Budget emphasis,participation, task difficulty and performance: the effect of diversity within culture

Recent research on the impact of national culture on control systems had overlooked two important aspects. First, while cross-cultural studies have saturated mainly Anglo-American and Asian nations, other important cultural regions, such as the Nordic cultural group, have largely been overlooked. More importantly, the impact of the diversity within national culture, brought about by the diversity of the population, in terms of ethnic background, religion, language and egalitarianism, has also not been considered. With a low power distance and moderate individualism culture, and relatively centralised and formalised industrial relations systems which emphasise democratic work environment, Norwegian managers' budgetary participation is expected to be high. More importantly, as the Norwegian culture is old and the society homogeneous in terms of ethnic background, religion and egalitarianism, the diversity within the Norwegian culture is likely to be much lower than those of the newer, and much more ethnically diverse, societies.such as Australia and Singapore. Consequently, Norwegian managers' participation is expected to range from medium to high, rather than from low to high. Since high participation situations are common in Norway, prior studies' findings pertaining to high participation situations are expected to be supported in Norway. In contrast, since low participation situations are rare in Norway, prior studies' findings pertaining to low participation are unlikely to be supported in Norway. These expectations are supported by the results of this study.     

The organizational culture of public accounting firms: evidence from Taiwanese local and US affiliated firms

This study examines the organizational cultures of public accounting firms with data from US affiliated international accounting firms in Taiwan and Taiwanese local firms. Hypotheses are tested about the impact of the national culture of the US firms on their Taiwanese affiliates, and about cultural differences across function and rank. The study extends previous research by (1) examining an oriental country whose culture is significantly different from that of the US, (2) using the Hofstede, G., Neuijen, B., Ohayv, D. D., & Sanders G. (1990). Measuring organizational cultures: a qualitative and quantitative study across twenty cases. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 286–316 practices-based measure of organizational culture, and (3) examining the importance of the fit between employee preferences and organizational culture in influencing organizational commitment, job satisfaction and propensity to remain with the organization. Support is found for the cultural impact and fit hypotheses. Additonally, while culture is found to be relatively homogeneous across function, differences are found across rank.     

Ritual legitimation, de-coupling and the budgetary process: managing organizational hypocrisies in a multinational company

The study of participation in the budgetary cycle has formed a prominent part of the research literature concerned with the budgetary process. More recently there has emerged a body of literature concerned with exploring the political and symbolic nature of the budgetary process. The paper reports upon the outcomes of an empirical study of the introduction of `budgetary participation' in a division of a European subsidiary of a large North American car manufacturer. We detail the long process of consultation and negotiation within the subsidiary, and between it and the European Headquarters. The study provides a revealing instance of the roles of formal budget participation as a ritual of control and legitimation without the substantive involvement of middle managers and suggested to us the introduction of de-coupling and organizational hypocrisy alongside the introduction of budget participation. The study pays close attention to the contingent effects of the wider political context of the division and the relationships between the division, its organizational context and organizational environment, and how this context played upon the budgetary process in the division. The outcomes that we analyse at `Delta' reflect the de-coupling strategies and organizational hypocrisies commonly found in public sector organizations. In this wider setting the corporation persists with the ritual of `tight' budget negotiation and target setting and apparent underachievement in performance. Yet we conclude that the complex technological and political context to the formation and siting of Delta continued and may continue to support its existence.$g0     

Organizational culture in public accounting: Size, technology, rank, and functional area

This study examines the nature of organizational culture in public accounting and demonstrates that different aspects of culture exist across and within public accounting firms. Organizational culture is defined in terms of values shared by members of an organization (or organizational sub-unit) that manifest themselves in the practices of that organization. Practices particularly important to the development and maintenance of culture include selection and socialization. The hypotheses state that different aspects of organizational culture vary across public accounting firms of different size and technology, and public accountants of different rank and functional area. These hypotheses are tested and largely supported with responses to a paper and pencil instrument, the Values Survey Module (Hofstede, Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation, 1982), which was completed by 338 public accountants across the United States. Implications for accountants and future research are also discussed.     

