title: Context and change in management accounting and control systems: A case study of Telecom Fiji Limited

authors: Sharma, Umesh Prasad

subjects: management accounting

abstract: This thesis aims to contribute to research in management accounting and control systems (MACS) in a developing country context: that of Fiji.  It seeks to gain a theoretical understanding of how MACS reflect the social and political contexts in which they operate by using a case study of Telecom Fiji Limited (a major supplier of telephone communications in Fiji).  The definition of  MACS  for the purpose of the thesis is broad- a social constructivist perspective is adopted in which systems are used to align employee behaviour with organisational objectives and to assist external relationships (with the State, Commerce Commission, aid agencies and customers).  The thesis draws on institutional theory while raising questions as to how to refine and extend institutional theory.  This theory has often been associated with institutional embeddedness (stability).  The social constructivist approach helps to incorporate agency and cultural issues normally missing in conventional applications of institutional theory to accounting change.  

Telecom Fiji Limited (TFL) was restructured under the Fiji government's public sector reforms.  Such reforms were insisted upon by the international financial agencies of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.  Under the reform policy, TFL was transformed from a government department into a corporatised organisation and was subsequently privatised.  The MACS changes which eventuated helped to change TFL management and employees' interpretive schemes. However, employees resisted initial changes to commercial business routines and it took some years for TFL actors to assimilate commercial practices.  While the literature dealing with MACS changes has mostly portrayed changes as occurring with little resistance, MACS changes at TFL took several years to become institutionalised, partly because of cultural and political factors specific to Fiji.

The study has practice implications as it shows that management accountants can act as institutional entrepreneurs in organisations, shaping new accounting technologies in reformed entities, and changing actors' interpretive schemes.  The study has implications for policy makers, consultants and other stakeholders in terms of promoting a need for better understanding of the sensitivity to cultural and political circumstances in Less Developed Countries (LDC's) like Fiji in relation to the introduction of MACS changes.  The study has implications for other recently corporatized/ privatised and state-sector organisations in Fiji and elsewhere.  It also has implications for other researchers as institutional theory can be refined on the basis of new empirical evidence.

text: Context and change in management accounting and control systems: A case study of Telecom Fiji Limited This thesis aims to contribute to research in management accounting and control systems (MACS) in a developing country context: that of Fiji.  It seeks to gain a theoretical understanding of how MACS reflect the social and political contexts in which they operate by using a case study of Telecom Fiji Limited (a major supplier of telephone communications in Fiji).  The definition of  MACS  for the purpose of the thesis is broad- a social constructivist perspective is adopted in which systems are used to align employee behaviour with organisational objectives and to assist external relationships (with the State, Commerce Commission, aid agencies and customers).  The thesis draws on institutional theory while raising questions as to how to refine and extend institutional theory.  This theory has often been associated with institutional embeddedness (stability).  The social constructivist approach helps to incorporate agency and cultural issues normally missing in conventional applications of institutional theory to accounting change.  

Telecom Fiji Limited (TFL) was restructured under the Fiji government's public sector reforms.  Such reforms were insisted upon by the international financial agencies of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.  Under the reform policy, TFL was transformed from a government department into a corporatised organisation and was subsequently privatised.  The MACS changes which eventuated helped to change TFL management and employees' interpretive schemes. However, employees resisted initial changes to commercial business routines and it took some years for TFL actors to assimilate commercial practices.  While the literature dealing with MACS changes has mostly portrayed changes as occurring with little resistance, MACS changes at TFL took several years to become institutionalised, partly because of cultural and political factors specific to Fiji.

The study has practice implications as it shows that management accountants can act as institutional entrepreneurs in organisations, shaping new accounting technologies in reformed entities, and changing actors' interpretive schemes.  The study has implications for policy makers, consultants and other stakeholders in terms of promoting a need for better understanding of the sensitivity to cultural and political circumstances in Less Developed Countries (LDC's) like Fiji in relation to the introduction of MACS changes.  The study has implications for other recently corporatized/ privatised and state-sector organisations in Fiji and elsewhere.  It also has implications for other researchers as institutional theory can be refined on the basis of new empirical evidence.

