Bríd D. Dunne, Katie Robinson and Judith Pettigrew
This paper aims to examine the relationship between psychiatry and occupational therapy in Ireland through a case study of the development of the occupational therapy department…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the relationship between psychiatry and occupational therapy in Ireland through a case study of the development of the occupational therapy department in St. Patrick’s Hospital, Dublin, from 1935 to 1969. Patronage by psychiatrists was an important factor in the professionalisation of occupational therapy internationally.
Design/methodology/approach
Documentary sources and oral history interviews were analysed to conduct an instrumental case study of occupational therapy at St. Patrick’s Hospital from 1935 to 1969.
Findings
The research identified key individuals associated with the development of occupational therapy at St. Patrick’s Hospital, including psychiatrist Norman Moore, occupational therapy worker Olga Gale, occupational therapist Margaret Sinclair, and social therapist Irene Violet Grey. Occupational therapy was considered by the hospital authorities to be “an important part in the treatment of all types of psychiatric illness” (Board Meeting Minutes, 1956). It aimed to develop patient’s self-esteem and facilitate social participation. To achieve these objectives, patients engaged in activities such as dances, arts and crafts, and social activities.
Originality/value
This study has highlighted the contributions of key individuals, identified the links between occupational therapy and psychiatry, and provided an insight into the development of the profession in Ireland prior to the establishment of occupational therapy education in 1963. Occupational therapy practice at St. Patrick’s Hospital from 1935 to 1969 was congruent with the prevailing philosophy of occupational therapy internationally, which involved treatment through activities to enhance participation in society.
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Alexandre Rambaud and Jacques Richard
This chapter gives in “Introduction to the Human Capital Issue” a critical analysis of the standard (economic) Human Capital (HC) theory, with the help of some “traditional”…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter gives in “Introduction to the Human Capital Issue” a critical analysis of the standard (economic) Human Capital (HC) theory, with the help of some “traditional” (founding) accounting concepts. From this study, to avoid the accounting and social issues highlighted in “Introduction to the Human Capital Issue,” we present, in “The “Triple Depreciation Line” Model and the Human Capital,” the “Triple Depreciation Line” (TDL) accounting model, developed by Rambaud & Richard (2015b), and we apply it to “HC,” but viewed as genuine accounting capital – a matter of concern – that firms have to protect and maintain.
Methodology/approach
From a critical review of literature on HC theory, from the origin of this concept to its connection with sustainable development, this chapter provides a conceptual discussion on this notion and on the differences/common points between capital and assets in accounting and economics. Then, it uses a normative accounting model (TDL), initially introduced to extend, in a consistent way, financial accounting to extra-financial issues.
Findings
This analysis shows at first that the standard (economic) HC theory is based on a (deliberate) confusion between assets and capital, in line with a standard economic perspective on capital. Therefore, this particular viewpoint implies: an accounting issue for reporting HC, because “traditional” accounting capital and assets are clearly isolated concepts; and a societal issue, because this confusion leads to the idea that HC does not mean that human beings are “capital” (i.e., essential), or have to be maintained, even protected, for themselves. It only means that human beings are mere productive means. The application of the TDL model to an accounting redefinition of HC allows a discussion about some key issues involved in the notion of HC, including the difference between the standard and “accounting” narratives on HC. Finally, this chapter presents some important consequences of this accounting model for HC: the disappearance of the concept of wage and the possibility of reporting repeated (or continuous) use of HC directly in the balance sheet.
Research implications
This chapter contributes to the literature on HC and in general on capital and assets, by stressing in particular some confusions and misunderstandings in these concepts. It fosters a cross-disciplinary approach of these issues, through economic, accounting, and sustainability viewpoints. This analysis also participates in the development of the TDL model and the research project associated. It finally proposes another perspective, more sustainable, on HC and HC reporting.
Social implications
The stakes of HC are important in today’s economics, accounting, and sustainable development. The different conceptualizations of HC, and the narratives behind it, may have deep social and corporate implications. In this context, this analysis provides a conceptual, and practicable, framework to develop a more sustainable concept of HC and to enhance working conditions, internal business relations, integrated reporting. As an outcome of these ideas, this chapter also questions the standard corporate governance models.
Originality/value
This chapter gives an original perspective on HC, and in general on the concept of capital, combining an economic and an accounting analysis. It also develops a new way to report HC, using an innovative integrated accounting model, the TDL model.
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Abstract
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Erin I-Ping Castellas, Jarrod Ormiston and Suzanne Findlay
This paper aims to explore the emergence and nature of impact investment in Australia and how it is shaping the development of the social enterprise sector.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the emergence and nature of impact investment in Australia and how it is shaping the development of the social enterprise sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Impact investment is an emerging approach to financing social enterprises that aims to achieve blended value by delivering both impact and financial returns. In seeking to deliver blended value, impact investment combines potentially conflicted logics from investment, philanthropy and government spending. This paper utilizes institutional theory as a lens to understand the nature of these competing logics in impact investment. The paper adopts a sequential exploratory mixed methods approach to study the emergence of impact investment in Australia. The mixed methods include 18 qualitative interviews with impact investors in the Australian market and a subsequent online questionnaire on characteristics of impact investment products, activity and performance.