The importance of informal professional networks in developing a proactive organizational culture: a public value perspective

Public value theory was used by the authors to investigate informal professional networks, perceived discretionary power, and the organizational culture that forms in physical asset management organizations. The results, from a structural equation model, indicated that informal professional networks are positively associated with higher discretionary power and a proactive asset maintenance organizational culture. In the absence of public managers promoting public value, professionals use their informal networks as a source of power to be proactive and contribute to asset reliability and public safety (public value).     

Adoption of activity management practices: a note on the extent of adoption and the influence of organizational and cultural factors

We examine the extent to which activity management practices are adopted by Australian business units at each of Gosselin's [Gosselin, M., 1997. The effect of strategy and organizational structure on the adoption and implementation of activity-based costing. Acc. Organ. Society 22 (2), 105–122] levels of Activity Analysis, Activity Cost Analysis and Activity-based Costing. We also examine the association between extent of adoption and the organizational factors of size and decision usefulness of cost information, and the business unit culture dimensions of innovation, outcome orientation, and tight versus loose control.Data were collected by mail survey questionnaire of a random sample of business units, with questionnaire design and distribution based on Dillman's [Dillman, D.A., 2000. Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York] Tailored Design Method. Adoption rates are found to be higher than in prior studies, suggesting the continuing relevance of activity management practices and the advantage of using Gosselin's (1997) levels. All factors were found to be associated with all activity management practices. In particular, business unit size and all three business unit culture dimensions were found to be associated with extent of adoption of Activity Analysis (AA) and Activity Cost Analysis (ACA), while decision usefulness and the cultural dimensions of outcome orientation and tight versus loose control were associated with Activity-based Costing.     

影响员工参与的组织因素研究

文章验证了在中国文化背景下员工参与的五个维度,探讨了影响员工参与的一些组织因素.通过对国内185家企业的调查发现,企业性质、培训与激励计划对企业员工参与具有正向影响作用,企业规模与员工参与存在显著的负相关关系,组织年龄、组织结构对于企业员工参与影响不显著.     

基于高校教师职业特点的激励机制探析

在对高校教师激励机制现状分析之后,针对高校教师的职业特点,提出了高校教师激励机制模式:薪酬激励、社会保障计划、参与激励、竞争激励、组织文化激励、工作激励。     

Antecedents of Budget Participation: Leadership Style,Information Asymmetry,and Evaluative Use of Budget

This study explores the causes or antecedents of budget participation to understand more fully the role of participation in the workplace. The study focuses on the reasons why superiors encourage the budget participation of their subordinates and draws upon several theoretical perspectives including leadership theory, agency theory and organizational justice. To examine the issues, a survey was administered to managers and supervisors in several companies. Results of path analysis suggest that superiors encourage subordinate participation when the superior's leadership style is considerate. This implies that budget participation may mediate the relation between leadership style and work outcomes. Results also suggest that superiors encourage participation when budget goals are used in the performance evaluation of subordinates, in which case, the study argues, the superiors encourage participation because of concerns about organizational justice. This finding implies that budget participation may mediate the relation between the evaluative use of budget and those work outcomes that prior research has linked to organizational justice. The proposed relation between information asymmetry and budget participation is not supported.     

The effects of national culture on the role of participation in different task situations

Prior studies primarily in Anglo-American and Asian cultural settings have found that budgetary participation interacts with reliance on accounting performance measures and task situations to affect managerial attitudes. Researchers have questioned if such findings can also be found in different cultural environments. As France has a high power distance and high individualism culture which is different from those of both the Anglo-American and Asian nations, this study investigates if such cultural differences may affect the findings of prior studies. Based on a sample of 44 French managers, the results indicate a similar significant three-way interaction effect. However, they also indicate that French managers have low levels of budgetary participation. Participation also has an insignificant effect on managers' job satisfaction in high task difficulty situations. These results are contrary to those of prior studies in Anglo-American and Asian cultural settings and may have important implications for the study of cultural effects on management control systems.     

