Paul D. Clarke, Edward P.M. Gardener, Paul Feeney and Phil Molyneux
The British retail banking market has changed markedly since the beginning of the 1970s, and important trends and developments have increased the competitive pressures facing…
Abstract
The British retail banking market has changed markedly since the beginning of the 1970s, and important trends and developments have increased the competitive pressures facing banks. The whole nature of competition in British retail banking has altered. New competitors and new forms of competition have appeared with increasing rapidity. These changes and the associated pressures on banks have intensified during the 1980s. At the same time, banks have increased the comparative importance of retail banking within their strategies. These pressures and their associated implications for British retail banking strategy are explored. It is emphasised that marketing will need increasingly to dominate bank strategies in retail banking. This orientation towards marketing has important strategic and managerial consequences for banks.
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This paper presents an analysis of UK merger policy based upon the allocative effects of Monopoly and Mergers Commission (MMC) decisions. For some time now evidence has been…
Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of UK merger policy based upon the allocative effects of Monopoly and Mergers Commission (MMC) decisions. For some time now evidence has been available concerning the ineffectiveness of MMC decisions in reducing product market concentration (see Simpson and Shaw 1986, 1989). So, if the reduction of market concentration is not a systematic result of decisions of the MMC, it is interesting to ask what have been the discernible effects of the MMC's activities and what revised objectives might be formulated for that body?
Securitisation is the process of raising finance by the issuing of bonds or commercial paper. In many cases the originator of the arrangement will, in return, be selling a package…
Abstract
Securitisation is the process of raising finance by the issuing of bonds or commercial paper. In many cases the originator of the arrangement will, in return, be selling a package of existing loan assets in the form of debt instruments. The first of these arrangements is known as ‘primary securitisation’, the second as ‘secondary securitisation’. There is no generally accepted legal definition, though Feency provides a useful one:
Orla Feeney and Bernard Pierce
The traditional view of accounting as something that constrains innovation and conflicts with creativity is giving way to a more contemporary belief that accounting can enable…
Abstract
Purpose
The traditional view of accounting as something that constrains innovation and conflicts with creativity is giving way to a more contemporary belief that accounting can enable innovation and support the innovative process. This paper aims to examine this evolving relationship between accounting and new product development (NPD) by exploring how interactions between NPD participants at various stages of the NPD process help to achieve the appropriate balance between firmness and flexibility which is necessary for NPD success.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study method is adopted. Strong structuration theory (SST) is used to examine the complex interactions that take place between managers at various stages in the NPD process, while the concept of minimal structures is drawn upon to explore how these interactions influence the role of accounting in NPD and help to achieve the desired balance between firmness and flexibility.
Findings
The findings of the study reveal that the use of accounting information in NPD is not necessarily prescriptive or normative but is embedded in the everyday interactions taking place throughout the organisation. Formal accounting information, which could be characterised as “push” information, is prepared and presented by the accountant as a formal requirement of NPD, where it is relied upon by the NPD Steering Committee to make stage-gate decisions in the latter stages of the process. This formal accounting information supports the technical structures within the minimal structures framework. Informal accounting information, which could be characterised as “pull” information, is prepared and used by the NPD team to make decisions from the early stages of NPD, often before the formal process has even begun. This information is regarded as a language or given understanding, and is often not even recognised as accounting information by those using it. This type of internalised language formulates the social structures discussed within the minimal structures framework. Together, the formal and informal use of accounting information, and the interactions implicated therein, provides the organisation with the appropriate balance of firmness and flexibility required to effectively govern the NPD process.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to accounting and innovation literature by using SST and minimal structures to explore interpersonal interactions in an NPD context.
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Orla Feeney and Bernard Pierce
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of accounting information in new product development (NPD) using Strong Structuration Theory. NPD is a complex social action…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of accounting information in new product development (NPD) using Strong Structuration Theory. NPD is a complex social action involving a wide range of different actors and clusters of actors. Strong Structuration Theory allows the authors to take a broad view of this social system in order to develop a complete picture of the clusters of actors involved, to comprehensively examine the relevant structures, both internal and external, and to understand how these are formed, reformed or modified through the actions of agents.
Design/methodology/approach
A field study of the manufacturing division of a large group was conducted which explored how managers use accounting information during NPD. Examining how these managers draw upon their conjuncturally specific structures of signification, legitimation and domination, and how these are affected by their external structural conditions and their general dispositional frames of meaning, allowed the authors to develop an in-depth understanding of the managers’ behaviour during NPD.
Findings
These findings suggest that the managers’ use of accounting information is determined as much by the subjective nature of the managers themselves as it is by the objective characteristics of the structures with which they interact. By using Stones’ composite research strategy, which encourages the authors to conceive of internal structures as always looking outwards and external structures as always looking inwards, the findings help the authors to understand the “connecting tissue” between the different elements of the quadripartite of structuration which has been lacking in previous research in the area. This understanding of the connecting tissue between structures was facilitated by the micro-analysis of six managers within a given conjuncture. Using the concept of the agent-in-focus as a tool with which to switch lenses from manager to manager acknowledged the web-like interdependencies between different processes of structuration. This allowed an exploration of the relationships between the various agents and structures.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of Stones’ Strong Structuration Theory at both an ontological and methodological level by operationalising Stones’ model in a case study setting.
