Risk Management: Its Adoption in Australian Public Universities within an Environment of Change Management – A Management Perspective

This study draws on the multi‐theoretical approach to governance and a qualitative methodology to examine the extent to which key players in Australian public universities have developed and implemented risk management within an environment of change management. The findings demonstrate that wider influences – largely the result of conflicting management cultures – have had differing impacts on the values of key players and the consequent adoption of the process. Key players’ values range from congruent with a corporate culture (at the strategic level) to incongruent with a corporate culture (at the operational level), and result in different outcomes. These different outcomes suggest that the adoption of risk management by Australian public universities under the influence of new public management is problematic. The study provides opportunities for further research to confirm these findings with a broader sample of actors and the adoption of other governance control processes.     

Application of Accrual Accounting in the Australian Public Sector – Rhetoric or Reality

This paper presents a contextual. historical analysis of recent accrual accounting developments in the Australian Public Sector (APS). It takes a critical stance in that it questions the accrual accounting developments on a number of grounds. The paper examines changes in public sector financial management and accountability in four distinct settings, being: accrual financial reporting, accrual management systems, whole of government reporting, and accrual based budgeting. The findings show that already in Australia accrual accounting has made significant encroachments into some areas of annual financial and budget reporting. This influx has meant that terms such as 'deficit', 'debt', 'liabilities', 'operating results', 'assets', etc. have begun to change in meaning, which it is argued has important implications for the current process of transformation of aspects of the APS.     

公共服务战略管理中的公众参与：原因、机制与意义

公共服务战略管理是战略管理途径在公共服务领域的运用,是制定公共服务战略并实施和评价战略的过程,以此更好地满足公共需求。公众是公共服务最直接的受众,应该把公众纳入公共服务战略管理的研究框架之中。同时,适当的公众参与对公共服务的有效供给及公共服务战略绩效的提高有着十分重要的作用。     

政务微信视角下的政府信任及其提升路径

伴随互联网技术和新媒体的迅猛发展,政务微信已成为政务信息公开透明、多元主体互动参与、公共服务效率改进的新利器.然而,当前政务微信功能定位模糊、运营管理不规范、信息回应不及时等问题影响了政府信任的生成.今后,应明确政务微信的功能定位,改进公共服务效率和效益,改革政务微信管理体制,提升政府信息发布权威性,及时回应公众诉求等...     

Organizational change in an Australian university: Responses to a research assessment exercise

The objective of this paper is to explore the way internal organizational control processes are changed in response to external demands. It does this by investigating the organizational change undertaken by an Australian university in anticipation of, and in response to, an externally imposed research assessment exercise (RAE), specifically focusing on the university's internal research-related performance management system (PMS) and its impact on academics. It adopts a case study method, using data from publicly available documents, interviews with senior management, and a survey administered to academics. The data is interpreted and analyzed using Broadbent and Laughlin's organizational change model. The findings reveal that RAE was anticipated with the appointment of new senior leadership, a new vision, restructure of faculties and departments, and changes to the research PMS. The changes to both the university's mission (significant and longlasting, second order change) and its internal systems (less significant, first order change) are evident. In the context of the global proliferation of PMSs in the higher education sector, this paper contributes to the literature on PMSs, indicating its relevance to universities. Its empirics provide useful insights for university managers and regulators and, more broadly, the paper contributes to our understanding of organizational change.     

Piano, with Harmony: Analysing the Imola Academy from a Management Study Perspective

The extension of an economic and managerial discourse to non-business organisations is becoming increasingly common in the modern-day world. This is also true of arts organisations (museums, opera houses, etc.) where considerable conflicts and misunderstandings can be found between the different cultural matrices of art professionals and management specialists. The Imola Piano Academy is a happy exception in this respect, and therefore warrants the analysis set out in this paper which is based on a strategic change perspective. The evolution of this 'excellent' organisation is reconstructed, its performance is analysed and, against the background of the modest level of resources that this growth has required, the reasons underpinning its success are investigated.     

Internal labour markets in the Australian banking industry: their nature prior to the Second World War and their recent decline

This paper uses evidence from late nineteenth-and early twentieth-century personnel records of two Australian banks to examine the nature of internal labour markets prior to the Second World War. It is argued that the industry possessed all the classic features of internal labour markets: limited ports of entry, internal promotion, long careers, and assignment of wages by well-defined rules. The paper then examines the reasons why banks adopted internal labour markets. Finally, the paper examines the recent decline of internal labour markets and examines the role of technological and social changes in this decline.     

