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Research is currently being conducted at Cardiff Business School into the impact of wider share‐ownership/profit sharing and privatisation on various aspects of employee relations (see e.g. Poole and Jenkins, 1988; Wilson and Peel, 1989; Groves, Peel and Pendlebury, 1989; Peel, Pendlebury and Groves, 1989; Matthews, 1988). The purpose of the current paper is to outline a specific aspect of this research which is investigating the impact of share‐ownership/privatisation on the ‘financial awareness’ of employees; and to outline some preliminary evidence based on detailed questionnaire returns from leading UK quoted companies.

The absence of relevant information concerning channel members can form one of the major difficulties facing a company attempting to implement a systems approach to the physical distribution of its products. Where channel cohesion permits assistance and co‐ordination, the remedy may be effected by Instituting a routine feedback or conducting a specific research project to collect the data. Many manufacturers, however, possess a channel structure which can be more accurately described as a series of discrete markets rather than a process which involves sharing market opportunities and integrating to ensure the best overall marketing impact. In the former situation business information is normally jealously guarded and alternative methods of data collection, where these are possible, can be lengthy, frustrating and expensive.

In an earlier paper in this journal (Peel, Groves and Pendlebury, 1990), we outlined a major research project, being conducted at the Cardiff Business School, into the impact of privatisation/share‐ownership on the ‘financial awareness’ of employees.

Institutional investors—insurance companies, pension funds, investment trust companies and unit trusts—have increased significantly and persistently their ownership of British industry. At the end of 1977 they owned approximately 46 per cent of the ordinary shares in UK quoted companies and in recent years have accounted for over 50 per cent of stock market turnover in UK equities. Their presence in the stock market has been associated with their ability to influence share prices, decide the outcome of takeover battles, and trade outside the London Stock Exchange. As major shareholders in public companies they have been encouraged to participate in managerial decision‐making. For corporate management, the growth of institutional shareholdings provides opportunities to utilise their voting power in takeover situations, encourage their support for the market value of the company, and use financial institutions as sources of new capital.

Capital investment decisions need to take account of the relevant cash flows which are incremental to each project. The tax effects of a project are clearly an example of relevant cash flows. However, the tax effects of one project may impact upon the tax effects of another. For example, one project may result in significant capital expenditure, which could change the firm's basic profits such that a different marginal tax rate may be applied. The marginal tax rate of a second project depends upon whether the first project is accepted. Thus capital investment decisions need to be made considering projects jointly. The importance of this has been highlighted by a number of authors, including Fawthrop (1971), Grundy and Burns (1979) and Rickwood and Groves (1979). Simulation models have been built by Hodgkinson (1989), whereas optimisation models have been developed by Berry and Dyson (1979), Pointon (1982) and Ashford, Berry and Dyson (1986).

Modernization of Russian higher education is carried out with the purpose of its successful integration into the global educational environment. However, the contemporary management model of most Russian universities demonstrates a low efficiency level. The purpose of this paper is to identify the problems of organizing the universities’ strategic development and to seek the opportunities to achieve strategic competitiveness of Russian universities.

The basic research methods included the following: content analysis, expert evaluations, analysis of the modern concepts of universities strategic management, comparative analysis of high school practice of strategy development, and government regulations in historical perspective.

The major result of the study is the conclusion that the most important problem of the competitiveness of Russian universities is the lack of strategic flexibility. We can say that there is a structural nature of the management crisis affecting the whole system of university education. Over the past 25 years, there has been a radical change in the basic institutional conditions for the development of higher education institutions in Russia: the volumes and changed model of financing; the market landscape and the regional environment; the conditions and the nature of the interaction with international partners, etc. At the same time, in most cases, the platform of this system and standards of internal policy have remained unchanged. Russian education practically lost its individuality. This paper shows the experience of strategic management at leading federal and regional universities of Russia, analyzes the implementation of their development programs, and gives examples of best practices in the use of strategic planning tools.

