title: Big data analytics role in shaping the work of accounting function and accounting professionals

authors: Mukherjee, Abhishek

abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to examine how big data can be applied in accounting and identifies the competences future accountants at organizational level need to possess to remain competitive. Design/methodology/approach – This study used the association of chartered certified accountants (ACCA’s) framework and the technological, organization and environmental (ST.O.E.TOE) theoretical framework to identify the skills and capabilities urgently needed by accounting professionals at the organizational level in the context of big data analytics. The authors conducted comprehensive content analysis of academic literature issues from professional accounting bodies, and reports of accounting practitioners to gain insights of competencies that accounting professionals at organizational level need to possess to be prominent in the big data era. Findings – The findings show that in the big data era accounting professionals should acquire the seven competences to be competitive. The competencies are (1) skills in data analytic techniques and the use of statistical models; (2) knowledge of the business; (3) skills to control the risk from the emerging technologies; (4) skills and knowledge in accounting profession; (5) skills to understand the insights from big data analytics; (6) skills to test the quality, veracity and integrity of data; and (7) skills to communicate with others. The study also found that these competences do not exist alone. These competences are closely related to each other and complement each other, which means that accounting professionals cannot expect to stand out in the future competition by mastering only one or two of these seven competences. Research limitations/implications – The application of big data analytics is still in its infancy and its effects have yet to be confirmed so that there is no reliable case to collect and analyse. One limitation is the absence of practical case in this paper. The findings will help accounting professionals to understand the future of work. Practical implications – The findings will help accounting professionals to acquire new skills and knowledge in related areas and remain competitive in the post big data era. Social implications – This study highlights skills necessary for accountants to thrive in a big data era, emphasizing the shift from traditional accounting functions to roles that integrate advanced data capabilities and strategic insight. Originality/value – This is one of the few papers that seek to explore the competencies required by accounting professional at organizational level in the big data era using the ACCA’s research of accountant’s professional quotients and ST.O.E.TOE theoretical framework. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on accounting professionals’ competencies at organizational level in the big data era. Big data analytics in accounting is influencing the evolution of accounting professionals’ competencies and is a key interest in accounting change literature. The nature of accounting work will undergo fundamental changes due to big data. Yet we know little about this due to big data being in its infancy stage in the accounting literature.

text: Big data analytics role in shaping the work of accounting function and accounting professionals Purpose – This paper aims to examine how big data can be applied in accounting and identifies the competences future accountants at organizational level need to possess to remain competitive. Design/methodology/approach – This study used the association of chartered certified accountants (ACCA’s) framework and the technological, organization and environmental (ST.O.E.TOE) theoretical framework to identify the skills and capabilities urgently needed by accounting professionals at the organizational level in the context of big data analytics. The authors conducted comprehensive content analysis of academic literature issues from professional accounting bodies, and reports of accounting practitioners to gain insights of competencies that accounting professionals at organizational level need to possess to be prominent in the big data era. Findings – The findings show that in the big data era accounting professionals should acquire the seven competences to be competitive. The competencies are (1) skills in data analytic techniques and the use of statistical models; (2) knowledge of the business; (3) skills to control the risk from the emerging technologies; (4) skills and knowledge in accounting profession; (5) skills to understand the insights from big data analytics; (6) skills to test the quality, veracity and integrity of data; and (7) skills to communicate with others. The study also found that these competences do not exist alone. These competences are closely related to each other and complement each other, which means that accounting professionals cannot expect to stand out in the future competition by mastering only one or two of these seven competences. Research limitations/implications – The application of big data analytics is still in its infancy and its effects have yet to be confirmed so that there is no reliable case to collect and analyse. One limitation is the absence of practical case in this paper. The findings will help accounting professionals to understand the future of work. Practical implications – The findings will help accounting professionals to acquire new skills and knowledge in related areas and remain competitive in the post big data era. Social implications – This study highlights skills necessary for accountants to thrive in a big data era, emphasizing the shift from traditional accounting functions to roles that integrate advanced data capabilities and strategic insight. Originality/value – This is one of the few papers that seek to explore the competencies required by accounting professional at organizational level in the big data era using the ACCA’s research of accountant’s professional quotients and ST.O.E.TOE theoretical framework. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on accounting professionals’ competencies at organizational level in the big data era. Big data analytics in accounting is influencing the evolution of accounting professionals’ competencies and is a key interest in accounting change literature. The nature of accounting work will undergo fundamental changes due to big data. Yet we know little about this due to big data being in its infancy stage in the accounting literature.

