title: Management accountants' perception of their role in accounting for sustainable development: An exploratory study

authors: Mistry, Vinal

subjects: accounting

abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions that management accountants have of their roles in the accounting for sustainable development in their organisations.  A sample of small-medium and large New Zealand businesses were approached for this research to canvas their opinions on their involvement as management accountants in this role.  The study also examined whether there were any barriers to management accountants becoming engaged in sustainable development activities in their businesses.  This study therefore extends the limited literature on management accountants’ role and involvement in accounting for sustainable development by the organisations that employ them.

Design/methodology/approach –   The paper draws arguments from prior literature to identify the roles that management accountants play in accounting for sustainable development. The perceptions that management accountants have of their roles in accounting for sustainable development are examined by conducting interviews and surveys of management accountants from various organisations in New Zealand.  The study is informed by legitimacy theory.

Findings –Management accountants of small-medium organisations in New Zealand play a limited role in accounting for sustainable development, compared to management accountants of larger organisations.  The correlation between the type of organisation and their overall goals for achieving sustainable development are closely linked with the roles the organisations’ management accountants play in accounting for sustainable development.

Research limitations/implications – This research is limited as it is only an exploratory study with a small sample of small-medium and large businesses in New Zealand.  The influence of management accountants is analysed in order to explain how management accounting practices are translated at organisational level.  There is a need for greater acceptance by senior management of the role management accountants could play in accounting for sustainable development. 

Practical implications – This paper may help management accountants, of both small- medium and larger organisations, to advance accounting for sustainable development within their organisations by actively engaging with the issues that have deterred such advancement. The paper is significant to teaching as well as to practitioners as the paper identifies a perceived lack of a role for management accountants in accounting for sustainable development.  As such questions are raised as to whether accounting education provides an environmentally literate management accountant. The pre-existing literature and the empirical evidence gathered from this paper suggest that further research is needed to better understand the emerging roles of management accountants as facilitators of decision making within organisations concerned with issues of sustainable development.

Originality/value – This paper provides a review of current debates and positions of accounting for sustainable development as well as the barriers management accountants face in getting engaged in accounting for sustainable development initiatives.

text: Management accountants' perception of their role in accounting for sustainable development: An exploratory study Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions that management accountants have of their roles in the accounting for sustainable development in their organisations.  A sample of small-medium and large New Zealand businesses were approached for this research to canvas their opinions on their involvement as management accountants in this role.  The study also examined whether there were any barriers to management accountants becoming engaged in sustainable development activities in their businesses.  This study therefore extends the limited literature on management accountants’ role and involvement in accounting for sustainable development by the organisations that employ them.

Design/methodology/approach –   The paper draws arguments from prior literature to identify the roles that management accountants play in accounting for sustainable development. The perceptions that management accountants have of their roles in accounting for sustainable development are examined by conducting interviews and surveys of management accountants from various organisations in New Zealand.  The study is informed by legitimacy theory.

Findings –Management accountants of small-medium organisations in New Zealand play a limited role in accounting for sustainable development, compared to management accountants of larger organisations.  The correlation between the type of organisation and their overall goals for achieving sustainable development are closely linked with the roles the organisations’ management accountants play in accounting for sustainable development.

Research limitations/implications – This research is limited as it is only an exploratory study with a small sample of small-medium and large businesses in New Zealand.  The influence of management accountants is analysed in order to explain how management accounting practices are translated at organisational level.  There is a need for greater acceptance by senior management of the role management accountants could play in accounting for sustainable development. 

Practical implications – This paper may help management accountants, of both small- medium and larger organisations, to advance accounting for sustainable development within their organisations by actively engaging with the issues that have deterred such advancement. The paper is significant to teaching as well as to practitioners as the paper identifies a perceived lack of a role for management accountants in accounting for sustainable development.  As such questions are raised as to whether accounting education provides an environmentally literate management accountant. The pre-existing literature and the empirical evidence gathered from this paper suggest that further research is needed to better understand the emerging roles of management accountants as facilitators of decision making within organisations concerned with issues of sustainable development.

