Ganzheitlicher strategiefokussierter Managementansatz für Finanzdienstleistungsunternehmen: Relevanz und Aspekte der Einführung

The Balanced Strategy Scorecard represents a further optimization of the original Balanced Scorecard. Nowadays the BSC in terms of a BSSC is already used by some enterprises. Also companies in the finance service sector gather first experiences with this concept. The introduction and consistent application of this modern management instrument is of particular importance to the finance services sector with its dynamic environment. A continuous communication of a strategy throughout the entire organisation as well as a pragmatic and efficient implementation are essential preconditions for long-term success of finance service companies.     

Book Reviews

References to ‘customers’ have become commonplace in the policy discourses within UK government and other public sector bodies. It is a working assumption of UK public sector management that the concept of the ‘customer’ can be applied to any public sector service agency or department; and this paper analyses how the UK government's revenue department, formerly titled the Inland Revenue (IR), re-characterised firstly taxpayers and latterly tax claimants as ‘customers’, rather than ‘users’, of IR services. This paper identifies some problems, dilemmas and ambiguities associated with this reconceptualisation in the context of an organisation that is predominantly a regulating department. Far from being merely a reclassification of the taxpayer as customer, the emerging discourse and associated practices of the IR were in part embedded in organisational change, including the merger with HM Customs and Excise to form the present-day HMRC. Thus this case analysis illustrates the limits of consumerism as a strategic tool of a government revenue department and raises wider questions for public management.     

Improving customer awareness: Evaluating an approach

While there has been much talk of making public sector organisations more sensitive to the needs of their clients, much less effort has been devoted to explaining how this can be done. When the Central Middlesex Hospital set up training workshops, it discovered unexpected needs amongst its own staff     

Bank Bonuses and Bailouts

This paper shows that bonus contracts may arise endogenously as a response to agency problems within banks, and analyzes how compensation schemes change in reaction to anticipated bailouts. If there is a risk‐shifting problem, bailout expectations lead to steeper bonus schemes and even more risk taking. If there is an effort problem, the compensation scheme becomes flatter and effort decreases. If both types of agency problems are present, a sufficiently large increase in bailout perceptions makes it optimal for a welfare‐maximizing regulator to impose caps on bank bonuses. In contrast, raising managers' liability can be counterproductive.     

The agency problem and the moderating role of culturally based management style on Chinese managers’ discretionary accruals

Upon completion of overseas acquisitions, Western firms typically hire Chinese locals or expatriates to run their Chinese operations. This action is an important consideration because a Western executive's managerial style may impact Chinese employee behavior differently than a Chinese executive's managerial style. Utilizing an experiment with Chinese managers as participants, we examine the effect of the agency problem (when both an incentive and opportunity to act in line with one's self-interest are present) on Chinese managers’ discretionary accrual decisions, as well as the role that their executives’ culturally based management style (Eastern versus Western) plays in affecting their propensity to manage earnings. We find that Chinese managers tend to override corporate concerns and recommend higher discretionary expense accruals in an effort to maximize their two-year bonus potential when the agency problem is present. Conversely, they tend to recommend lower discretionary expense accrual figures to help achieve corporate goals when the agency problem is not present. Interestingly, we also find that an executive's culturally based management style moderates the impact of the agency problem in that Chinese managers’ willingness to manage earnings across agency problem conditions is significantly more pronounced in the presence of a Western (U.S.) executive than in the presence of an Eastern (Chinese) executive.     

Public service motivation and public sector employment preference: Comparing Italian and British students

ABSTRACT

Previous research has suggested that an individual’s public service motivation (PSM) is positively linked to a preference for public sector employment. The authors explore this link using a sample of British and Italian undergraduate students. They found a positive relationship between PSM and public sector job preferences among Italian students but not with the British students. The UK has implemented more NPM-style reforms than Italy and this could be impacting on public sector recruitment. Implications for recruitment and retention the public sector are discussed.     

Financial Management Strategy in a Community Welfare Organisation: A Boardroom Perspective

This paper presents the results of a four year participant observation study of boardroom deliberations and resulting financial management strategies in a large not–for–profit religious based community welfare organisation. Employing a complete membership research approach and informed by grounded theory analysis, the study develops a micro–theoretical framework portraying boardroom financial management and accountability strategising. The study finds that the strategic focus on mission financing was conditioned by the contested formulation of strategic objectives, core organisational service philosophies, and executive–board member interaction. A significant observed outcome of the strategic mission financing focus was the management of accountability and disclosure, to which two key strategies were contributory. These were the exercising of financial control and the exercising of relationships management. The findings offer hitherto unavailable insights into strategic financial management and accountability processes and their context at the boardroom level in the religious not–for–profit community welfare sector.     