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Paul Harris, John Connolly and Luke Feeney
The purpose of this paper is to identify key themes within the blended learning literature and to develop a series of practical recommendations to facilitate the successful…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify key themes within the blended learning literature and to develop a series of practical recommendations to facilitate the successful adaptation and implementation of a “blended approach to learning delivery”.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature was reviewed and informed a series of recommendations for organisations considering adopting or implementing blended approaches to teaching and training.
Findings
Several key themes centering on the importance of evaluation, skills training, pedagogy, human factors, technology and implementation were identified. The emerging themes informed a series of practical recommendations to assist organisations considering blended learning approaches. Findings highlight the current limitations in the evidence base.
Practical implications
The identified key themes and practical recommendations provide a useful assist to organisations considering adopting and implementing blended approaches to teaching and training.
Originality/value
The paper highlights key areas for development in the blended learning literature and at the organisational level.
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Although typologies of violence have become more common, relatively little attention has been given to Donald Black’s (1983) distinction between moralistic and predatory violence…
Abstract
Although typologies of violence have become more common, relatively little attention has been given to Donald Black’s (1983) distinction between moralistic and predatory violence. Moralistic violence is rooted in conflict; predatory violence is rooted in exploitation. We elaborate Black’s typology and show how it is similar to, but distinct from, other typologies of violence. We also address the criteria by which typologies of any kind might be judged. Borrowing from the literatures on typologies and on standards of scientific theory, we argue that explanatory typologies should be evaluated according to four criteria: the degree to which they are powerful, theoretical, general, and parsimonious. Applying the criteria to Black’s typology, we argue that the distinction between moralistic and predatory violence is an important contribution to the arsenal of the student of violence.
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This paper examines how accounting concepts were utilised in domestic waste collection services in Ireland over the past two decades or so. In comparison to other former “free”…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines how accounting concepts were utilised in domestic waste collection services in Ireland over the past two decades or so. In comparison to other former “free” services in the Irish context, the prevalence of accounting concepts has been greater and delivered a more successful outcome.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the concepts of calculation, the “economic” and economization, events around domestic waste policy in Ireland are examined, and the increasing prevalence of concepts such as price, cost and profitability in these processes are a focal point. Publicly available documents such as government policy documents, parliamentary records and media reports are utilised to draw out these concepts. The period of analysis is 1996–2018.
Findings
The findings reveal the role of accounting concepts in the economization of domestic waste policy in Ireland. The result of the economization process was a fully privatised, profit-oriented, price-monitored system.
Research limitations/implications
This research provides a broad view of accounting concepts in the management of domestic waste. It highlights how waste policy in Ireland travelled through instances of being political and economic over time. The research is limited by its use of secondary data.
Originality/value
This study highlights how accounting concepts were used in varying ways to bring about a satisfactory solution to domestic waste disposal in Ireland, namely the privatisation of waste services.
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Kirsi Snellman and Gabriella Cacciotti
The purpose of this chapter is to explore whether and how angel investors’ emotions unfold in the investment opportunity evaluation process as they interact with the social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to explore whether and how angel investors’ emotions unfold in the investment opportunity evaluation process as they interact with the social environment. Complementing recent research that has emphasized the financial calculations, we add angel investors’ own emotional arousal to the list of tools that may help them to rate investment opportunities.
Design/Methodology/Approach
Drawing on semi-structured qualitative interviews, we develop a phenomenological analysis of the investment opportunity evaluation process at the level of angel investors’ lived experience.
Findings
Our findings indicate that when angel investors use their emotional arousal in evaluating investment criteria, they engage in a developmental process characterized by three elements: subjective validation, social validation, and investment decision.
Research Limitations/Implications
We illuminate how discrete emotions can complement rational considerations in the opportunity evaluation journey. Capturing the nature of emotion as action oriented, embodied, socially situated, and distributed, we embrace its adaptive socially situated dynamics.
Practical Implications
Taking a step toward better understanding of the soft aspects in the relationship development that leads to investments, we hope this study will help not only those entrepreneurs who need funding but also those policymakers who design new incentives that improve the flow of investment into promising new ventures.
Originality/Value
We demonstrate how angel investors’ emotions can complement their rational considerations in the investment opportunity evaluation process as they interact with the social environment. Identifying boundary values for the conditions that are necessary and sufficient to advance in the process, we have demonstrated how emotion can serve as a driving or restraining force not only during subjective validation but also during social validation.
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Paul Agu Igwe and Frederick Kanyembo
Firms are affected by resources access, capability and unfavourable business environment, but there is little research on how institutions affect small and medium enterprises…
Abstract
Firms are affected by resources access, capability and unfavourable business environment, but there is little research on how institutions affect small and medium enterprises (SMEs) internationalisation process in developing countries. Drawing on institutional theory, this chapter reviews the variety of institutions (internal and external barriers) and how it affects SMEs’ internationalisation process in the developing world. First, it explores the stages of internationalisation, modes of entry and benefits of internationalisation. Second, it explains the Cultural, Administrative, Geographic and Economic (CAGE framework) distances and theories of internationalisation. Third, it examines the evidence on the role of government in promoting SMEs and drivers of internationalisation. These have significant practical and policy implications, especially for policymakers that are concerned with business reforms and ease of doing business.