Reimagining design science and behavioral science AIS research through a business activity lens

In this paper, we present a novel approach for reimagining the scope and impact of design science and behavioral science accounting information systems (AIS) research. We do so by first explicitly considering the broad impact of accounting on business functions. The proliferation of information technology throughout the organization coupled with the blurring of the lines between “accounting” and “business” activities has spawned a world where (technology-enabled) accounting has truly become the language of (technology-driven) business. Leveraging the International Standards Organization model of the phases of business activity, we highlight how utilization of information systems artifacts in each business activity phase yields a broad array of AIS research questions. Second, we encourage design science and behavioral science AIS research to work synergistically, such that the outputs of each paradigm inform the research conducted in the other paradigm. We suggest that a more purposeful integration of design science and behavioral science AIS research over time can improve the rigor and relevance of AIS research to advance knowledge in the field, amplify the impact of AIS research for our colleagues in both accounting and information systems, and improve the practical applicability of the research findings.     

Utopian and dystopian thought in climate change science and policy

Climate change policies are increasingly seen as integral to sustainable development policies. This article examines how visions of future society have been employed in climate science and multilateral negotiations. Using elements of utopian and dystopian thought, we have categorized UNFCCC documents, IPCC assessments, and special reports and peer-reviewed climate policy articles. Our results indicate that utopian thinking surfaces with reference to sustainable development and emissions scenarios. Such visions of future society fall into three categories: projections, dystopian thought, and utopian thought. Dystopian thought is mainly evident in the rhetoric of various actors, and is used to spur action or inaction, to avoid either economic catastrophe by acting too fast or ecological catastrophe by not acting fast enough. Utopian elements in climate change science and policy refer to decoupling greenhouse gases and economic growth, evenly distributing the benefits of economic globalization, and smoothing technological development. The present piecemeal invocation of sustainable development concepts in climate science and policy emphasizes the difficulties of integrating environmental, social, and economic concerns. The article concludes that utopian thinking regarding sustainable development could result in more integrated and holistic visions of future society in climate science and policy.     

Criteria of systems thinking

In science, the framework of systems theory—especially as developed over the past two decades—seems to be the ideal framework to express the emerging ecological paradigm. This article addresses the question: what is systems thinking—and more generally, holistic or ecological thinking—in modern science? The author identifies three key aspects of systems thinking that are characteristic in all the sciences. In presenting these aspects, the transition from the old to the new paradigm for each aspect is emphasized.     

A pragmatist approach to transdisciplinarity in sustainability research: From complex systems theory to reflexive science

The importance of questioning the values, background assumptions, and normative orientations shaping sustainability research has been increasingly acknowledged, particularly in the context of transdisciplinary research, which aims to integrate knowledge from various scientific and societal bodies of knowledge. Nonetheless, the concept of reflexivity underlying transdisciplinary research is not sufficiently clarified and, as a result, is hardly able to support the development of social learning and social experimentation processes needed to support sustainability transitions. In particular, the concept of reflexivity is often restricted to building social legitimacy for the results of a new kind of ‘complex systems science’, with little consideration of the role of non-scientific expertise and social innovators in the design of the research practice itself.The key hypothesis of the paper is that transdisciplinary research would benefit from adopting a pragmatist approach to reflexivity. Such an approach relates reflexivity to collective processes of problem framing and problem solving through joint experimentation and social learning that directly involve the scientific and extra-scientific expertise. To test this hypothesis, the paper proposes a framework for analysing the different types of reflexive processes that play role in transdisciplinary research. The main conclusion of the analysis is the need to combine conventional consensus-oriented deliberative approaches to reflexivity with more open-ended, action-oriented transformative approaches.     

Towards an orientation of higher education in the post Rio + 20 process: How is the game changing?

The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the implications of sustainable development for the future orientation of higher education, especially after the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20). A qualitative trend analysis is being used for this purpose, in the context of which three macro trends are combined: (1) higher education that has been developed via five periods; (2) sustainable development that has evolved through three stages; and (3) the nexus between sustainable development and higher education which has strengthened through three phases. The simultaneous analysis of the macro trends regarding their possible interactive effects (through an expert panel discussion) demonstrates that higher education and universities under the influence of sustainable development elements are entering into a new era in which the function of “higher education for sustainable development” could be interpreted as the seeds of a newly emerging mission for universities. In this regard, it is expected that the concept of “sustainable university” is likely to become more common to meet the emerging mission. Consistent with the Rio + 20 outcomes, the authors analyzed the concept of “sustainable university” and identified the fact that it is practically divided into three interrelated and complementary categories, namely social-, environmental-, and economic-oriented university in pursuit of actualizing sustainable development.     

The two visions of post-industrial society

The author discusses and contrasts two different usages of the phrase “post-industrial society”. The independent development of these two usages has culminated in the present distinction between post-industrial society as a technological, affluent, service society, and post-industrial society as a more decentralised and ecologically conscious agrarian society. This new global version of the old Jefferson-Hamilton debate—a political continuum best viewed at right angles to the familiar left-right political spectrum—may become the dominant political struggle of our time. A useful synthesis of the two visions is possible, though, if our intellectual segregation, exemplified by the two visions, can be overcome.     

Computer packages as cognitive paradigms: Implications for the education of accountants

Computer packages are playing an increasingly dominant role in the life of most business organisations, which in turn is reflected in a greater role for packages in education. These packages both presuppose knowledge on the part of the user, and also “contain” knowledge of accounting as well as mathematical and other concepts. This paper suggests that packages function not just as information processing tools, but as “paradigms” which structure the approaches taken to cognitive tasks—although there may be an important distinction between expected and actual paradigms. The change to package-based paradigms represents a substantial shift in cognitive framework. The paper discusses the implications of this for package users and for the educational process. Three important themes are emphasised: first the importance of students learning about packages on a “meta” level rather than simply learning to use them; second the suggestion that treating packages as “black boxes” may sometimes be inevitable and desirable; and third the possibility that computer packages may, to some extent, serve as a substitute for education.     

