A decade of hybrid reporting and accountabilities of the Hanyeping Company (1909–1919)

Using a model of hybrid reporting and accountabilities, this article considers the reporting and accountability of the Hanyeping Company in the Beiyang era. The results of the study suggest that the Hanyeping Company attempted to provide comprehensive accounts of its activities to satisfy the needs of a plethora of domestic and foreign stakeholders through a combination of detailed Western and Chinese accounts. In keeping with Western and indigenous Chinese expectations of accounting, the Hanyeping Company prepared accounts that demonstrated characteristics of Auyeung’s demonstrated features of nineteenth-century Westernised reporting and the traditional reporting model. This suggests that the period between 1909 and 1919 experienced a decade of reporting hybridisation in direct contrast to the so-called period of accounting stagnation of the late Qing Dynasty.     

Change by Design

Over the course of a century of professional practice, designers have mastered a set of skills that can be productively applied to a wider range of problems than has commonly been supposed. These include complex social problems, issues of organizational management, and strategic innovation. Conversely, non‐designers—those in leadership positions in companies, governmental and non‐governmental organizations, professionals in a broad range of services and industries—can benefit from learning how to think like designers. We offer some large‐scale and more finely grained ideas about how this might happen.     

Employee satisfaction and turnover intention: A comparative analysis between front-of-house and back-of-house employees in casino-entertainment venues

ABSTRACT

This study investigates job location and its relationship with employee turnover intention within the casino-entertainment industry. The researchers analyzed turnover intention at the supervisor and company level from the perspective of employees who hold front-of-house or back-of-house jobs in three Nevada casinos and their corporate office. The results of this research fill existing gaps in the academic literature related to turnover intention and provide beneficial implications for industry and academic practitioners. Organizations within the casino-entertainment industry may develop strategies related to the management of human capital that could provide fiscal and operational benefits.     

Looking inside the spiky bits: a critical review and conceptualisation of entrepreneurial ecosystems

The concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems has quickly established itself as one of the latest ‘fads’ in entrepreneurship research. At face value, this kind of systemic approach to entrepreneurship offers a new and distinctive path for scholars and policy makers to help understand and foster growth-oriented entrepreneurship. However, its lack of specification and conceptual limitations has undoubtedly hindered our understanding of these complex organisms. Indeed, the rapid adoption of the concept has tended to overlook the heterogeneous nature of ecosystems. This paper provides a critical review and conceptualisation of the ecosystems concept: it unpacks the dynamics of the concept; outlines its theoretical limitations; measurement approaches and use in policy-making. It sets out a preliminary taxonomy of different archetypal ecosystems. The paper concludes that entrepreneurial ecosystems are a highly variegated, multi-actor and multi-scalar phenomenon, requiring bespoke policy interventions.     

A comparison of the dominant meta programme patterns in accounting undergraduate students and accounting lecturers at a UK business school

Meta programmes are a means of describing the behavioural traits that a person exhibits when interacting with other people. An understanding of meta programmes can improve communication between individuals and this may have implications for teaching. The purposes of this study are first to identify the dominant meta programme patterns of first year accounting undergraduates at a UK business school. An earlier pilot study validated use of the Motivation Profile Questionnaire (MPQ) to elicit the dominant meta programmes of accounting lecturers at the same Business School (Brown, 2002). Secondly, the students' meta programmes are compared with those of their accounting teachers to identify whether there are any differences or similarities between the two groups. The matching of the meta programmes of the teachers and students would enhance communication whilst major differences in meta programmes would make communication more difficult. A sample of 62 first year accounting undergraduates and 20 accountancy teachers completed the MPQ. The results indicate that, on average, the accounting students have similar dominant meta programme patterns to their accounting teachers. The implications of the findings for improving communication and therefore teaching are discussed, along with the scope for further research.     

Agonizing over engagement: SEA and the “death of environmentalism” debates

Social and environmental accounting (SEA) is currently going through a period of critical self-analysis. Fundamental questions are being raised about how SEA should be defined, who should be doing the defining, and if, how and whom it should engage. We attempt to enrich these debates by drawing on the political philosophy of agonistic pluralism and a set of debates about engagement within the environmental movement – “the death of environmentalism” debates. We set forth the “Death” debates and, in doing so, contextualize and theorize the contested nature of SEA engagement using agonistic pluralism. In contrast to consensually oriented approaches to SEA, the desired outcome is not necessarily resolution of ideological differences but to imagine, develop, and support democratic processes wherein these differences can be recognized and engaged. We construe the “Death” debates as illustrative of the contestable practical and political issues facing both SEA and progressive social movements generally, demonstrating the range of deliberations necessary in contemplating effective engagement programs. The SEA community, and civil society groups, can benefit from the more overtly political perspective provided by agonistic pluralism. By surfacing and engaging with various antagonisms in this wider civic sphere, SEA can more effectively respond to, and move beyond, traditional politically conservative, managerialist discourses.     

Sex ‘n’ shopping: A “novel” approach to consumer research

In recent years, several prominent consumer researchers have advocated the analysis of works of literature and art. Pathbreaking through these studies have proved, they are characterized by their focus on élite rather than popular literary forms. This paper extends the so‐called “marketing in Shakespeare” approach to works of romantic fiction, many of which are renowned for their brand name‐dropping. A content analysis of brand names in two “sex ‘n’ shopping” novels is undertaken and comparisons are made with an earlier study of mainstream popular fiction.     

Chinese dietary culture influences consumers' intention to use imported soy‐based dietary supplements: an application of the theory of planned behaviour

The over‐saturated dietary supplement (DS) market in developed countries such as the US spurs the need for foreign market expansion, and the Chinese market provides a great potential for the foreign soy‐based DS industry. This study examined Chinese consumers' intention to use imported (US‐made US‐brand) soy‐based DS based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Two alternative models were also examined in which Chinese dietary culture variables, including soyfoods favourability and dining‐out sociability, as well as their interactions with attitudes, were integrated into the TPB model. A cross‐sectional, self‐administered survey was conducted with a sample of 215 subjects (137 females; 78 males) in Shanghai, China. The TPB variables attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control and behavioural intention, as well as the Chinese dietary culture variables: soyfoods favourability and dine‐out sociability were measured. Multiple linear regressions were used to analyze the three models. The statistical results indicated that all three models were statistically significant to predict intention (Model 1: R² = 0.473, P < 0.001; Model 2: R² = 0.505, P < 0.001; Model 3: R² = 0.525, P < 0.001). The results also showed that attitude, perceived behavioural control, and dine‐out sociability were significant (positive) determinants of intention. Soyfoods favourability acted a significant (negative) moderator of the relationship between attitude and intention. Subjective norm had no significant impact on intention. In conclusion, the TPB model was useful to predict Chinese consumers' intention to use imported soy‐based DS, but not all the TPB components weighed significantly in exploring DS consumption in China. The selected Chinese dietary culture variables were much more important predictors than subjective norm. This study makes a significant contribution in the application of the TPB model and in market strategy development for imported dietary supplements in China.