bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Knowing “the price of everything and the value of nothing”: accounting for heritage assets
Authors: Hooper Keith , Kearins Kate , Green Ruth 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the conceptual arguments surrounding accounting for heritage assets and the resistance by some New Zealand museums to a mandatory valuing of their holdings.Design/methodology/approachEvidence was derived from museum annual reports, interviews and personal communications with representatives of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand (ICANZ) and a range of New Zealand museums.FindingsICANZ's requirement that heritage assets be accounted for in a manner similar to other assets is shown as deriving from a managerialist rationality which, in espousing sector neutrality, assumes an unproblematic stance to the particular nature and circumstances of museums and their holdings. Resisting the imposition of the standard, New Zealand's regional museums evince an identity tied more strongly to notions of aesthetic, cultural and social value implicit in curatorship, than to a concern with the economic value of their holdings. Museum managers and accountants prefer to direct their attention to what they see as more vitally important tasks related to the conservation, preservation and maintenance of heritage assets, rather than to divert scarce funds to what they see as an academic exercise in accounting.Originality/valueThe paper points to some of the difficulties inherent in the application of a one‐size‐fits‐all application of an accounting standard to entities and assets differentiated in their purpose and essence.
The conceptual arguments concerning accounting for public heritage assets: a note
Authors: Barton Allan 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to reply/comment on the paper by Keith Hooper et al., titled “‘Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing’: accounting for heritage assets”.Design/methodology/approachThis note uses the economic theory of public goods to complement the explanation and analysis of Hooper et al's article on accounting for public heritage assets by New Zealand museums.FindingsUsing public goods theory from economics, the paper explains why the “sector neutral” approach, which underlies the application of commercial accounting standards to public heritage assets, is unsound; why “fair market prices” cannot be obtained for public heritage assets because of their being public goods; and why they should be accounted for outside the statement of financial position as assets held in trust by the custodial entities.Originality/valueThe opposition of some of the museums to the accounting standards being imposed on them is soundly based in the economic theory of public goods.
The first poem of the financial year
Authors: Irvine Patricia 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo reflect on the way that wellbeing is measured.Design/methodology/approachFictional poem.FindingsThe poem reflects on the measurement of wellbeing, contrasting the natural world with that created by humankind. It suggests a differential enjoyment of benefits within humankind, and incidentally asks how the fruits of the creative mind can be weighed against material accounts.Research implicationsEncourages consideration of the worth of systems of accounting when individual lives can be so disparate in their sharing of social wealth.Originality/valueA unique interpretation of the practice of accounting.
Guadalajara
Authors: Ramsey Caroline 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo reflect on what evidence might be persuasive, powerful, and influential in decision‐making.Design/methodology/approachFictional poem.FindingsMeditation on the way that we decide what to do, account for it, be responsible for it to others, and be accountable to them.Research limitations/implicationsStimulates thought about how organisations construct an agreed set of terms and language for measuring progress and organising accountability.Originality/valueAn individual comment on assessing what language is appropriate for building organisations.
Editorial
Authors: Neu Dean , Graham Cameron 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis essay sets out to introduce the special issue.Design/methodology/approachThe essay discusses a variety of approaches to exploring the relationship between accounting and the public interest, and briefly reviews the contribution of the articles in the issue.FindingsNot applicable.Originality/valueThe essay argues that accounting research can be opened up by problematizing the notion of the public interest, and by considering not only how accounting constitutes the public interest, but how various public interests constitute accounting.
What is the meaning of “the public interest”?
