Managing compliance with privacy regulations through translation guardrails: A health information exchange case study

Information privacy is increasingly important in our digitally connected world, particularly in healthcare, and privacy regulations are ramping up to promote appropriate privacy practices. As a digital platform that enables healthcare providers to exchange protected health information (PHI), a health information exchange (HIE) is governed by health information privacy regulations. The challenge for HIEs is to operate in a way that will maximize information exchange while maintaining compliance with regulations that may constrain the sharing of PHI. Regulations impose a measure of universality through compliance requirements, while being flexible to allow adaptation to the local context. However, our longitudinal case study into the privacy policies of an HIE, demonstrates that the journey of privacy ideas from their original formulation in regulations, to their ultimate enactment in an organizational setting, is accompanied by translations, such that the final implementation may vary extensively from its original form. Such variability often results in interpretations that differ from what the regulators intended. Consequently, translation guardrails are necessary to protect against problematic translations of regulatory ideas which could lead to compliance issues and loss of platform participation. Our findings offer two contributions. First, we contribute to the compliance literature by explaining how guardrails can balance the use of permission and obligation schemas which are necessary to translate regulations into effective organizational policies for the success of HIEs and other information exchange platforms. Second, we contribute to extending translation theory by explaining how pragmatic reasoning schemas function as the mechanism through which translation of regulations occurs.     

A network approach for assembling and linking input–output models

Input–output (IO) models, describing trade between different sectors and regions, are widely used to study the environmental repercussions of human activities. A frequent challenge in assembling an IO model or linking several such models is the absence of flow data with the same level of detail for all components. Such problems can be addressed using proportional allocation, which is a form of algebraic transformations. In this paper, we propose a novel approach whereby the IO system is viewed as a network, the topology of which is transformed with the addition of virtual nodes so that available empirical flow data can be mapped directly to existing links, with no additional estimation required, and no impact on results. As IO systems become increasingly disaggregated, and coupled to adjacent databases and models, the adaptability of IO frameworks becomes increasingly important. We show that topological transformations also offer large advantages in terms of transparency, modularity and increasingly importantly for global IO models, efficiency. We illustrate the results in the context of trade linking, multi-scale integration and other applications.     

An Evaluation of the Impact and Effectiveness of Environmental Legislation in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: Experiences from the UK

With small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) accounting for 99.7% of the 4.7 million UK businesses, they can have a huge collective impact on the environment, which in turn is being increasingly regulated. This study investigated the impact and effectiveness of environmental legislation on UK SMEs as well as determining if ‘compliance’ results in improved environmental protection. Interviews were conducted with SME management, site staff, regulators, policy officials and support organisations. Forty‐four SMEs from the north‐west of England participated in the study, and overall a total of 99 individuals were interviewed. The study clearly indicates that the impact of environmental legislation on SMEs is overstated and impact increased commensurate with effort to comply and enforcement action. Only one of the SMEs studied had been prosecuted and only two had been inspected. Compliance issues identified in those SMEs subject to direct regulation did not correlate with previous compliance audits conducted. In general, SMEs had poor awareness of compliance issues; non‐compliance was only really recognised and acknowledged if identified by a regulator and only regarded as serious if prosecuted. Regulation of the environment is clearly only effective if complied with; understanding compliance levels can help measure the link between legislation and environmental protection. The effectiveness of environmental legislation can only be understood if SMEs are subject to regular regulatory contact. Recommendations to improve SME compliance control systems are provided. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Corporate Compliance with Non-Mandatory Statements of Best Practice: The Case of the ASB Statement on Interim Reports

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to our understanding of compliance with non-mandatory statements of best practice. Specifically, we examine the efficacy of agency-related mechanisms on the degree of disclosure compliance with the ASB Statement on interim reports. Using data drawn from a sample of 259 UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, we show that although overall disclosure compliance is high (74.5% of the items of information being disclosed), companies do not fully comply with the ASB Statement on interim reports. We employ an ordinary least square (OLS) regression model to establish whether selected company-specific and corporate governance characteristics (proxying for agency-related mechanisms) are related to the degree of disclosure compliance. Our results indicate that multiple listing, company size, interim dividend and new share issuance are positively associated with the degree of compliance. We also find that the degree of disclosure compliance is positively associated with auditor involvement, audit committee independence and audit committee financial expertise. These results have important implications for policy because they suggest that whilst agency-related mechanisms may motivate compliance with best practice non-mandatory statements, full compliance may be unattainable without regulations.     