Originality/value – This paper provides a review of current debates and positions of accounting for sustainable development as well as the barriers management accountants face in getting engaged in accounting for sustainable development initiatives.

year: 2014-04-08

title: Improving the success of a translocation of black mudfish (Neochanna diversus)

authors: McDonald, Amy Elizabeth

subjects: black mudfish

abstract: All of New Zealand's five endemic species of mudfish (Neochanna) are threatened, and translocation has been recommended as an option for conservation.  This research undertakes a translocation of black mudfish (Neochanna diversus) into wetland margins of Lake Kaituna, in the Waikato region, and addresses research questions applicable to improving translocation success.  Results from this research are intended to aid possible future translocations of the more threatened Northland mudfish (Neochanna heleios) and other genetically distinct populations of black mudfish.

Captive rearing of juveniles collected from the wild is currently the most feasible option for sourcing translocation stock.  Mudfish juveniles (greater than 25 mm T.L.) had greater survival rates, compared to mudfish fry less than 25 mm T.L.  Mudfish growth was far greater when fed on a combined diet of brine shrimp (Artemia salina) and white worms (Enchytraeus albidus) than when fed exclusively on brine shrimp.  Temperature was found to have a small effect on mudfish growth, with a slightly greater growth in fish at 15 C than those at 10 C.

The introduced species Gambusia affinis has been the subject of concern for mudfish conservation and commonly found at wetland sites suitable for mudfish translocation.  Found to prey on mudfish fry and eggs in aquaria, it was important to determine the effects of Gambusia density prior to undertaking a translocation to a location where Gambusia were present.  Investigations were made into the effect of Gambusia density on black mudfish juveniles in 9 outdoor mesocosms.  Increasing Gambusia density was found to have an inhibitory effect on black mudfish growth.  This may be due to increased competition for food, a theory supported by analysis of zooplankton communities, where, in the presence of Gambusia, large zooplankton had been removed and smaller rotifers flourished.

Monitoring programmes are required to assess any impacts or improvements of mudfish populations, including those created by translocation.  A Gee minnow trapping programme in outdoor mesocosms was conducted to test the reliability of traps, finding that water depth, mudfish density, mudfish memory and trap shyness had no effect on the trapability of mudfish.  Trap position was found to have the most significant effect, with a greater number of mudfish caught when traps were set overnight at the surface than when set on the bottom of mesocosms.

Black mudfish adults and juveniles were translocated into 18 pools (~1 m diameter) on the wetland margins of Lake Kaituna in September 2006, followed by monthly monitoring.  Water quality monitoring and an assessment of hydrology and vegetation was undertaken.  Habitat characterisation was found to be a key factor, with correlations between water quality data and trapping results finding fewer fish remaining in pools with less suitable characteristics for mudfish (e.g. high turbidity and conductivity).  Other species were found to have a large impact, with predation by shortfinned eels (Anguilla australis) thought to have eliminated mudfish from some pools.  In addition fewer mudfish were caught in pools with Gambusia, possibly due to increased competition.

text: Improving the success of a translocation of black mudfish (Neochanna diversus) All of New Zealand's five endemic species of mudfish (Neochanna) are threatened, and translocation has been recommended as an option for conservation.  This research undertakes a translocation of black mudfish (Neochanna diversus) into wetland margins of Lake Kaituna, in the Waikato region, and addresses research questions applicable to improving translocation success.  Results from this research are intended to aid possible future translocations of the more threatened Northland mudfish (Neochanna heleios) and other genetically distinct populations of black mudfish.

Captive rearing of juveniles collected from the wild is currently the most feasible option for sourcing translocation stock.  Mudfish juveniles (greater than 25 mm T.L.) had greater survival rates, compared to mudfish fry less than 25 mm T.L.  Mudfish growth was far greater when fed on a combined diet of brine shrimp (Artemia salina) and white worms (Enchytraeus albidus) than when fed exclusively on brine shrimp.  Temperature was found to have a small effect on mudfish growth, with a slightly greater growth in fish at 15 C than those at 10 C.