year: 2025

title: Rates of accumulation of cadmium and uranium in a New Zealand hill farm soil as a result of long-term use of phosphate fertilizer

authors: Schipper, Louis A.

subjects: pasture

abstract: In New Zealand, phosphate (P) fertilisers used in agriculture are the main sources of the potentially toxic elements cadmium (Cd) and uranium (U), which occur as unwanted contaminants. New Zealand is developing draft soil guideline values (SGV) for maximum concentrations of Cd. To assess when soils under pasture for sheep production might reach a particular SGV, we analysed archived soil samples from a 23 yr P fertiliser trial. The pasture sites were at Whatawhata, North Island, New Zealand, and had received P fertiliser at the rates of 0, 30, 50 and 100 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. From 1983 to 1989, P was applied as single superphosphate, from 1989 to 2006, P was applied as triple superphosphate. Soils from replicate paddocks were sampled annually to a depth of 75 mm on easy (10–20°) and steep (30–40°) slope classes. Total P, Cd and U were analysed by ICP-MS after acid digestion. Data were analysed by fitting trend lines using linear mixed models for two slope classes and for two sampling periods 1983–1989 and 1989–2006 when the soil sampling method and fertiliser type had been changed.

The changes in total P, Cd and U were directly related to the type and amount of P fertiliser applied, the control treatment showed no significant change in P, Cd or U. At 50 and 100 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ there were generally linear increases in total P and total U, and the same trend line applied to both time periods, but the rate of increase in P was greater on the easy slope class. For Cd, a “broken stick” model was needed to explain the data. Pre-1989, Cd increased in the 50 and 100 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ treatment (0.036–0.045 mg kg⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively): post 1988 the rate of increase declined markedly on those two treatments (0.005–0.015 mg kg⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively), and declined absolutely in the 30 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ treatments. The maximum content of Cd was in the 100 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ treatment which reached 0.931 mg Cd kg⁻¹ on the easy slope. For U there were steady linear increases for the 30, 50 and 100 kg P ha⁻¹ treatments, and no significant difference between the steep and easy slopes, nor the two sampling periods, the maximum concentration obtained was 2.80 mg U kg⁻¹ on the 100 kg P ha⁻¹ treatment. The results suggest that at rates of P fertiliser likely to be applied to hill farms (<50 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ ), and using P fertiliser with low Cd content, then the Cd concentration in this soil will never reach a SGV of 1 mg kg⁻¹.

text: Rates of accumulation of cadmium and uranium in a New Zealand hill farm soil as a result of long-term use of phosphate fertilizer In New Zealand, phosphate (P) fertilisers used in agriculture are the main sources of the potentially toxic elements cadmium (Cd) and uranium (U), which occur as unwanted contaminants. New Zealand is developing draft soil guideline values (SGV) for maximum concentrations of Cd. To assess when soils under pasture for sheep production might reach a particular SGV, we analysed archived soil samples from a 23 yr P fertiliser trial. The pasture sites were at Whatawhata, North Island, New Zealand, and had received P fertiliser at the rates of 0, 30, 50 and 100 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. From 1983 to 1989, P was applied as single superphosphate, from 1989 to 2006, P was applied as triple superphosphate. Soils from replicate paddocks were sampled annually to a depth of 75 mm on easy (10–20°) and steep (30–40°) slope classes. Total P, Cd and U were analysed by ICP-MS after acid digestion. Data were analysed by fitting trend lines using linear mixed models for two slope classes and for two sampling periods 1983–1989 and 1989–2006 when the soil sampling method and fertiliser type had been changed.