Private Environmental Activism and the Selection and Response of Firm Targets

Environmental activists are increasingly resorting to private strategies such as boycotts and protests focused on changing individual firms' behavior. In this paper, we examine activists' use of such "private politics" to engender firm compliance with activist objectives. We begin by developing a simple theoretical model of an activist campaign from which we develop a set of empirical hypotheses based on a set of observable features of firms. We test our hypotheses using a unique dataset of environmental activist campaigns against firms in the United States from 1988 to 2003. This paper fills an important need in the literature as one of the first empirical attempts to examine the private political strategies of activists and has important implications for the burgeoning literatures on industry self-regulation and the nonmarket strategies of firms.     

考虑责任违规中断的负责任采购博弈

随着全球供应链的发展,供应商过程违规越来越成为供应中断的常见原因。为改善过程合规性,很多跨国公司已经在全球范围内,尤其是发展中国家实施负责任采购。针对供应商-采购方过程行为建模内生化责任违规中断风险,构建采购方和风险供应商之间的Stackelberg博弈模型,研究订货比例、成本结构等对决策产生的影响。通过比较静态分析发现,在责任违规中断风险下,即使跨国公司的订单占比较小,风险供应商也有动力不断提高合规水平直至完全合规。这说明跨国公司可通过游说当地政府提高对过程违规行为的监管和惩罚,以此激励风险供应商提高合规努力。     

政府投资的水利工程施工合同中变更索赔技巧分析

随着水电建筑市场开发力度的不断加大,政府投资的水利工程施工合同中的变更索赔工作日益重要。文章结合工作实际,探讨如何运用技巧解决变更索赔问题,从而降低或消除履约的风险。     

The Improbability of Fraud in Accounting for Derivatives: A Case Study on the Boundaries of Financial Reporting Compliance

ABSTRACT

This study responds to recent calls in the literature to examine fraud using detailed case studies, extending knowledge beyond individual incentives and capital market reactions towards a more contextualized understanding of the concept. We use an institutional logics perspective to challenge existing assumptions about a universally valid meaning of compliance, fraud, and faithful representation. Presenting the case of the Swedish bank HQ, we show how the interpretation of the accounting standard for option measurement varies across different enforcement bodies because the meaning of compliance is socially negotiated across the institutional logics of markets, financial regulation, and law. The independent decision-making of the different enforcement bodies leads to a systematic variation in the interpretation of principles-based accounting standards without ultimate coordination. To define consistent boundaries of compliance across institutional logics, and thus, to distinguish between fraud and allowable managerial discretion becomes problematic. Faithful representation, in turn, cannot be understood as financial statements reflecting a correct value or as financial statements being prepared in accordance with acceptable practice, as suggested in the earlier literature. Instead, faithful representation itself becomes a contextually bound concept, which can only be defined within an institutional logic.     

利用社区资源做好老干部服务工作的探讨

当前,离休老干部工作正面临着离休干部进入"高年龄、高发病期"和老同志居住日渐分散的新特点,传统的服务方式不太适应客观实际的需要,正面临着越来越严峻的挑战,必须进行创新,不断解决离休老干部日益存在的实际困难。为适应离休干部高龄养老和服务管理的需要,利用社区资源做好离休干部服务工作,是当前和今后做好离休干部服务管理工作的重要内容,也是做好新形势下离休干部工作的有效途径。     

Process innovation laboratory: a new approach to business process innovation based on enterprise information systems

Most organizations today are required not only to operate effective business processes but also to allow for changing business conditions at an increasing rate. Today nearly every business relies on their enterprise information systems (EIS) for process integration and future generations of EIS will increasingly be driven by business process models. Consequently business process modelling and improvement is becoming a serious challenge. The aim of this paper is to establish a conceptual framework for business process innovation (BPI) in the supply chain based on advanced EIS. The challenge is thus to create a new methodology for developing and exploring process models and applications. The paper outlines the process innovation laboratory (Π-Lab) as a new approach to BPI. The Π-Lab is a comprehensive framework and a collaborative workspace for experimenting with process models. The Π-Lab facilitates innovation by using an integrated action learning approach to process modelling in a controlled environment. The study is based on design science and the paper also discusses the implications to EIS research and practice.     