Defining the Reporting Entity in the Not‐for‐profit Public Sector: Implementation Issues Associated with the Control Test

This paper reports the main findings of a research project carried out on behalf of the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and the New Zealand Financial Reporting Standards Board. The purpose of the research is to inform standard setters about implementation issues that had been encountered in the not‐for‐profit (NFP) public sector when applying the control concept in AASB 127, Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements. The intention is to use the findings to inform proposed implementation guidance for AASB 10, Consolidated Financial Statements. Data were collected via a literature review and meetings with various NFP public sector constituents. Identified issues were either conceptual in nature (for example, who are the relevant users of NFP public sector general purpose financial statements and what are their needs?) or related to implementation concerns (for example, is the power exerted by one NFP public sector entity over another of an ‘ownership’ or a ‘regulatory’ form?). The findings give rise to several suggested actions that standard setters could take in providing useful guidance to NFP public sector constituents.     

Determinants of contract terms for professional services

This study provides evidence on the determinants of contract terms between professional services firms and their clients. Because professional services are typically characterized by a high degree of transactional uncertainty and a double moral hazard risk, contracts can be essential for the creation of incentives to control the behavior of those involved in the service encounter. Based on both agency and organizational theory, hypotheses on the determinants of implementing a specific type of cost contract are developed and tested empirically with respect to management consulting firms. Our results indicate that (1) service characteristics exert a significant impact on the chosen contract type, (2) performance-based contracts may not be optimal, even if service output is measurable and verifiable, and (3) experience-based trust and reputation impact on the choice of controls used in short-term contracts. These results contribute to the field of management accounting by providing insights into the design of management control systems in service organizations.     

Evaluation of Subjectivity in Incentive Pay

The study aims to investigate the determinants of subjective bonus payouts in the UK financial industry. Bonuses are increasingly linked to wider business goals, such as quality and customer service, firm reputation and employee hiring and retention policies, thus replacing the traditional focus on output or profit measures. A new conceptual work on subjectivity is used to evaluate these bonus practices. Results indicate that a variety of contextual factors have influenced the firms to make greater use of subjectivity in bonus payouts. Of these, organizational interdependency appeared to be the most forceful factor, followed by management’s strategic focus, long-term investment in intangibles, economic constraints, performance target difficulty, and competition. The analysis suggests that subjectivity acts as a mechanism that aligns the interests of individual employees with the firm’s performance goals. The study also draws attention to the costs of subjectivity in performance evaluation.     

代理理论、经理层行为与管理会计研究——基于代理理论的管理会计研究综述

本文系统梳理了基于代理理论的管理会计研究经典文献及最新研究成果,这其中既包括代理理论对管理会计总体框架的影响,又包括其对管理会计体系中的预算管理、成本计算与管理、管理控制系统、业绩评价与激励等子系统的影响。作者认为,代理理论与管理会计研究的相互交融巩固了管理会计的经济学理论基础,转换了管理会计的研究视角,增进了管理会计的科学性及研究深度,进而指出未来研究中探讨代理理论各分支相互融合对管理会计的影响,以及关注模型的细节有效性方面,结合实地研究、心理学和行为学的研究成果将是该领域深化研究的重要方向。     

Does the economy matter? Tough times,good times,and public service motivation

This paper describes a pilot study which explored the effects of different economic conditions on the public service motivation (PSM) levels of a small group of government and private sector employees in Malaysia. It address three questions: are the PSM levels of government employees significantly higher than those of private sector employees; are the PSM levels of employees significantly influenced by their perceptions of the external economic environment; and is the relationship between the economy and PSM affected by the sector of employment? Government employees’ PSM levels were found to be higher than those of the private sector employees, and were sensitive to perceptions of different economic conditions.     

Australian not‐for‐profit sector views on the conceptual framework,accounting standards and accounting information

In this paper, we examine the conceptual framework, accounting standards and accounting information relevant to the not‐for‐profit (NFP) sector. Based on the responses of 242 Australian NFP managers, we find support for the inclusion of accountability in the conceptual framework, and for a common set of accounting standards across NFP and for‐profit sectors with additional standards or paragraphs to recognise NFP specific issues. Respondents also rated information within general‐purpose financial reports to be useful for decision making within their organisations. We offer suggestions as to what our findings mean for the development of accounting standards for the NFP sector.     

Piecewise linear incentive scheme and participative budgeting

This paper studies the economic incentives of participative budgeting through the design of incentive schemes within the agency theory framework. In particular, a piecewise linear incentive scheme (PLIS), an optimal version of Weitzman's New Soviet Incentive Scheme (NSIS), is derived. The characteristics of PLIS are: first, unlike NSIS, the bonus (penalty) rates of the optimal PLIS vary according to the agent's type in order to improve the principal's welfare, second, a penalty may be imposed on the overfulfillment of the agent's performance in order to maintain incentive compatibility, and finally, it is shown that if the coefficients are constant as in NSIS, there is no need for participative budgeting. Also, PLIS is compared with a quadratic incentive scheme. Both incentive schemes achieve the optimal solution, but each incentive scheme has its own advantage over the other depending on the situation.     