Authors: Baker C. Richard 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo examine the rhetorical claims put forth by several prominent organizations in the American public accounting profession that claim to act in the public interest, and to attempt to identify the ideological position or positions underlying their claims.Design/methodology/approachCertain rhetorical claims put forth by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) are examined. A discussion of Paul Ricoeur's concept of ideology follows, along with an explanation of the way in which Ricoeur's understanding of ideology can be used to gain a better understanding of the ideology of the American public accounting profession.FindingsInitially it appears that the rhetorical claims of the prominent organizations of the American public accounting profession reveal an underlying neo‐liberal ideology. Closer examination indicates a certain degree of ambiguity with respect to a neo‐liberal ideology, with a greater emphasis placed on the importance of regulation of capital markets through auditing and financial accounting standards setting. This ambiguity also reveals that there are economic interests involved and that these economic interests constitute a public accounting ideology, one which conflates the values and activities of the public accounting profession with serving the public interest. This public accounting ideology can be understood as providing a socially integrative function for the public accounting profession and also a justifying function with respect to maintaining the legitimate authority of CPAs with respect to auditing and financial accounting standards setting. The distortive aspect of ideology is also evident, in that there seems to be an inability to determine precisely what the meaning of the public interest is or may be.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a limited study of only three prominent organizations in the American public accounting profession.Practical implicationsMay help to define the meaning of the term “the public interest.”Originality/valueUses Ricoeur's concept of ideology for the first time in the accounting literature. One of the first papers to explicitly address the meaning of “the public interest.”
Empirical study of a venture capital relationship
Authors: Smith Julia A. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe paper aims to examine five assumptions of agency theory: that both investor and investee make rational decisions; future outcomes are predictable; both act in their own best interests; the investee has an information advantage over the investor; and the investee is work‐ and risk‐averse.Design/methodology/approachAn agency framework is used to analyse the relationship between a venture capital investment house and one of its investees. Empirical evidence is provided on the nature of this relationship. Additional evidence of the post‐investment performance of both parties is provided, to examine whether the contractual arrangements are conducive to good performance.FindingsThere is general support for the assumptions of agency theory, and the framework is found to provide a useful basis for analysing the relationship between a venture capital investor and investee.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper uses case studies of one investor and one investee, and so is limited by data, coupled with a qualitative analysis. Further quantitative work should use a larger sample and statistical or econometric methods, to support the findings.Practical implicationsThe empirical evidence shows that an investor who is alert to such problems as agency theory implies may take steps to control adverse effects, e.g. through improved management accounting systems for monitoring and control.Originality/valueThe paper gives evidence on the internal management practice of venture capital investors and investees, linked to publicly available performance measures. Thus it provides an insight into practice which will be of interest to investors, investees and academic researchers alike.
Half a pound of tuppeny rice
Authors: Jacobs Kerry 
Published: January 2007

PurposeSeeks to reflect on the way that truths about commerce and labour have been captured in seemingly “innocent” rhymes.Design/methodology/approachFictional prose.FindingsThe piece contemplates the trap into which a tradesman might fall when at the mercy of fluctuating demand and tempted to give up his tools. Alternative means of income are weighed up and a moral about managing money is suggested.Research limitations/implicationsEncourages further consideration of the way that common rhymes represent the economic and social truth of their times.Originality/valueA creative representation of the origins of popular verses that deal with working lives of the past.
Three poems on organisation, control and exchange
Authors: Reid Gavin C. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo express and illustrate in verse ubiquitous problems of organizational, auditing and trading malfunctions, thereby stimulating the imagination to contemplate alternative approaches.Design/methodology/approachPoetic expression of the following design: I. “Putting out work”. Three nine‐line stanzas of syllabic verse, mythic in tone, otherwise of irregular, free form. Expression approaches prose poetry. II. “The happiest days of your life”. Three seven‐line stanzas of free verse, mythic in tone. III. “The exchange”. Twelve six‐line stanzas in free verse; a narrative prose poem.FindingsI. Asks whether the discredited putting‐out system is not lurking yet in modern “home‐working”, but with more subtle drawbacks, and even closer control. II. Finds that pressures to permit labour abuses are persistent, even in alleged “advanced” economies – its incidence and its form are just more surreptitious. III. Develops an alternative metaphor for North‐South economic relations, and suggests exploring an ethics of “gift exchange”, in contrast with the so‐called “anonymity of the market”.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of verse in this context is that it is a stimulus to the imagination, but not a vehicle for empirical investigation as such. However, what verse does here is to suggest three areas for research that are novel and challenging, but may otherwise be neglected without this stimulus.Originality/valueI. Finds an emerging “new putting‐out system” II. Shows how the motivation for child labour is persistent, even in “advanced” economies. III. Points to an alternative approach to exchange, as a mutual process of gifting.