Dynamic talent management capabilities and organizational agility—A qualitative exploration

Today's business environment is becoming increasingly dynamic, and the concept of agility is gaining attention in the corporate world and in academia. The objective of our research is to explain how talent management (TM) can shape talents as key human resources, according to company-specific agility needs, and thus contribute to gaining competitive advantage in dynamic firm environments. We approach this task by viewing it from the perspective of dynamic capabilities. A total of 24 semistructured interviews were conducted with senior TM professionals working in German companies differing in terms of size, age, structure, industry, and ownership. As a result, we identified three different types of dynamic TM capabilities promoting organizational agility to various extents. By rooting our qualitative study in the research fields of TM and agility in the under-researched theoretical realm of dynamic capabilities, we contribute to the theoretical as well as the empirical discussion by addressing the specific challenges of an increasingly dynamic environment. As a result, we provide a contextualized viewpoint from which to explain the process inherent in dynamic TM capabilities that continuously shape talent and organizational agility.     

Acculturation strategy and individual outcomes: Cultural diversity implications for human resource management

With the intensification of globalization, countries and the organizations within them have become increasingly multicultural. This presents an important challenge, and perhaps an opportunity, for human resource management (HRM) practitioners. Drawing on cognitive dissonance theory, we propose key outcomes associated with newcomers’ acculturation strategy. Our typology suggests that cultural identity salience (CIS) can explain varying levels of psychological well-being for individuals who assimilate or separate. Individuals who integrate or marginalize, however, will experience consistent levels of psychological well-being irrespective of CIS. Moreover, individuals who integrate, rather than assimilate, separate, or marginalize, will tend to develop the most diverse range of contacts and achieve the most favorable job search and employability outcomes. In light of this, HRM practices should be designed to encourage integration by fostering an environment that embraces diversity. We discuss theoretical and practical contributions and offer directions for future research.     

Alignment of process compliance and monitoring requirements in dynamic business collaborations

Dynamic business collaborations are intrinsically characterised by change because processes can be distributed or outsourced and partners may be substituted by new ones with enhanced or different capabilities. In this context, compliance requirements management becomes particularly challenging. Partners in a collaboration may join and leave dynamically and tasks over which compliance requirements are specified may be consequently distributed or delegated to new partners. This article considers the issue of aligning compliance requirements in a dynamic business collaboration with the monitoring requirements induced on the collaborating partners when change occurs. We first provide a conceptual model of business collaborations and their compliance requirements, introducing the concept of monitoring capabilities induced by compliance requirements. Then, we present a set of mechanisms to ensure consistency between monitoring and compliance requirements in the presence of change, e.g. when tasks are delegated or backsourced in-house. We also discuss a set of metrics to evaluate the status of a collaboration in respect of compliance monitorability. Finally, we discuss a prototype implementation of our framework.     

推进安全饮水工程建设为新农村建设服务

水质污染、水量不达标、用水方便程度不达标、用水保证率不达标等问题日益突出,严重威胁着人民群众的身体健康,南票区大力推进农村安全饮水工程建设,改善农业生产生活条件,促进农村经济发展,为搞好社会主义新农村建设提供全面优质服务。     

Managing Legitimacy in Complex and Heterogeneous Environments: Sustainable Development in a Globalized World

The sustainability problems with regard to the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services increasingly challenge the legitimacy of corporations. The literature distinguishes three strategies that corporations commonly employ to respond to legitimacy problems: adapt to external expectations, manipulate the perception of their stakeholders, or engage in a discourse with those who question their legitimacy. We discuss three approaches to determine the appropriate response strategy: one‐best‐way approach, contingency approach, and paradox approach. We argue that in the face of heterogeneous environments with conflicting demands, corporations that follow a paradox approach are likely to be more successful in preserving their legitimacy than those that adopt one of the other two approaches. We develop a theoretical framework for the application of different response strategies and explore the management of paradoxes by way of structural, contextual, or reflective means.     