Exploring attitudes to financial reporting in the Australian not‐for‐profit sector

The current level of satisfaction among different stakeholders about the current approaches and practises of financial reporting of not‐for‐profit (NFP) entities is underexplored ( Christensen and Mohr, 2003 ; Lee, 2004 ; Gray et al., 2006 ; Parker, 2007 ). This paper uses content analysis to examine submissions to the 2008 Australian Senate Economics Standing Committee for its inquiry into the disclosure regimes of charities and NFP organisations, which aimed to explore attitudes about financial reporting in the NFP sector. Financial reporting is viewed as an important part of accountability, but the sector identifies deficiencies in the current regime in terms of consistency, efficiency and transparency. Respondents to this inquiry believed that a sector‐specific accounting standard was important. Financial reporting standards, regulations and legal structures should be uniform across the entire sector, but with some variation allowed for smaller NFPs. The cost of complying with standards was a significant issue for smaller NFPs.     

Quality assurance: The professional's role

How can professionals, especially those in the caring professions, feel confident that the service which they are providing for clients is of an acceptable standard? Any quality assurance programme needs the commitment of professionals.     

Pointers: Pay; Housing; NHS; Regional policy; Public expenditure; Industrial support; US deficits

Using performance indicators to drive improved service delivery and cost‐effectiveness has been a recognized management technique in the public sector for many years. Most managers are now convinced of the possible benefits, at least in theory. Reality, though, is much less encouraging. Partial coverage, poor implementation and unrealized expectations are still the norm. Yet the potential for radical improvement by making the most of performance measurement is even greater than most people would believe. The question is how to unlock this potential.     

The strategic power of saying no

Susan Bishop started Bishop Partners with the aim of making it the best boutique executive-search firm in the business. Specializing in television, radio, and publishing industries, her plan was to beat out her larger, established competitors through superb execution. Great service would lead to happy clients, which would lead to more business, which would keep clients happy, which would lead to even more business. A virtuous circle, right? Wrong. Before long, she and her staff grew weary of jumping through every hoop their clients could think of--trying to find candidates for lower-level positions in remote locations at below-market rates, for instance. But what could they do? How could they afford to disappoint any customer when they didn't have that many to begin with? In this vivid first-person account, Bishop describes how she and her staff came to an answer that was highly counterintuitive: stop trying to make everyone happy. Focus instead on making the right customers happy. Raise their prices. Limit their searches to high level positions in their field of expertise. Stick to companies big enough to give them repeat business. As hard as it was to define the right clients, it was even harder to say no to the wrong clients. One member of the staff had to turn down work worth $120,000; Bishop herself had to turn down $250,000 from her largest client, Coca-Cola. But in the end, those clients came back with higher-quality work, and her company was on its way from chaotic little start-up to successful, professional enterprise. Bishop tells the classic entrepreneur's story, one with important lessons about strategy making, courage, and discipline for all businesspeople.     

Agency theory,performance evaluation,and the hypothetical construct of intrinsic motivation

Cognitive evaluation theory and its hypothetical construct of intrinsic motivation are enjoying increasing popularity in the fields of business administration and economics. Consequently, intensifying skepticism towards performance incentives and agency theory is postulated. According to cognitive evaluation theory, it is argued that performance pay may undermine an agent's intrinsic motivation. In contradiction to agency theory, the principal might be worse off when providing an incentive contract to the agent than without doing so. Since the contention is substantiated by empirical evidence, it seems worrying enough for further investigation. Restricting attention to performance pay in business corporations, the scope of this article is to evaluate whether agency theory faces an urgent need to incorporate the construct of intrinsic motivation and its ‘hidden costs of reward' as postulated by supporters of the concept. The subsequent analysis reveals good and bad news for agency theory. The bad news is that hidden costs of reward do indeed exist. The good news is that the empirical evidence on undermining effects cannot be interpreted as being contradictory to agency theory. In particular, the antecedents for such effects not only seldomly prevail in business corporations, they are also easily avoidable.     

我国商业银行代发工资业务创新发展策略研究

代发工资业务是各家银行竞相发展的一项重要的个人中间业务,是撬动整个零售业务最重要的支撑点之一,大力促进其发展具有非常重要的意义。本文认为我国商业银行需要创新代发工资业务处理方式,增加交易渠道,培育客户自助水平,营造新的金融消费环境,为客户提供高品质服务,解决排队等问题;通过把握营销机遇,挖掘客户需求,做好组合营销,不断满足代发工资客户日益增长的金融需求;通过产品创新,经营代发工资业务品牌,加强风险管理,打造独特的竞争优势;通过公私联动、整合营销,提高营销效率,扎实推进薪酬市场客户拓展工作,提升商业银行的核心竞争力。