The internet and possibilities for counter accounts: some reflections
Authors: Paisey Catriona , Paisey Nicholas J. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeSeeks to extend debates about the emancipatory potential of the internet by commenting on Sikka's reflections (in this issue) on the papers also in this issue by Gallhofer et al. and by Paisey and Paisey.Design/methodology/approachDiscusses the location of the internet within the politics of neoliberalism, with particular reference to the pensions crisis.FindingsAccepts that the internet's use depends upon its social context and agrees that the internet is a communicative device that has the potential to facilitate change. However, the example of pension accounts shows that the internet has been more effectively harnessed by groups wishing to endorse the status quo rather than to counter it.Practical implicationsWhile the development of counter accounts and critiques of contemporary social problems is encouraged, education must play a role in exposing alternative views and encouraging debate.Originality/valueExtends debates surrounding the role of the internet in promoting more emancipatory accountings.
Perspectives on “new” models of business reporting: a reflective note
Authors: Guthrie James , Boedker Christina 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce alternative perspectives on “new” business reporting models as they appear in the “thought pieces” in this special themed section of AAAJ.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs a literature based analysis and critique. The paper is primarily a discussion paper.FindingsThere are several research issues examined in the papers in this special theme section which point to the need for researchers to reflect on their motivation, use of theory and values to ensure academic work is making a genuine contribution.Research limitations/implications“New” models of business reporting are experimental and could be explored in greater depth in future studies.Originality/valueThe papers contribute to the growing debate on “value” and key underlying issues associated with the emergence of “new” accounting and reporting practices. Through this process of reflection, hidden assumptions can be exposed, “new” visibilities explored, and competing dilemmas opened up.
Social, environmental and sustainability reporting and organisational value creation?
Authors: Gray Rob 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe objective of this essay is to examine the extent to which social, environmental and sustainability accounting and reporting (SEA) can or should contribute to shareholder value and, correspondingly, to consider the challenge that SEA can offer to the conventional views of “value” that underpin traditional financial accounting. The essay is then used as a vehicle to introduce some relatively new data about sustainable development that has implications for our consideration of “value”.Design/methodology/approachAlthough drawing from a wide range of secondary contextual data, the paper is primarily argumentative and seeks to challenge a number of implicit assumptions within both conventional and more “critical” accounting.FindingsSubstantive social and environmental reporting and, especially, high quality reporting on (un)sustainability will demonstrate that modern international financial capitalism and the principle organs which support it are essentially designed to maximise environmental destruction and the erosion of any realistic notion of social justice. This paper seeks to demonstrate this contention and the powerful and fundamental implications that this has for conventional financial reporting and for the superficial and cosmetic adjustments to that reporting through “new models of organisational reporting”.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper questions whether any research which is not either cognisant of or directed towards sustainability and/or sustainable development makes any real sense in the context of current data about the planet. More especially, the paper asks whether any notion of “value” employed in the accounting (and wider) literature can be anything other than self‐delusional and empty if it ignores a crucial wider context.Originality/valueApart from taking debates about “value” and, especially “shareholder value” into another dimension, the paper is one of the first (at least in accounting as far as I am aware) to formally introduce and confront data about planetary sustainability.
