A Field Study of Control System “Redesign”: The Impact of Institutional Processes on Strategic Choice*

Abstract. This paper studies the role of an organization's accounting control system (ACS) as part of an interrelated control “package,” in which other control systems function either as substitutes or complements. Drawing on resource dependence and institutional theories, it argues that this control mix is not only contingent on the organization's technical environment but also on its institutional environment. In addition, the paper draws on empirical evidence to demonstrate how the design of the “package” is actively shaped by the strategic choices of its dominant coalition. The empirics are based on a longitudinal field study of one large, public teaching hospital in Australia that underwent material changes in its governance structure, culture, and accounting control system. Résumé. Les auteurs étudient le rôle du système de contôle comptable d'une organisation, à titre d'élément d'une « famille » de systèmes de contrôle reliés entre eux à l'intérieur de Iaquelle les autres systèmes de contrôle jouent le rôle de substituts ou de compléments. S'inspirant de la théorie de la dépendance des ressources et de la théorie institutionnelle, ils affirment que cette combinaison de systèmes n'est pas seulement tributaire de l'environnement technique de l'organisation, mais de son environnement institutionnel. Ils se fondent, en outre, sur des constatations empiriques pour démontrer comment la structure de la « famille » de systèmes est activement façonnée par les choix stratégiques du groupe dominant. Les données empiriques proviennent d'une étude longitudinale sur le terrain, menée auprès d'un important hôpital public universitaire australien dont la structure de régie, la culture et le système de contrôle comptable ont connu des transformations majeures.     

Measuring the Performance Drivers of a Pilot Implementation of a Purchasing Card System

Corporate purchasing cards have been offered as an efficient means of maintaining control over purchasing while reducing the administrative cost associated with the acquisition of low-dollar items. However, despite its growing popularity, there has been little systematic research on the use of this technology. This study uses archival data and a survey of users from a single large organisation to describe the nature of purchasing card technology and to investigate the consequences of its implementation. The card was found to be more positively accepted by younger, more committed employees who had shorter periods of tenure at the organisation studied, but who had received higher levels of supervisory encouragement, and who had more experience with credit cards.     

FEN(FAR EAST NETWORK)大友良英+颜峻+袁志伟+柳汉古

前言音景SOUNDSCAPE 2008年8月,在新加坡艺术家蒋才雄(Cheo Chaihiang)写给中国艺术家蒋志的书信中,他并不偶然的提到他的另位朋友Lee Tong Soon,一名京剧专家的一篇论文《音乐,社会和亚洲音景》(Music,Society and The Asian Soundscape)中的观点"音乐如何     

老年雇员退休返聘行为内在机制的研究:员工情感承诺的影响

在人口老龄化加速的背景下,制定退休返聘政策成为缓解中国老龄化所带来的社会负担和利用老年人才资源的重要选择.研究考察老年雇员的工作态度对于其退休后返聘行为的影响.103名临近退休的北京事业单位老年员工参与了本次纵向跟踪的研究.个体退休前的情感承诺可以有效地预测个体在退休后返聘行为的发生,并且这一关系可以被个体的返聘意愿所中介.为企事业单位进行退休返聘管理,以及在老龄化进程中全社会层面上的人力资源潜能开发提供了借鉴性启示.     

Underreaction to Industry‐Wide Earnings and the Post‐Forecast Revision Drift

We test whether the post‐forecast revision drift is mainly attributable to investors’ underreaction to industry‐wide earnings news conveyed by analysts’ forecast revisions. We find a large drift associated with industry‐wide earnings news but no drift associated with firm‐specific earnings news. Consistent with the functional fixation hypothesis, we provide evidence that the post‐forecast revision drift is driven by investors’ underreaction to the higher persistence of industry‐wide earnings. Although prior research has focused on differential persistence of earnings components stemming from managerial reporting discretion, we provide evidence suggesting that investors do not fully understand the differential earnings persistence attributable to industry fundamentals.     

Social Inefficiency of Free Entry with Status Effects

Free markets may support too many or too few firms. Traditional analysis does not provide unambiguous conclusion in this respect. This paper introduces status effects of consumption into the model. It shows that a sufficiently significant status effect tends to support too many firms. Two conditions are required for this result. First, complementary effect between status and consumption is not significant. Second, a higher average status consumption level makes everyone more difficult to get the same degree of gain in status. Both conditions appear to be realistic.     

Now And The Future

Knowledge. management has become part of the rhetoric, if not the reality, of the post-modern business world. There is a widely perceived link between the financial performance of enterprises and the way they cultivate, nurture and exploit the knowledge of individuals and that embodied in their business or professional processes. This paper reviews the emerging literature of knowledge management and points to research opportunities that could lead to a greater understanding of this "next big idea".