The changes in total P, Cd and U were directly related to the type and amount of P fertiliser applied, the control treatment showed no significant change in P, Cd or U. At 50 and 100 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ there were generally linear increases in total P and total U, and the same trend line applied to both time periods, but the rate of increase in P was greater on the easy slope class. For Cd, a “broken stick” model was needed to explain the data. Pre-1989, Cd increased in the 50 and 100 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ treatment (0.036–0.045 mg kg⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively): post 1988 the rate of increase declined markedly on those two treatments (0.005–0.015 mg kg⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively), and declined absolutely in the 30 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ treatments. The maximum content of Cd was in the 100 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ treatment which reached 0.931 mg Cd kg⁻¹ on the easy slope. For U there were steady linear increases for the 30, 50 and 100 kg P ha⁻¹ treatments, and no significant difference between the steep and easy slopes, nor the two sampling periods, the maximum concentration obtained was 2.80 mg U kg⁻¹ on the 100 kg P ha⁻¹ treatment. The results suggest that at rates of P fertiliser likely to be applied to hill farms (<50 kg P ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ ), and using P fertiliser with low Cd content, then the Cd concentration in this soil will never reach a SGV of 1 mg kg⁻¹.

year: 2011

title: The challenges of culture to psychology and post-modern thinking

authors: Waldegrave, Charles

subjects: Maori

abstract: Someone at a workshop in the Waikato once said to us, “You know a Maori, if they want to, can always learn to be a psychologist, but a psychologist can’t learn to be a Maori”. Cultural knowledge may or may not be accompanied by social science knowledge. Cultural knowledge can stand on its own. Those who possess it, and choose to work in the institutions we are associated with, have gifts this country desperately needs. All our organisations require such people, and they need to be properly resourced, have employment security and control over their work. Their own work away from our organisations also requires adequate resourcing. They can heal their own in ways that we will never be able to. They will almost certainly offer the field rich alternative metaphors and meanings that can free us from the tired old medical, biological and social science ones. This also has implications for those in other branches of psychology, including research, experimental and industrial psychology. There is perhaps a unique opportunity for psychologists in this country of Aotearoa/New Zealand to recognise other ways of describing events, which will lead to creative practices and enable the health and welfare resources to get to those who most need them, on their own terms. It would also enable other people, other workers from other cultures to develop new paradigms, and new shifts in our field. This will not lead to the abandonment of social science, but it will enable that body of knowledge, to sit appropriately along side other realms of knowledge such as gender knowledge, and cultural knowledge, without dominating. A new experience for the social scientists, but I suspect a liberating one!

text: The challenges of culture to psychology and post-modern thinking Someone at a workshop in the Waikato once said to us, “You know a Maori, if they want to, can always learn to be a psychologist, but a psychologist can’t learn to be a Maori”. Cultural knowledge may or may not be accompanied by social science knowledge. Cultural knowledge can stand on its own. Those who possess it, and choose to work in the institutions we are associated with, have gifts this country desperately needs. All our organisations require such people, and they need to be properly resourced, have employment security and control over their work. Their own work away from our organisations also requires adequate resourcing. They can heal their own in ways that we will never be able to. They will almost certainly offer the field rich alternative metaphors and meanings that can free us from the tired old medical, biological and social science ones. This also has implications for those in other branches of psychology, including research, experimental and industrial psychology. There is perhaps a unique opportunity for psychologists in this country of Aotearoa/New Zealand to recognise other ways of describing events, which will lead to creative practices and enable the health and welfare resources to get to those who most need them, on their own terms. It would also enable other people, other workers from other cultures to develop new paradigms, and new shifts in our field. This will not lead to the abandonment of social science, but it will enable that body of knowledge, to sit appropriately along side other realms of knowledge such as gender knowledge, and cultural knowledge, without dominating. A new experience for the social scientists, but I suspect a liberating one!

year: 1993