The relevance and value of the paper is the following: for the first time, thorough attention has been paid to the accumulated potential of Russian universities, which has been formed over a long evolutionary path and now can be positioned as an important management resource in the organization of strategic management for enhancing the global competitiveness of the national system of higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of strategic management accounting (SMA) in an English university. It is in search of and investigates SMA practices and processes, and their meaning to participants in an English university context. The higher education (HE) institution under research had gone through a major change a couple of years prior to this study, including implementation of new strategic management and management accounting practices.

The approach taken is an interpretive one and the adopted methodology is grounded theory according to Glaser's evolved approach. Data collection took place largely through interviews and, where possible, participant observation.

The main findings of the research concern the core concept of the strategising mindset, which encapsulates the institutional, divisional and individual stance towards strategy and SMA. The strategising mindset is understood as the belief system that is adopted with regard to SMA, which is divided into a bureaucratic and an entrepreneurial mindset. According to the respective mindset, accounting for strategic management is dealt with and institutional members' perceptions of SMA are shaped. The particular mindset adopted depends on the context members were and are functioning, which reflects Bourdieu's theory of practice.

The main contributions are the emergent theoretical framework on SMA in HE, the concept of the strategising mindset and resulting views and conclusions on what SMA actually means in practice. To the authors' knowledge, no such theoretical framework has been published to date.

This conspectus attempts to achieve three objectives:

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a field study, investigating accounting, strategising and accounting for strategic management and power structures in the Jordanian higher education (HE) sector on the basis of Bourdieu’s theory of practice.

This paper adopts an interpretive stance, seeking to investigate the perceptions of actors in the field, with regard to accounting, strategising and accounting for strategic management in HE. The adopted methodology is adapted grounded theory, as this study assumes a prior theoretical stance of Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts. Data were collected through participant observation in meetings, at the workplace, interviews and documentation.

The main findings of this paper reflect how strategising and accounting in practice manifest themselves in the Jordanian HE sector. Bourdieu’s theory of practice sets the meta-theoretical context of the current study, with field setting the scene, and habitus being represented in the strategising mind-set participants adopt. The mind-set determines how strategic management accounting is perceived and dealt with. Strategic management accounting takes place at varying degrees. The power structures that influence and determine strategising and accounting in support thereof are researched on the basis of Bourdieu’s forms of capital. Different forms of capital matter in the HE sector determined by fields’ doxa.

The researcher is a part of the field, the Jordanian HE sector; thus, their habitus has been exposed to its characteristics and features. Thus, certain internalised structures and experiences needed to be challenged for this analysis, which was not an easy task.

This study investigates accounting, strategic management and power structures in HE, and it highlights the different power structures, using Bourdieu’s forms of capital, which offers a great insight into how different cultures approach similar issues.

What academic and managerial elements are particularly influential regarding performance? This study aims to address these questions as part of a broader longitudinal study. The current paper focusses on the results relating to performance management and measurement, and how the sectorial developments impacted on individuals and institutions.

An interpretive research methodology was used, which illustrates the institutional performance management and measurement system. The first part of the interpretive study was a single case study, focussing on one “old” research-intensive university. The second part included five institutions, three UK top-tier universities, focussing on top-level research and education, and two “new” universities with a greater teaching than research portfolio.

The current paper focusses on the results relating to performance management and measurement, and how higher education (HE) developments impacted on individuals and institutions, reflected in the notion of performance habitus. The qualitative element of the study sought to gain insight into which factors influence performance management and measurement and what changing effect these have on academic members of staff. The findings illustrate how academic values and managerial control practices create an academia-specific performance management approach, measured by particular key performance indicators that are used for the institution as a whole and then applied to units and individuals within institutions. With regard to institutional performance, more established and institutionalised performance management and measurement practices are relied upon. Both elements are addressed in this study, and the authors conclude that the interplay of human capital and institutional structure creates the most successful performance-related outcome.

The current study adds additional insights on how the changing HE context affects academic members and how the future of the UK HE sector is perceived. Insights can be derived for other HE sectors, as the contextual factors of international competition, tightening of resources and nature of the academic sector transcend national borders. Thus, practices illustrated in the current study are useful for institutions and academic managers of other HE sectors as well.