bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The audit crunch: reforming auditing
Authors: Sikka Prem , Filling Steven , Liew Pik 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to stimulate debates about contemporary auditing practices.Design/methodology/approachThe paper builds a generalised theory of auditing to pose some questions about the basic auditing model, notions of audit quality and the possibility that some transactions cannot be audited in the traditional way.FindingsIt is argued that the basic auditing model is flawed since it makes auditors financially dependent on companies. The conventional approach to “audit quality” is also incomplete as it pays little attention to the organisational and social context of auditing. It also argues that as companies have diversified into new forms of investment and complex financial instruments, some transactions may be not be capable of being audited in the traditional way.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper does not offer a comprehensive critique of contemporary auditing issues. Rather it is a focus on some selected issues.Practical implicationsThe paper encourages reflections on contemporary practices and offers some suggestions for reforms.Originality/valueThe paper is a combination of theory, evidence and speculation on contemporary issues.
The audit trinity: the key to securing corporate accountability
Authors: Porter Brenda A. 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to distinguish between corporate accountability and corporate governance, explore the development of corporate accountability and examine the role of the tripartite audit function in securing this accountability.Design/methodology/approachA normative approach has been adopted and the research is based, primarily, on an examination of relevant literature.FindingsSociety facilities the growth of economic entities by providing them with resources. As their command over resources increases, these entities gain significant economic, social and political power and accountability is demanded of their managers as a check on possible abuse of this power. Historically, as companies have increased their power in society, those to whom and that for which their managers are held accountable have been extended. Today, the managers of large public companies are considered to be accountable to society as a whole for a wide range of corporate activities. The discharge of corporate accountability traditionally relied on the preparation and audit of accountability reports (financial statements). However, from the 1990s, responding to the increasing severity of the impact on society of unexpected corporate failures – and continued failures – responsible corporate governance was added as an accountability requirement. Further, as the activities for which companies are accountable have been extended (paralleling the growth of their “power” in society), so corporate responsibility information has featured as an element in their accountability reports. As these changes have occurred, the importance of the tripartite audit function in securing corporate accountability has come to be recognised and its members – the company's external and internal auditors and its audit committee – have become increasingly multi‐disciplinary in nature.Originality/valueThe paper explores the questions of why corporate accountability arises and how it is discharged. It explains the relationship between corporate governance and accountability and the role of the audit function in securing corporate accountability. It also provides insights into changes occurring in the audit function and how these might develop.
Restoring trust in auditing: ethical discernment and the Adelphia scandal
Authors: Barlaup Kristine , Iren Drønen Hanne , Stuart Iris 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to encourage ethical discernment as a dimension of business decision‐making.Design/methodology/approachDevelopment of ethical discernment and a process of ethical evaluation in the analysis of decisions made by the auditors and management in the Adelphia accounting scandal.FindingsThe paper finds that accounting may benefit from an increased focus on ethical discernment and ethical behavior. Ethical behavior may help restore trust and confidence in the capital market system and reduce fraudulent financial reporting.Originality/valueThis paper presents an alternative to regulation for restoring trust in the financial oversight function.
Travelling audit's fault lines: a new architecture for auditing standards
Authors: Hatherly David J. 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to challenge the conceptual basis upon which the current auditing standards are based.Design/methodology/approachThe paper critically appraises the Auditors' Code published by the Auditing Practices Board and containing the nine fundamental and enduring principles upon which current auditing standards are based.FindingsIt is argued that the nine enduring principles should be replaced by seven enduring tensions – the fault lines of auditing – so as to rethink the conceptual basis of auditing standards. Five of these are drawn from the paper's analysis of the Auditors' Code and two are based upon the author's experience of the issues arising in the preparation of the Code and the ensuing debate.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research should be carried out to test the robustness of the seven enduring tensions as the basis for standard setting. A first step might be to map the existing standards onto the new conceptual basis.Practical implicationsStandard setters can deploy a new architecture for auditing standards and one that addresses the tensions inherent in auditing. Standard setting should be recognised as an activity dominated by ethical choices and concerns.Originality/valueThe new conceptual basis should provide us with a much closer reading of what auditing is, and its potential for development without expectation gaps.
