. By contrast, the “positive” trajectory relieves perceived vulnerability by focusing on, and correcting, situational causatives. Here, the focus is on the “what” and “why” of the event.
Practical implications
We raise the importance of responding in a constructive way to adverse cyber events.
Originality/value
The aftermaths of cyber attacks in organisations are a critical, neglected context. We explore the interplay between trust and vulnerability and its implications for management “best practice”.
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Alicia Mason, Lynzee Flores, Pan Liu, Kenzie Tims, Elizabeth Spencer and T. Gabby Gire
The purpose of this paper is to understand the crisis communication strategies used by the Caribbean medical tourism industry in the 2017 hurricane season, and also evaluate the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the crisis communication strategies used by the Caribbean medical tourism industry in the 2017 hurricane season, and also evaluate the quality of the disaster communication messages delivered via digital mediums.
Design/methodology/approach
This study includes a comprehensive, qualitative content analysis of 149 risk and crisis messages from 51 healthcare organizations distributed through digital media. The medical tourism providers (MTPs) include hospitals, medical tourism facilitators, practitioners/private physicians, specialty clinics, and dental and cosmetic providers.
Findings
Nearly half of the MTPs included in the data set delivered no post-disaster information to external audiences. The most prominent post-disaster message strategy utilized was conveying operational messages. Furthermore, an unexpected finding was the sheer magnitude of unrelated health-oriented and promotional destination marketing content disseminated before, during and after these events.
Research limitations/implications
This analysis excludes internal organizational channels of communication which may have been used to communicate risk and crisis messages during these events (i.e. employee e-mails, announcements made through intercom systems, etc.). Our analysis does not include content disseminated through medical tourism forums (i.e. Realself.com, Health Traveler’s Forum, FlyerTalk Forum).
Practical implications
Small-scale MTPs can improve on any weaknesses through proactive planning and preparation by creating organizational goals to complete basic crisis communication training courses and in doing so support the applied professional development of disaster and crisis responders in the Caribbean region. Second, MTPs exposed to similar risks of natural disasters may use these findings for comparative analysis purposes to support their own organizational planning. Finally, this study supports the continued utility of the National Center for Food Protection & Defense guidelines for analyzing and evaluating organizational performance.
Originality/value
Currently much of the academic scholarship of applied disaster communication narrowly focuses on the response strategies of one organization, or analyzes one social media platform at a time (i.e. Twitter). A strength of this analysis is the inclusion of an organizational sector (i.e. Caribbean medical tourism providers) and the range of platforms from which the content was captured (e.g. websites, org. blogs and social media networks).