Expertise and Knowledge Management in Public Accounting Professional Services Firms: A North American Perspective

This article identifies significant knowledge management issues experienced by North American professional services firms, obtained from a review of the literature and from interviews conducted with senior partners in three of the Big 5 firms. Professional services firms face demanding client needs in a rapidly changing global business envimnment. They must have a talented, diverse professional staff and be able to share and leverage the knowledge of this staff. The critical resource that the firms sell is knowledge. Knowledge management is at the core of this process.     

Cost Management in the Public Sector: Legitimation Behaviour and Relevant Decision Making

This paper presents a case study where a cost management project was implemented using action research methodology at two Finnish organizations working in a purchaser–provider relationship. While the study demonstrates the efficiency‐seeking motive behind the implementation of the management accounting tool, subsequent investigation found that tool remained partly unused despite showing its potential relevance for practice through user involvement. However, this does not necessarily signal legitimation‐seeking behaviour. Reasons for not using some parts of the tool point to an overestimation of the functionality and an underestimation of implementation problems during the design process. The case also highlights the relationship between relevance and decision making.     

A Critical Appreciation of the Uses for Strategic Management Thinking, Systems and Techniques in British Universities

The Dearing Commission's examination of British higher education has given further impetus to the need for strategy making at an institutional level. Recent policy developments are examined as a background and rationale for the use of institutional strategy. Intrinsic difficulties are then considered in managing universities strategically. Several techniques and ideas are evaluated to help resolve such problems, before adapting Porter's generic strategies and value chain concepts and placing them within a stakeholder focus group framework. Critical conclusions are then drawn on current higher education policy and the consequent use of institutional strategy in a fast changing environment.     

Constituent Participation in the Australian Public Sector Accounting Standard-Setting Process: The Case of ED 55

The Australian public sector has recently undergone a period of intense reform including a comprehensive reform of financial reporting policies. A major aspect of this reform is the involvement of the Australian accounting profession in the formulation of financial reporting standards through the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (PSASB). Despite this extensive change, scant research has examined constituent participation in the Australian public sector accounting standard-setting 'due process'. This paper considers the regulatory model adopted for accounting standard-setting in the public sector in Australia and identifies the implications of this model for constituent access to the 'due process'. In particular, the co-operation between the PSASB and the various regulatory bodies in each Australian jurisdiction suggests that these bodies may have more direct influence over the standard-setters than other constituents. The submissions made on ED 55 Financial Reporting by Government Departments are examined as a case study of the 'due process' as it operates in the public sector. Different constituent groups were found to respond in varying proportions, to hold conflicting positions on some issues contained in ED 55 and to use different strategies to present these positions. The research identifies a lack of input by the major group affected by the proposed standard, the account preparers (government departments). In addition, account preparers which did respond to ED 55 were found to use less sophisticated lobbying strategies than other respondents who weighted their responses by commenting on a greater number of issues and by supporting their position with conceptual arguments. These results support the contention that some constituents have favourable access to the 'due process' and that standard-setters may not have received all pertinent information from affected and/or knowledgeable constituents.     

Incentive Effects, Monitoring Mechanisms and the Market for Corporate Control: An Analysis of the Factors Affecting Public to Private Transactions in the UK

Abstract:   This paper investigates the factors that influence the decision to change the status of a publicly quoted company to that of a private company. We find that firms that go private are more likely to have higher CEO ownership and higher institutional ownership. In relation to their board structures, firms going private tend to have more duality but there is no statistical difference in the proportion of non‐executive directors. They do not show signs of having excess free cash flows but there is some evidence of lower growth opportunities. We do not find that firms going private experience a greater threat of hostile acquisition. The results are therefore consistent with incentive and monitoring explanations of going private. Calculation of the probability of going private shows that incentive effects are stronger than the monitoring effects.     

Management controls and modern slavery risks in the building and construction industry: Lessons from an Australian social housing provider

Modern slavery presents a complex risk for organisations worldwide, with perpetrators continually adapting practices to maintain a veil of secrecy. While management controls may reduce modern slavery risks, little is known about how they optimally function across industries and organisational forms. To advance the state of knowledge, we examine an Australian not for profit housing provider using an interventionist research method. We draw on a combined conceptual framework of management controls and expectancy theory to analyse participant observations and document data collected over 24 months. Our findings show that despite constraints, the organisation reduced modern slavery risks. This outcome, informed by a social purpose within the organisation, was facilitated through the introduction and adaptation of cultural, personnel, action, and results controls. By discussing the changes this housing provider made, we add to the literature on management controls and modern slavery and provide theoretical insights into why they were adopted. We also highlight limitations in what the organisation could achieve that point to areas for future research.     

