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: Mitochondrial DNA (COI) analyses reveal that amphipod diversity is associated with environmental heterogeneity in deep-sea habitats

authors: Knox, Matthew Andrew

subjects: Biodiversity

abstract: The relationship between species diversity and environmental parameters is poorly understood for the mobile macrofauna of deep-sea habitats due to under-sampling and subsequent lack of accurate taxonomic information. To redress this, cytochrome oxidase c subunit I (COI) DNA sequences were used to estimate species diversity and to compare phoxocephalid amphipod assemblages among 20 stations encompassing a range of environmental conditions. Two regions, east (Chatham Rise) and west (Challenger Plateau) of New Zealand were sampled to depths of 200–1200 m with an epibenthic sled. Using a comparison among identified morphospecies, we found a clear gap in sequence divergences between 6% and 13% and used a 6% threshold to designate molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs), as a surrogate to putative species. DNA sequences (n = 297) revealed high total diversity (n = 49 MOTUs), as well as high beta diversity (28 MOTUs found at single location only). Novel phoxocephalid MOTUs were found at most stations, especially on Challenger Plateau and the flanks of Chatham Rise. Analyses of interstation assemblages revealed a major split between regions, indicating minimal overlap in taxon distributions. A cluster of highly similar stations was identified, broadly distributed over the crest of Chatham Rise, in association with elevated food availability, probably resulting from higher surface productivity and relatively shallow depth. Accordingly, multivariate analysis revealed a strong correlation between phoxocephalid assemblages and food supply. This study highlights the value of molecular approaches, in particular COI sequences, for quantifying and comparing diversity in under-sampled and/or under-studied taxa.

text: Mitochondrial DNA (COI) analyses reveal that amphipod diversity is associated with environmental heterogeneity in deep-sea habitats The relationship between species diversity and environmental parameters is poorly understood for the mobile macrofauna of deep-sea habitats due to under-sampling and subsequent lack of accurate taxonomic information. To redress this, cytochrome oxidase c subunit I (COI) DNA sequences were used to estimate species diversity and to compare phoxocephalid amphipod assemblages among 20 stations encompassing a range of environmental conditions. Two regions, east (Chatham Rise) and west (Challenger Plateau) of New Zealand were sampled to depths of 200–1200 m with an epibenthic sled. Using a comparison among identified morphospecies, we found a clear gap in sequence divergences between 6% and 13% and used a 6% threshold to designate molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs), as a surrogate to putative species. DNA sequences (n = 297) revealed high total diversity (n = 49 MOTUs), as well as high beta diversity (28 MOTUs found at single location only). Novel phoxocephalid MOTUs were found at most stations, especially on Challenger Plateau and the flanks of Chatham Rise. Analyses of interstation assemblages revealed a major split between regions, indicating minimal overlap in taxon distributions. A cluster of highly similar stations was identified, broadly distributed over the crest of Chatham Rise, in association with elevated food availability, probably resulting from higher surface productivity and relatively shallow depth. Accordingly, multivariate analysis revealed a strong correlation between phoxocephalid assemblages and food supply. This study highlights the value of molecular approaches, in particular COI sequences, for quantifying and comparing diversity in under-sampled and/or under-studied taxa.

year: 2012

title: Lost in translation: western representations of Māori knowledge

authors: Mika, Carl Te Hira

abstract: We recently attended a conference at which a non-Māori presenter, drawing on a particular metaphor already established by Māori writers, related Māori natural world features to a research method. The presentation was useful because it highlighted several issues that call for our concern as Māori philosophers. In this article, we outline these concerns, which are: first, that a blunt response to such a presentation is not undertaken lightly from a Māori viewpoint; and, second, that the presenter’s talk exemplifies a wider problem of warping Māori concepts and labels to fit a Western philosophical approach. We call this latter problem ‘Translation’, because it involves moving the Māori world and its phenomena over into one that is palatable for policy and research. The aim of the article is not to single out the presenter, but rather to refer to his presentation in order to consider the prior issue of Translation. In cases where Translation occurs, a Māori critical philosophical stance is clearly needed, in order to both investigate the warping of Māori thought on which it relies, and review the place of Māori philosophy and philosophical response in the arena of educational research.

text: Lost in translation: western representations of Māori knowledge We recently attended a conference at which a non-Māori presenter, drawing on a particular metaphor already established by Māori writers, related Māori natural world features to a research method. The presentation was useful because it highlighted several issues that call for our concern as Māori philosophers. In this article, we outline these concerns, which are: first, that a blunt response to such a presentation is not undertaken lightly from a Māori viewpoint; and, second, that the presenter’s talk exemplifies a wider problem of warping Māori concepts and labels to fit a Western philosophical approach. We call this latter problem ‘Translation’, because it involves moving the Māori world and its phenomena over into one that is palatable for policy and research. The aim of the article is not to single out the presenter, but rather to refer to his presentation in order to consider the prior issue of Translation. In cases where Translation occurs, a Māori critical philosophical stance is clearly needed, in order to both investigate the warping of Māori thought on which it relies, and review the place of Māori philosophy and philosophical response in the arena of educational research.

year: 2017