Findings
The findings provide empirical evidence of the rapid growth in impact investment in Australia. The analysis reveals the nature of institutional complexity in impact investment and highlights the risk that the impact logic may become overshadowed by the investment logic if the difference in rigor around financial performance measurement and impact performance measurement is maintained. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for the development of the Australian social enterprise sector.
Originality/value
This paper provides empirical evidence on the emergence of impact investment in Australia and contributes to a growing global body of evidence about the nature, size and characteristics of impact investment.
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It is with deep regret that the management of KEK in Macclesfield announce the death of Roy Cooper.
A £400,000 extension has just been completed at the Vinyl Products plant at Carshalton, Surrey. The main equipment and control systems are to the design of their own engineers…
Abstract
A £400,000 extension has just been completed at the Vinyl Products plant at Carshalton, Surrey. The main equipment and control systems are to the design of their own engineers, and will be able to handle a wide variety of emulsion types. This extension virtually exhausts the capacity of the Surrey site, and the company are negotiating for a second site at Warrington.
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Katelin Barron and Shih Yung Chou
This paper aims to develop a spirituality mode of firm strategic planning processes that incorporate four basic firm spirituality elements, namely, transcendence, an inexhaustible…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a spirituality mode of firm strategic planning processes that incorporate four basic firm spirituality elements, namely, transcendence, an inexhaustible source of will, a basic and supreme power and interconnectedness and oneness, used for promoting corporate and community sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual analysis was performed.
Findings
Drawing upon prior research, this paper suggests that there are four major spiritual elements of the firm, namely, transcendence, an inexhaustible source of will, a basic and supreme power and interconnectedness and oneness. Additionally, this paper proposes that to promote long-term sustainability and survival of the firm and community, firms can place strong emphasis on firm transcendence when establishing the vision and mission statements. Moreover, firms may need to assess environmental conditions based upon an inexhaustible source of will. Furthermore, when formulating and selecting strategic alternatives, firms can utilize a basic and supreme power. Finally, firms may implement selected strategic alternatives and strategic controls with interconnectedness and oneness mentality.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first studies that develop a spirituality mode of strategic planning processes focusing on both corporate and community sustainability.
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This paper aims to respond to increasing interest in the intersection between accounting and human rights and to explore whether access to information might itself constitute a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to respond to increasing interest in the intersection between accounting and human rights and to explore whether access to information might itself constitute a human right. As human rights have “moral force”, establishing access to information as a human right may act as a catalyst for policy change. The paper also aims to focus on environmental information, and specifically the case of corporate water‐related disclosures.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper follows Griffin and Sen, who suggest that a candidate human right might be recognised when it is consistent with “founding” human rights, it is important and it may be influenced by societal action. The specific case for access to corporate water‐related information to constitute a human right is evaluated against these principles.
Findings
Access to corporate water‐related disclosures may indeed constitute a human right. Political participation is a founding human right, water is a critical subject of political debate, water‐related information is required in order for political participation and the state is in a position to facilitate provision of such information. Corporate water disclosures may not necessarily be in the form of annual sustainability reports, however, but may include reporting by government agencies via public databases and product labelling. A countervailing corporate right to privacy is considered and found to be relevant but not necessarily incompatible with heightened disclosure obligations.
Originality/value
This paper seeks to make both a theoretical and a practical contribution. Theoretically, the paper explores how reporting might be conceived from a rights‐based perspective and provides a method for determining which disclosures might constitute a human right. Practically, the paper may assist those calling for improved disclosure regulation by showing how such calls might be embedded within human rights discourse.
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Timothy C. Weiskel and Richard A. Gray
The ecological decline of ancient Near Eastern civilizations and the violent and explosive characteristics of post‐Columbian colonial ecologies might well remain comfortably…
Abstract
The ecological decline of ancient Near Eastern civilizations and the violent and explosive characteristics of post‐Columbian colonial ecologies might well remain comfortably remote from us in our twentieth century world were it not for the disturbing parallels that such case histories seem to evoke as we consider our contemporary global circumstance. Just as in ancient times and in the age of colonial expansion, it is in the “remote environments,” usually quite distant from the centers of power, that the crucial indicators of environmental catastrophe first become apparent within the system as a whole. These regions are frequently characterized by weak economies and highly vulnerable ecosystems in our time, just as they were in the past. Accordingly, the environmental circumstances in these regions constitute for the modern world a kind of monitoring device that can provide early warnings of ecological instabilities in the global ecosystem.