Problematising intellectual capital research: ostensive versus performative IC
Authors: Mouritsen Jan 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper develops a problematisation of research about intellectual capital (IC) with a view to extending the types of questions that can be posed and explanations that can be given about the roles and effects of IC. The aim is to contribute to the debate on how it is possible and fruitful to study IC.Design/methodology/approachThe paper compares an ostensive and a performative approach to IC research and develops an analysis and critique of ideas in IC research on this basis.FindingsThe paper concludes that it is possible and advisable to develop research that has an ambition to understand IC as a concept and not only as an application of a pre‐set idea. It suggests that a performative approach to IC will enhance possibilities of developing new and interesting propositions about how IC works and is involved in organisational and social transformation.Originality/valueThe main implication of this paper is that research in IC can take up new forms of inquiry that will complement and extend the currently used approaches.
Balancing dilemmas of the balanced scorecard
Authors: Johanson Ulf , Skoog Matti , Backlund Andreas , Almqvist Roland 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to debate various critical issues in the implementation and use of the balanced scorecard (BSC) as a management control tool. Because there is no self‐evident solution to these critical issues, they are termed dilemmas.Design/methodology/approachThe paper contributes to the BSC debate by collecting insights from empirical findings, as well as exploring various theoretical aspects.FindingsAfter presenting four perceived dilemmas and how they affect the implementation and use of the BSC in various settings, the paper concludes that there is a need for further debate and research on these dilemmas.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is primarily a contribution to the debate concerning the balanced scorecard and its range of application as a management control model.Practical implicationsThe paper is motivated by an overall high rate of implementation failure in various practical settings.Originality/valueSome of the problems described have been debated before, whereas others are new. However, there has been hardly any discussion of the dilemmas in conjunction with one another. The paper is an attempt to generate important new questions about the future implementation and use of the BSC.
Measuring general managers' performances
Authors: Merchant Kenneth A. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper discusses how to choose a measure or set of measures for the purposes of evaluating and rewarding general managers' performances.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes a set of criteria that is useful for evaluating any measure or set of measures. Then it applies the criteria to an evaluation of three measurement alternatives in common use at general management organization levels: market measures, accounting measures, and combinations of measures.FindingsThe paper shows that all of the measurement alternatives fail to satisfy one or more of the evaluation criteria and, hence, lead to less than optimal outcomes. But it also shows that some alternatives are better than others in specific situations.Originality/valueWhile comprehensive sets of evaluation criteria have been applied to financial accounting choice issues, this is the first such approach in management accounting. This approach can lead to improved performance measurement system choices. It can also be used to guide future research because the analysis also reveals major gaps in our knowledge about the qualities of performance measures in common use.
The fortunes of Dan Synergy
Authors: Taylor Andrew 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo provide an analysis of the relationship of corporate and individual life in middle managementDesign/methodology/approachFictional poem.FindingsOrganisational and personal success often comes at the cost of personal sacrifice and disillusion.Originality/valueStimulates thought about how organizations and individuals may work together to maximize corporate and personal reward without detriment to personal fulfillment.
Patient satisfaction under managed care
Authors: Simonet Daniel 
Published: January 2007

PurposeIn the USA, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) have pledged to control health care costs. Many patients have complained about the quality of care under the HMO regime and limits imposed on them, particularly access to care. Has quality of care been degraded under the HMO regime, resulting in an impact on patient satisfaction? There have been many studies that have compared the satisfaction of HMO patients with that of patients in the traditional fee‐for‐service payment system. The aim of this paper is to review HMO patient satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachA review of patient satisfaction under managed care arrangements with a focus on HMOs. The article describes the US history of managed care and its effect on the satisfaction of several patient categories including the general population, vulnerable patients and the elderly.FindingsThere is much information available on patient satisfaction with their insurers and most surveys indicate the lack of choice of a provider – a major source of discontent. Therefore, patient protection laws are necessary to avoid abuse.Originality/valuePatients have little ability or are not willing to rely on the information available when selecting a provider. The paper discusses patient awareness regarding satisfaction surveys and how the latter can be used when patients are seeking care.