Consultant‐Researchers in Public Sector Transformation: An Evolving Role

This paper analyses the changing role of consultant‐researchers in the public sector, drawing empirically on a 12‐year interventionist project. The investigation focuses on the heterogeneity of participants’ contributions, and shows the researchers’ actions to be closely entangled with participants’ attitudes. Furthermore, the longitudinal study highlights the relevance of the changing reform and organisational setting in shaping these roles, such that the actors’ actions can be regarded as institutionally embedded. From this perspective, the roles are analysed across three dimensions – purposes, participation and learning – representing polar types on a broad spectrum.     

Accounting for the Cost of Central Support Services in UK Universities: A Note

A significant part of the total cost of a university is spent on central support services. Traditionally, this has been funded by top-slicing the various sources of income and, although universities do attempt to ascertain the 'full cost' of research and consultancy services for pricing purposes, this practice does not always extend to attempts to determine the 'full cost' of academic departments. This survey examines the extent to which universities rely on top-slicing to recover the cost of central support services or use alternative approaches such as cost allocation, or service level agreements, or internal market prices or even devolution, as far as possible, to faculties. Each of these alternative approaches has been a feature of attempts to achieve better control of, and value for money from, central support services in other parts of the public sector, and yet these have not been widely implemented in universities.     

Determinants and consequences of student satisfaction in Australian Universities: Evidence from QILT Surveys

We examine the determinants and consequences of student satisfaction, measured by satisfaction scores reported in the QILT surveys from 2012 to 2017. We find that university-level profitability determines overall student satisfaction, where a positive relationship exists between student satisfaction and university performance. This association is more pronounced for Group of Eight (Go8) universities and those with higher academic expenditure. These findings have important implications for higher education providers as the Australian Government is contemplating the use of QILT student satisfaction in allocating public funding for higher education.     

Monitoring Role of Venture Capital in the Initial Public Offerings: Evidence from Korea

Because the government has initiated the development of venture capital firms in Korea, independent venture capital firms have been significantly influenced by government regulations and interventions; in contrast, corporations have made venture investments internally to avoid the regulations. This study investigates whether the Korean institutional environment harms the monitoring role of independent venture capital firms, while it does not significantly impact corporate venture capital firms. In an IPO setting, we find that earnings management (long-term performance) significantly decreases (increases) with the ownership of corporate venture capital firms. However, we do not find a significant relation between the ownership of independent venture capital firms and earnings management or long-term performance. The results suggest that Korean independent venture capital firms do not play a role in monitoring their investee companies; in contrast, corporate venture capital firms play a monitoring role.     

利益相关者视角下我国保险公司独立董事制度有效性研究

建立独立董事制度是完善我国保险公司治理结构的重要举措之一,对维护保险机构、保险消费者和中小股东的合法权益具有重要意义。现有文献对一般上市公司独立董事制度有效性的研究较多,但保险公司在资本结构、经营模式等方面具有诸多特殊性,所以有必要对保险公司独立董事制度有效性进行专门研究。本文基于我国47家股份制保险公司2016~2018年的数据,实证检验了保险公司独立董事占比及其背景特征对公司盈利能力、偿付能力水平的影响。研究发现,独立董事占比与盈利能力呈U型关系,但对偿付能力水平的影响不显著。进一步地,本文区分保险公司是否具有自发性公司治理意识和股权集中程度高低进行横截面分析,结果发现,我国保险公司独立董事制度的有效性在具有自发性公司治理意识或股权更分散的公司中显著更强。本文的研究结论为进一步完善我国保险公司独立董事制度提供了理论依据和决策支持。     

Shared Standard Setting in the Public Interest:A Strong Model

正The last two decades have been a definitive era in the evolution of the accountancy profession.In the wake of major corporate scandals at the turn of the century,an international public debate arose on the need for more effective and well-considered regulation;this debate then reignited during the global financial and sovereign debt crises.     

A Consulting Giant; a Disgruntled Client: A ‘Failed’ Attempt to Change Management Controls in a Public Sector Organisation

There has been very little research into management consulting interventions in public sector organisations, especially in emerging economies. This paper aims to fill this void by narrating the empirics of a consulting assignment carried out by a large international consulting firm in a Pakistani public sector organisation. The study found that consultants’ recommendations of ‘businesslike’ management controls, such as a modern performance measurement system and a ‘state‐of‐the‐art’ information system, were rejected outright by the client management. Employing a critical realist perspective that focuses on the structural conditions facing both the client and the consultants, and on the strategies adopted by both parties, the study aims to explain the empirics of the case. Through structural and strategic analysis, this paper aims to enhance our understanding of the dynamics of management consulting in public sector organisations, especially in emerging economies.