Residents’ behavioural intentions to resist the nuclear power plants in the vicinity: an application of the protective action decision model

Nuclear power is growing rapidly in China. The ultimate goal of developing nuclear power is to mitigate the energy crisis, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure sustainable economic development. However, the ‘not-in-my-backyard’ (NIMBY) attitude may influence the implementation of nuclear power projects. This study explores the determinants of behavioural intentions to resist nuclear power plants (NPPs) based on the protective action decision model (PADM). A survey of the residents (N = 432) near the Haiyang NPP significantly validated the hypothesized relations. Results suggest that information acquisition and public participation can significantly predict perceived knowledge. Perceived knowledge is important in predicting perceived benefits, NIMBY attitude, and behavioural intentions. Moreover, two inverted-U relationships for perceived knowledge with the NIMBY attitude and with behavioural intentions are observed. Furthermore, the NIMBY attitude and behavioural intentions are significantly stimulated by perceived risks, but failed to be motivated by perceived benefits. An inverted-U relationship between perceived benefits and perceived risk is also indicated. The results that the NIMBY attitude and residential distance to NPP have played significant roles in predicting behavioural intentions are obtained. Implications of our results and areas of further researches are discussed in this article as well.     

Organisational Culture and Budgetary Control in a UK Local Government Organisation

This paper is an attempt to explore the possibilities of working within the functional paradigm to understand the relationship between organisational culture and financial control. More specifically, the research is an empirical study informed by contingency theory. The research uses canonical correlation analysis to investigate the complex contingent relationship, as suggested by Williams, Mcintosh and Moore (1990). The research was carried out within a local government organisation in the UK, and used a questionnaire to determine managers' perceptions of organisational culture and budget-related behaviour. A correlation was found between organisational culture and budget-related behaviour, particularly with respect to budgetary participation and the usefulness of budgets to support the managerial role. However, the relationship was not straightforward, and the analysis indicated some tension between culture and the financial control system in operation.     

National culture and corporate debt maturity

We investigate the influence of national culture on corporate debt maturity choice. Based on the framework of Williamson, we argue that culture located in social embeddedness level can shape contracting environments by serving as an informal constraint that affects human actors’ incentives and choices in market exchange. We therefore expect national culture to be related to debt maturity structure after controlling for legal, political, financial, and economic institutions. Using Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions (uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, power distance, and masculinity) as proxies for culture, and using a sample of 114,723 firm-years from 40 countries over the 1991-2006 period, we find robust evidence that firms located in countries with high uncertainty avoidance, high collectivism, high power distance, and high masculinity tend to use more short-term debt. We interpret our results as consistent with the view that national culture helps explain cross-country variations in the maturity structure of corporate debt.     

The effect of performance feedback on prior budgetary participative research using survey methodology: An empirical study

Prior research examining the relation between budgetary participation and job performance explicitly or implicitly posits budgetary participation and intervening variables such as role ambiguity, motivation, job satisfaction, and job-relevant information as independent variables; job performance as the dependent variable. However, these studies are often based on correlated data in which the direction of causation is unknown. This paper uses attribution theory to examine whether job performance affects perceptions of budgetary participation and/or intervening variables (e.g. role ambiguity). Using a laboratory experiment and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), the findings of this study show that knowledge of performance, obtained through performance evaluations and/or external cues, affects individuals’ perceptions regarding budgetary participation, job satisfaction, role ambiguity, motivation, and job-relevant information. The results of the study may undermine correlations between self-reported data on individual characteristics (e.g. motivation) and performance data, as well as correlations between self-reported data on organizational variables (e.g. budgetary participation) and performance data. The study provides suggestions how researchers could overcome problems associated with causal directions in future budget participation studies that link self-reported individual and organizational characteristics to job performance.     