The introduced species Gambusia affinis has been the subject of concern for mudfish conservation and commonly found at wetland sites suitable for mudfish translocation.  Found to prey on mudfish fry and eggs in aquaria, it was important to determine the effects of Gambusia density prior to undertaking a translocation to a location where Gambusia were present.  Investigations were made into the effect of Gambusia density on black mudfish juveniles in 9 outdoor mesocosms.  Increasing Gambusia density was found to have an inhibitory effect on black mudfish growth.  This may be due to increased competition for food, a theory supported by analysis of zooplankton communities, where, in the presence of Gambusia, large zooplankton had been removed and smaller rotifers flourished.

Monitoring programmes are required to assess any impacts or improvements of mudfish populations, including those created by translocation.  A Gee minnow trapping programme in outdoor mesocosms was conducted to test the reliability of traps, finding that water depth, mudfish density, mudfish memory and trap shyness had no effect on the trapability of mudfish.  Trap position was found to have the most significant effect, with a greater number of mudfish caught when traps were set overnight at the surface than when set on the bottom of mesocosms.

Black mudfish adults and juveniles were translocated into 18 pools (~1 m diameter) on the wetland margins of Lake Kaituna in September 2006, followed by monthly monitoring.  Water quality monitoring and an assessment of hydrology and vegetation was undertaken.  Habitat characterisation was found to be a key factor, with correlations between water quality data and trapping results finding fewer fish remaining in pools with less suitable characteristics for mudfish (e.g. high turbidity and conductivity).  Other species were found to have a large impact, with predation by shortfinned eels (Anguilla australis) thought to have eliminated mudfish from some pools.  In addition fewer mudfish were caught in pools with Gambusia, possibly due to increased competition.

year: 2007

title: Role of tephra in dating Polynesian settlement and impact, New Zealand

authors: Lowe, David J.

subjects: tephrochronology

abstract: Tephrochronology in its original sense is the use of tephra layers as time-stratigraphic marker beds to establish numerical or relative ages (Lowe and Hunt, 2001). Tephra layers have been described and studied in New Zealand for more than 160 years (the German naturalist and surgeon Ernst Dieffenbach described ‘recognizable’ tephra sections in his 1843 book Travels in New Zealand), and the first isopach map, showing fallout from the deadly plinian basaltic eruption of Mt Tarawera on 10 June 1886, was published in 1888 (Lowe, 1990; Lowe et al., 2002). More recently, a wide range of tephra-related paleoenvironmental research has been undertaken (e.g., Lowe and Newnham, 1999; Newnham and Lowe, 1999; Newnham et al., 1999, 2004; Shane, 2000), including new advances in the role of tephra in linking and dating sites containing evidence for abrupt climatic change (e.g., Newnham and Lowe, 2000; Newnham et al., 2003). Here we focus on the use of tephrochronology in dating the arrival and impacts of the first humans in New Zealand, a difficult problem for which this technique has proven to be of critical importance.

text: Role of tephra in dating Polynesian settlement and impact, New Zealand Tephrochronology in its original sense is the use of tephra layers as time-stratigraphic marker beds to establish numerical or relative ages (Lowe and Hunt, 2001). Tephra layers have been described and studied in New Zealand for more than 160 years (the German naturalist and surgeon Ernst Dieffenbach described ‘recognizable’ tephra sections in his 1843 book Travels in New Zealand), and the first isopach map, showing fallout from the deadly plinian basaltic eruption of Mt Tarawera on 10 June 1886, was published in 1888 (Lowe, 1990; Lowe et al., 2002). More recently, a wide range of tephra-related paleoenvironmental research has been undertaken (e.g., Lowe and Newnham, 1999; Newnham and Lowe, 1999; Newnham et al., 1999, 2004; Shane, 2000), including new advances in the role of tephra in linking and dating sites containing evidence for abrupt climatic change (e.g., Newnham and Lowe, 2000; Newnham et al., 2003). Here we focus on the use of tephrochronology in dating the arrival and impacts of the first humans in New Zealand, a difficult problem for which this technique has proven to be of critical importance.

year: 2004