year: 2009

title: Designing, measuring and modelling a small-scale coil and stimulation circuit for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

authors: Khokhar, Farah Adeebah

abstract: In TMS rapid electromagnetic fields (EM) are applied to the brain. The fundamental effects of TMS are poorly understood so we need smaller coils to perform invasive measurements on mice. Based on established physics principles we designed and built cylindrical TMS coils consisting of 25 and 50 turns of 0.2 mm diameter copper wire around 5 mm diameter powdered iron cores and discharged a capacitor through these coils. We measured the magnetic flux densities (B-field) of 25 and 50 turn TMS coils with a Hall probe as 907 mT, 750 mT and the induced electric fields (E-field) with a wire loop as 10 – 27 V/m, 10 – 22 V/m at 50 V respectively. We have also modelled the coils with COMSOL Multiphysics which gave similar B-fields for 25 and 50 turn of around 900 mT, 700 mT and E- fields as 20 – 25 V/m, 15 – 20 V/m respectively. The temperature for 25 and 50 turn TMS coils increase by 52 °C and 71 °C respectively after 1200 pulses at 5 Hz. We tried to modulate the activity of a mouse brain slice by stimulating with the 50 turn TMS coil 3 mm above the mouse brain slice with 50 V using a B-field of 500 mT, 600 pulses at 5 Hz. There was no hint that the TMS has changed the activity. Although these coils perform better than previously constructed mouse coils, the EM fields are still considerably lower than human TMS coils of 2 T and 250 V/m.

text: Designing, measuring and modelling a small-scale coil and stimulation circuit for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) In TMS rapid electromagnetic fields (EM) are applied to the brain. The fundamental effects of TMS are poorly understood so we need smaller coils to perform invasive measurements on mice. Based on established physics principles we designed and built cylindrical TMS coils consisting of 25 and 50 turns of 0.2 mm diameter copper wire around 5 mm diameter powdered iron cores and discharged a capacitor through these coils. We measured the magnetic flux densities (B-field) of 25 and 50 turn TMS coils with a Hall probe as 907 mT, 750 mT and the induced electric fields (E-field) with a wire loop as 10 – 27 V/m, 10 – 22 V/m at 50 V respectively. We have also modelled the coils with COMSOL Multiphysics which gave similar B-fields for 25 and 50 turn of around 900 mT, 700 mT and E- fields as 20 – 25 V/m, 15 – 20 V/m respectively. The temperature for 25 and 50 turn TMS coils increase by 52 °C and 71 °C respectively after 1200 pulses at 5 Hz. We tried to modulate the activity of a mouse brain slice by stimulating with the 50 turn TMS coil 3 mm above the mouse brain slice with 50 V using a B-field of 500 mT, 600 pulses at 5 Hz. There was no hint that the TMS has changed the activity. Although these coils perform better than previously constructed mouse coils, the EM fields are still considerably lower than human TMS coils of 2 T and 250 V/m.

year: 2019

title: Keynote Address: Barriers and incentives to Māori participation in the profession of psychology

authors: Levy, Michelle Patricia

subjects: Maori

abstract: It is well known that Māori are overrepresented
within the client group of
psychologists. Despite ongoing attempts to
recruit and retain more Māori within the
discipline of psychology, the numbers of
Māori psychologists continues to remain
low, raising serious concerns about the
ability of the profession to effectively meet
the needs of its clientele. The objectives of this study were to
identify the, barriers to, and incentives for improving the recruitment and retention
of Māori in the profession of
psychology and Māori to gain and maintain registration
as psychologists. This paper is
based on the full report provided to the
New Zealand Psychologists’ Board. The findings in this study
clearly demonstrate that in order to attract
Māori to participate in psychology, the
majority of environments need to change
substantially. It is simply not enough for
organisations, whether they are educational, professional, or service delivery agencies,
to identify the need for more Māori
psychologists, yet still fail to commit to,
and actively engage in, altering long
identified environmental factors that are
barriers to Māori participation.

text: Keynote Address: Barriers and incentives to Māori participation in the profession of psychology It is well known that Māori are overrepresented
within the client group of
psychologists. Despite ongoing attempts to
recruit and retain more Māori within the
discipline of psychology, the numbers of
Māori psychologists continues to remain
low, raising serious concerns about the
ability of the profession to effectively meet
the needs of its clientele. The objectives of this study were to
identify the, barriers to, and incentives for improving the recruitment and retention
of Māori in the profession of
psychology and Māori to gain and maintain registration
as psychologists. This paper is
based on the full report provided to the
New Zealand Psychologists’ Board. The findings in this study
clearly demonstrate that in order to attract
Māori to participate in psychology, the
majority of environments need to change
substantially. It is simply not enough for
organisations, whether they are educational, professional, or service delivery agencies,
to identify the need for more Māori
psychologists, yet still fail to commit to,
and actively engage in, altering long
identified environmental factors that are
barriers to Māori participation.

year: 2003