Firm‐ and Individual‐Level Determinants of Balanced Scorecard Usage*/DÉTERMINANTS DE L'USAGE DU TABLEAU DE BORD ÉQUILIBRÉ AU DOUBLE ÉCHELON ORGANISATIONNEL ET INDIVIDUEL

The factors influencing the organizational as well as the individual decision to utilize the balanced scorecard (BSC) approach have not been widely researched. In the first part of this paper, we study BSC adoption at the organizational level while utilizing a multifaceted perspective of socio‐psychological, economic, and resource‐based influences; specifically, we investigate the perceptions of desirability, urgency, and feasibility of BSC adoption. Our findings show that customer norms, competitor norms, and organizational resources are significant predictors of BSC adoption. In the second part of the paper, we discuss individual‐level aspects of utilization decisions. Here, we explore the impact of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and awareness on the intentions to use the BSC approach. Our findings show that both awareness of BSC capabilities and perceived ease of use are significantly related to perceived usefulness. However, only perceived usefulness is significantly related to intentions to use the BSC. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Foreign bank subsidiaries’ risk-taking behavior: Impact of home and host country national culture

This paper examines whether the risk-taking behavior of foreign affiliates of multinational banks is more influenced by the national culture of their parent banks’ home country or the national culture of foreign affiliates’ host country. The study uses a dataset of 292 foreign affiliates (i.e., subsidiaries or branch operations) operating in 66 countries having parent banks in 26 countries for empirical analysis. National culture of both home and host countries is measured with four dimensions—uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity and power distance—of Hofstede's framework of national culture. Findings suggest that the national culture of parent banks’ home country has higher impact on the risk-taking behavior of foreign affiliates of multinational banks than the national culture of their host country. Specifically, foreign affiliates’ risk-taking is higher if parent banks’ home country has low uncertainty avoidance, high individualism and low power distance cultural values. This study extends our understanding that how informal institutions, such as the national culture, influence the financial decisions in multinational banks.     

Structural and executional drivers of downstream revenue

Revenue flows that occur at other related organizational units and over time are an important part of customer profitability analysis and resource planning. This study analyzes downstream revenue generated from establishing a series of additional organizational units. The setting is a central hospital which established a group of specialty outreach clinics. Using a specially-collected time-series database I show two distinct patterns, depending on the clinic's specialty. One type triggers immediate incremental downstream revenue to the clinic's sponsoring department. The other type of clinic generates revenue that is smaller in value, later in time and mostly in departments not associated with the sponsoring department's medical specialty. Structural and executional clinic characteristics such as distance and clinic frequency differentially affect the amount of revenue generated, implying a need for tailoring performance measures to “clinic type”. Overall, my results suggest caution in developing performance measures that include financial impact in other organizational units – context matters even in a relatively homogenous setting of specialty clinics in one hospital system.     

A bibliometric analysis of cultural finance

We present a systematic review of research conducted on culture in finance journals, accompanied by bibliometric summary analysis. We summarize publication and citation trends, as well as identify the most prolific and impactful contributors. We discover several major themes of cultural finance research: (i) governance, (ii) culture and financial decision making, (iii) culture and investing, (iv) social trust and firm governance, (v) religion and religiosity, and (vi) cultural distance and finance. We also identify current themes relating to individualism and risk taking, regulations, religiosity and venture capital, and organizational legitimacy. We use our summary of thematic development to suggest future research directions.     

Antecedents and outcomes relating to public and private nurses’ use of intuition in England

This paper examines public and private sector nurses’ use of intuition in England using structural equation modeling. Leader–member exchange (LMX) and perceived organizational support (POS) correlated positively with nurses’ perception of discretionary power and use of intuition. Nurses’ perception of discretionary power and use of intuition were positively correlated with their engagement. Further, differences were identified between private sector and public sector nurses in relation to the impact of workplace relationships (POS and LMX) and intuition onto perceived discretionary power and employee engagement. The results are important for all hospital managers seeking to foster employees’ use of intuition, perception of discretionary power, and engagement.     

The two faces of organizational information

Organizational information, i.e. “facts” given and taken, and inferences drawn and established by participants within an organizational situation, may be examined in terms of its import to the relationship between an organization and its environment. A “locus” for organizational information is established in which information is classified as: (a) either inner- or other-directed: (b) either internally- or externally-based; and (c) either self- or other-referencing. Examples of organizational information in each of the eight possible categories are readily identified. Much, if not most, organizational information is probably best regarded as “two-faced”, i.e. as the product of inner- and other-directed needs taken together. For this reason, the basis, or justification of any item of organizational information is often obscure. This is seen to have consequences for organizational self-learning and self-delusion, and for the maintenance of organizational credibility and organizational secrets.