The rise and rise of the B2B brand
Authors: Wise Rick , Zednickova Jana 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate to leaders of business‐to‐business (B2B) organizations the value of using brand management disciplines and tools to accelerate growth. The premise is that B2B organizations need robust, coherent brands if they are to operate successfully and grow as fast as they tell shareholders they will.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses empirical studies, mini profiles and research into the Fortune 500's stated rebranding initiatives to show that branding disciplines are joining the line‐up of management tools that can help drive business success and rekindle growth in industrial companies.FindingsThe paper finds that in more and more industrial sectors, companies view strong brand management as a powerful mechanism for expanding into adjacent markets, acquiring and retaining scarce talent and counterbalancing the strength of downstream customers. The paper opens with an anecdote about Johnson Controls, draws on Lippincott research showing the percentages of Fortune 500 corporations engaged in rebranding campaigns, and brings in examples to show that leading industrials are reassessing brand value with business objectives firmly in mind. The paper goes on to explain why B2B branding is more crucial today. It lays out five persistent myths that stymie action, describes seven key practices that underpin B2B branding success and includes a sidebar with “call to action” points.Practical implicationsThe paper's examples and 11 “call to action” points are designed to spark discussion in boardrooms of industrial companies about how to reinforce branding initiatives.Originality/valueThis paper is targeted to “C‐suite” executives in industrial companies who are not typically exposed to branding issues and who need to understand branding's impact on business performance. Its greatest value is that it presents clear routes for action.
The leadership lessons of crucible experiences
Authors: Thomas Robert J. 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explore different types of crucible experiences – transformative events that happen both on and off the job and that are the raw material from which outstanding leaders derive their core qualities.Design/methodology/approachPrimarily through interviews with leaders in a wide range of organizations, the author analyzed nearly 200 crucible experiences and identified three varieties: “New Territory” (encounters with the unknown); “Reversal” (loss, impairment, or defeat); and “Suspension” (an extended period of contemplation).FindingsEach type of crucible conveys different lessons for aspiring or established leaders. While the lessons vary, common themes emerge: the importance of relying on others; the interdependence of people within organizations; the need to continually ask questions, not just give answers; the importance of having a mission and recognizing that you are not bulletproof.Originality/valueThe article takes the idea of learning from experience and gives it a unique twist by focusing on life's most difficult experiences. Readers will appreciate the need to get out of the classroom and to mine the value of their own experiences.
Delegating and devolving power: a case study of engaged employees
Authors: Pech Richard J. 
Published: January 2009

PurposeIssues of trust and control are two major determinants for employee disengagement and organizational conflict. The following article describes how Bill Day, owner of Seaworks, a rapidly growing ocean salvage company, deals with issues of trust and employee disengagement.Design/methodology/approachThis article incorporates findings from an interview with Bill Day and literature on the areas of trust, employee disengagement, and the need for a personal sense of control.FindingsKey determinants for employee engagement are a sense of trust between employees and their managers as well as a sense of personal control. Restructuring efforts in the past may have been major contributors to employee disengagement. Trust must be communicated through the firm's culture and it must start from the top of the organization. A key barrier between employees and managers is the managerial reluctance to delegate authority and devolve power. This conflict between the organization's goals and the goals of its managers is a major catalyst for organizational dysfunctionality.ImplicationsThere may be a direct correlation between managerial reluctance to delegate decision‐making and employee disengagement. This defensive posture by management negatively affects employee‐management trust and employees' sense of control in the workplace. While attempts at organizational delayering and employee involvement in decision‐making have often failed in the past, a commonsense approach is suggested with a heightened probability of success.Originality/valueThis paper suggests a practical means of reducing the incidence of employee disengagement and thereby increasing productivity and performance. Issues concerning trust and control in organizations are resolved. It is also posited that such proposed organizational improvements will reduce workplace conflict and absenteeism, employee turnover, and increase economy of effort, thereby lowering costs and improving profitability.