Effect of non‐IFRS earnings reporting guidelines on underlying earnings reporting quality: The case of Australian listed firms

This study investigates Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) 200 firms in the post–Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) period (2011–2014) to examine how listed firms follow the non–International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) earnings reporting guidelines issued by ASIC to communicate underlying earnings reporting quality. We find that firms that do not comply with the ASIC guidelines have lower underlying earnings reporting quality than do firms that comply with these guidelines. Firms that do not follow the ASIC guidelines are found to exclude income‐increasing underlying earnings adjustments to make underlying earnings appear more profitable than IFRS earnings when they miss earnings targets or make current losses, and that they report underlying earnings opportunistically by excluding recurring expenses that persist into future operating earnings. Unlike ASIC non‐compliance firms, ASIC compliance firms attempt to act as responsible reporters by reporting underlying earnings in a responsible manner to demonstrate a judicious use of discretion in informing shareholders. Further, we find that underlying earnings reported by non‐compliance firms are less value‐relevant than underlying earnings reported by compliance firms.     

A study of intellectual property protection policies and innovation in the Indian pharmaceutical industry and beyond

We study the relationship between Trade Related Intellectual Property rights (TRIPS) and innovation. Using export data, this paper aims at assessing the relative impact of TRIPs on innovation, namely the ability of the Indian pharmaceutical industry to enter new markets with existing or new drugs. It examines whether India’s decision to comply with TRIPS influenced its innovation, and develops a theoretical model, where innovation, being measured by the likelihood of exports of one product from one identified country to partner countries, is influenced by factor, demand and trade conditions. The paper draws on quantitative data, using Probit and Logit techniques. The model is illustrated using empirical evidence from the Indian pharmaceutical industry. We find statistically significant evidence that India’s compliance with TRIPS is associated with new trade flows from India to partners. However we do not find statistically significant evidence of a relation between TRIPS compliance and value of exports. The interpretation is that TRIPS compliance has different effects: it is a necessary condition to favor innovation but it is not sufficient to increase exports value (competitiveness). Finally, we study to what extent this model can be generalized to other developing countries and/or industries.     

Process theory and research: Exploring the dialectic tension

We contest that although the notion of process is increasingly being applied to the study of organizations, these attempts are hampered by significant methodological shortcomings. We claim that the value of process theory is under-utilized because most attempts to apply process theory end up reverting to conventional non-process methods. We suggest that the cause of this reversion is primarily the challenge of making sense, of fixing the world, propelling us from process into the world of substance. To break free of these limitations we propose an approach that takes the researchers’ audience alongside the subject processes rather than attempting to clinically intersect them. We illuminate this paper with our own story vignettes concerning the fortunes of an idea that passes by the name of value based management (VBM).¹ These vignettes are meant to both exemplify and disrupt the theoretical narrative.     

A “quota silo” or positive equality reach? The equality impact of gender quotas on corporate boards in Norway

10 years after its implementation, we explore the equality reach of the 40% Norwegian gender quota regulation for boards of public limited companies (PLCs) using a multi‐strategy approach (administrative data and interviews with women directors) to capture interrelated macro and meso changes. We employ Acker's (2006) inequality regimes as our analytical framework, augmented by the “equality reach” concept. We found strong compliance with the 40% Quota. However, there was little evidence of voluntary spillover to limited companies as envisaged by Quota proponents; instead Quota coverage reduced as some PLCs changed status to avoid the Quota requirement. We reveal that positive equality reach in one of the most equal countries in the world is confined to a PLC “quota silo,” which has shrunk over the life of the Quota. Moreover, we suggest that PLC high levels of compliance may be a defensive strategy seen as necessary in the regulatory/high sanction context of the Quota. We demonstrate the need for further political and organisational interventions to improve equality reach beyond the quota silo. We also show the value of the equality reach concept for research on equality interventions and warn of the dangers of an intervention leading to an equality silo.     

会计理论发展的动力:制度创新抑或技术变革?——兼论会计理论研究的路径选择

会计理论和制度研究取得了不少的成果,但是信息技术的发展,让我们不得不重新检视这些成果的前沿性与应用价值,特别是会计制度(理论)与会计技术的匹配融合已经或正在成为困扰会计进一步发展的一个瓶颈问题。鉴于此,本文从会计技术变革对会计能力的挑战入手,引入技术经济学和制度经济学的基本理论,在回顾技术变革与制度创新相关理论成果的基础上,得出会计技术创新和制度创新之间相互依赖、互为因果、共同进化的"互动"基本结论,以此为基础,进一步借鉴"管理熵"和物理学中的"互补原理",构造了会计技术与会计制度相关性的基本模型,分析两者互动关系对于会计发展的巨大作用,最后提出了开创会计技术与会计制度融合研究、共同发展的建议和设想。