Iceberg ahead
Authors: Marren Patrick 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the retirement of the Baby Boom generation and the fiscal crisis that almost certainly will accompany it.Design/methodology/approachOpinion column.FindingsThis column lays out the reasons why the current fiscal situation is unsustainable and why the retirement of the Baby Boomers will cause economic dislocation for the entire economy, shaping strategic choices for many business decision‐makers.Originality/valueAdvance warning about a serious issue that will cast a shadow on the entire strategic business environment for the next few decades.
Membership has its shareholder rewards
Authors: Jackson Stuart E. 
Published: January 2009

PurposeMost business executives understand the importance of taking care of their best customers but they often limit their focus to engaging the left side of their customers' brains: the calculating side, paying attention to “hard” financial considerations such as level of discounts. In addition, executives should think about how they can engage customers' right/irrational/emotive side. One of the most effective ways to do this is to create a feeling among key customers that they are members of an exclusive club, building on the human need to affiliate. Humans want to belong to something, and preferably, something more sublime and more significant than ourselves. We want to believe that we are getting special access, special treatment, special handling – special something. Companies that can successfully tap into this left brain affiliation need will build extraordinary customer loyalty and long term value for shareholders. The author proposes four key strategies for companies considering going down this path.Design/methodology/approachIn this article, Jackson considers a number of case examples of businesses that have built loyal “membership” customers who can be relied upon to keep coming back in large part because of the affiliation benefits they feel with the companies that serve them. Examples industries cited in the article include the real estate, retail, airlines, car rental and consumer durables. The author then draws lessons that can be applied broadly across any business considering strategies to build loyalty among its best customers.FindingsCompanies should proactively engage with the left brain needs of their customers. This involves developing programs that differentiate the businesses' best customers, providing visible benefits that are not available to ordinary consumers. The programs should target softer benefits and affiliation needs as well as providing good customer value. Those companies that are able to build a sense of membership among their customers will achieve increased loyalty and shareholder value.Originality/valueBrand managers have always recognized how left brain thinking can overwhelm right brain hard cost‐benefit considerations in product choice. This article extends that thinking beyond brand attributes to how customers and suppliers interact. It demonstrates how company leaders who successfully target humans' left brain affiliation needs in designing customer interactions can attract and retain customers much more cost‐effectively than those who limit their focus to “hard” cost‐benefit considerations. In doing so, they can build competitive advantage and long term shareholder value.
The post‐conservative orphan: why the USA needs an effective government economic policy
Authors: Wolnicki Miron 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address the root causes of rising imbalances in the US economy. There is the view that the dominance of the liberal economic philosophy among the American decision makers and business elite resulted in marginalization of the role of the economic government. As a result, the US economy is facing problems in many sectors and might be poorly prepared to face the challenge of globalization in the knowledge‐based industries.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides review and critique of the contemporary literature of “declininists” proclaiming the end of the American Empire.FindingsIn order to restore the strength of the US economy and utilize its potential, Americans must consider a new generation of politicians and legislators capable of reforming the tax system, stepping up the supervision of the financial sector, eliminating inequality in education and reforming the electoral system.Research limitations/implicationsAmerica is at a turning point. The problems of the American economy are home‐made, but their implications are international. In the last two decades the USA pursued a dysfunctional dual dependence on imports of manufactured goods and capital. Allowing the dollar devaluation has been a short‐sighted policy which will have dire consequences on import‐dependent economy and the USA's position in the world economy. Liberal prescriptions of self‐regulating markets cannot replace long‐term government economic strategy which America badly needs today.Practical implicationsSince the liberal wishful‐thinking failed, economists, politicians and legislators should stop evoking conservative liberal mantras and start working on responsible economic policy solutions before the US economy plunges into a deep recession and years of damaging pessimism.Originality/valueRather than repeating arguments of the authors proclaiming the end of American Empire, the paper looks for chances and opportunities for the US economy's rejuvenation in the future.
Global food crisis: magnitude, causes and policy measures
Authors: Singh Sumanjeet 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the magnitude and various causes of the global food crisis. Further, the paper aims to suggest policy measures towards the solution of global food crisis problem.Design/methodology/approachTo verify the problem of global food crisis, the paper mainly utilizes food price index of UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and qualititative information to highlight the international reaction/initiative/scenario in food crisis regime.FindingsFood security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for a healthy and active life. Unlike nutrition, where treatment is guided by standard protocols based on human nutritional requirements, food security must take into account a wide range of factors such as climate, geography, socio‐economic systems, and political structures. The challenges in achieving food security are to reduce poverty, increase food security without further degrading natural resources, and to cope with population growth, rising incomes and inflation, changing food habits, conversion of food crops into biofuels, increasing speculation in the commodity market and urbanization. To solve the problem of global food crisis, a coordinated multi‐stranded approach is needed.Practical implicationsImproving food security will help governments to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs). Food security will not only help to eradicate hunger, it will also help to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health. Most importantly, it will help to break the cycle of poverty.Originality/valueThe paper presents comprehensive research work in the field of global food crisis and highlights the various dimensions of the global food crisis problem. The paper also provides innovative policy measures to solve the global food crisis.
A relationship between current globalisation, unemployment, inequality and poverty
Authors: Ukpere Wilfred I. , Slabbert Andre D. 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThis paper contends that there is a positive relationship between current globalisation, unemployment, inequality and poverty, which paves a vista for further academic discourse.Design/methodology/approachAs a meta‐analytical study, the paper relied on secondary data. It is a qualitative study, which is based on conceptual analysis, theory building and “emic” perspective (authors' viewpoint).FindingsA relationship between current globalisation, unemployment, inequality and poverty should be investigated further. Unemployment increases levels of inequality and poverty within society. Although bequeathed with various names and definitions, the logics of current globalisation seem to have exacerbated the problem of global unemployment, the corollary of which is endemic inequality and poverty.Practical implicationsIncreases in income inequality and poverty over the past decades, can be attributed to globalisation. Therefore, within the domain of unemployment, inequality and poverty in the era of globalisation, renewed problems of global competition, job termination, wage reductions, labour immobility and technological displacement of workers, have accelerated the rate of global unemployment, the corollary of which is endemic inequality and poverty.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper is that it examines the phenomenon of globalisation, unemployment, inequality and poverty, from a different perspective, which creates an opportunity for further constructive debate.
Can Curaçao become a Creative Economy? A case study
Authors: Goede Miguel 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the creative class of Curaçao, which is a small Caribbean island coping with globalisation. The paper will contribute to the development of a framework for the discussion of the Creative Economy.Design/methodology/approachThe paper contributes to the development of a framework for understanding the Creative Economy. This framework is then applied to the case of Curaçao. After analysis, conclusions are drawn.FindingsIn Curaçao there are many conditions present which support the development and creation of the creative class or attract it from other locations. On the other hand, policies should be put in place to retain the creative class. The theories and methods relating to the creative class are not yet fully developed.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to a framework for understanding the Creative Economy of small Caribbean islands.
Is the hand of God involved in human cooperation?
Authors: Ahmed Ali M. , Salas Osvaldo 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the supernatural punishment theory. The theory postulates that religion increases cooperation because religious people fear the retributions that may follow if they do not follow the rules and norms provided by the religion.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports results for a public goods experiment conducted in India, Mexico, and Sweden. By asking participants whether they are religious or not, one can study whether religiosity has an effect on voluntary cooperation in the public goods game.FindingsNo significant behavioral differences were found between religious and nonreligious participants in the experiment.Originality/valueThis paper differs from the previous limited experimental literature, studying religiosity and cooperation, in the sense that it uses a public goods game rather than a prisoner's dilemma game. The public goods game is more interesting since many real life problems are multilateral rather than bilateral. Further, the study was conducted in three different countries: India, Mexico, and Sweden; with three different types of potentialy religious people: Hindus, Catholics, and Protestants.