ESG Investing in Graham & Doddsville

The author describes how and why the world's best “business value investors” have long incorporated environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into their investment decision‐making. As the main source of value in companies has increasingly shifted from tangible to intangible assets, many followers of Graham & Dodd have delivered exceptional investment results by taking an “earnings‐power” approach to identifying high‐quality businesses—businesses with enduring competitive advantages that are sustained through significant ongoing investment in their core capabilities and, increasingly, their important non‐investor “stakeholders.” While the ESG framework may be relatively new, it can be thought of as providing a lens through which to view the age‐old issue of “quality.” Graham & Dodd's 1934 classic guide to investing, Security Analysis, and Phil Fisher's 1958 bestseller, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, both identify a number of areas of analysis that would today be characterized as ESG. Regardless of whether they use the labels “E,” “S,” and “G,” investors who make judgments about earnings power and sustainable competitive advantage are routinely incorporating ESG considerations into their decision‐making. The challenge of assessing a company's sustainable competitive advantage requires analysis based on concepts such as customer franchise value, as well as intangibles like brands and intellectual property. For corporate managers communicating ESG priorities, and for investors analyzing ESG issues, the key is to focus on their relevance to the business. In this sense, corporate reporting on sustainability issues should be viewed as analogous to and an integral part of financial reporting, with a management focus on materiality and relevance (while avoiding a “promotional” approach) that is critical to credibility.     

Ambiguous but tethered: An accounting basis for sustainability reporting

Sustainability reporting continues to become more widespread, despite ambiguities underlying the concept that may lead to varied interpretations and wider scope for “managing public perceptions” (e.g., Cho et al., 2010, Neu et al., 1998). An examination of the current form it takes using the GRI suggests a trade-off between principles and rules, with reduced emphasis on normative principles and a rather simplistic pursuit of “objective” measurement largely adapting to traditional accounting goals. While exploratory in nature, the paper suggests the need for “alignment” through an emphasis on principles based on normative stakeholder theory (Reed, 1999, Reed, 2002) that can draw from accounting without usurping the stakeholder goals underlying sustainability. This normative approach adds to the discourse on sustainability accounting by envisaging a wider and more localized perspective on firm accountability that could potentially stimulate the innovative endeavors of the corporation in the pursuit of wider wealth creation.     

重大公共卫生危机下的健康保险应对研究

公共卫生危机对经济的影响较大,21世纪以来,面对频发的重大公共卫生危机,健康保险业如何通过科技赋能,有效参与到公共卫生安全体系建设中亟待研究对策。通过数据比较分析法、模型构建法,分析了我国商业健康保险业在防控重大疫情期间的作为、短板、机遇和挑战,并基于健康保险参与公共卫生安全体系建设的国际经验和保险科技的发展,提出了我国健康保险业应对重大公共卫生危机的一系列政策建议,以便完善现有公共卫生安全体系,助推"健康中国战略"和"可持续发展战略"的实现。     

Crises,Financial Leadership,and the Six Stretches for Financial Education

The former dean of the University of Virginia's Darden School explores how business schools must adapt to prepare future business leaders to assume the leadership responsibilities necessary to respond effectively to financial crises. The article begins with a statement by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwarz in their Monetary History of the United States about the failure of U.S. policy makers to prevent the collapse of the U.S. banking system during the Great Depression. Then turning to the crisis of 2008, the author draws on recent accounts of the leadership—both effective and ineffective—provided by policymakers to support Friedman and Schwartz's contention that the success of countries in responding to crises “depends on the presence of one or more outstanding individuals willing to assume responsibility and leadership.” After citing Nassim Taleb's characterization of the financial system as inherently “fragile,” the article offers a number of insights about the kind of leadership that is likely to prove effective in protecting such systems. Using the responses of policymakers like Bernanke, Paulson, and Geithner as examples, the author observes that successful leaders rank priorities and set direction, mobilize collective action, choose whether and how to use the “panoply of tools” at their disposal, and attempt to respond in a comprehensive, coordinated way to all aspects of a crisis using a flexible set of approaches and methods that he identifies as “Ad Hoc‐racy.” With such insights in mind, the author goes on to suggest that changes in current research and teaching about leadership are likely to take the form of the following six “stretches”:

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Reframing long-term controversies in transboundary river management. The intermediate role of puzzling and powering in tackling wicked problems

In this paper we analyze how the process of visioning about ‘wicked’ long-term policy issues developed as a result of co-evolving processes of “framing”, “puzzling” and “powering”. In this article we discuss a case of cross-border joint visioning on multi-purpose land use planning in a multi-stakeholder process on the transboundary river Scheldt, whose estuary is shared by the Netherlands and Belgium, in which three different rounds can be distinguished, showing a different logic to organizing the processes of framing, puzzling and powering when the focus on the long term diminishes. This analysis helps us move beyond an often naïve perspective of beyond multi-stakeholder processes. We conclude that productive interaction between framing, puzzling and powering is more easily realized in situations of drafting a long-term vision, compared to situations in which long-term visions have to be translated in shorter-run implementation projects.     

Global challenges

Powerful possibilities offered by modern science and technology are increasingly being tested for their ecological suitability. Cultural and ethical concerns are beginning critically to affect the development and use of technology. The regular character of a synergy required to evaluate scientific-technological progress points to the appearance of a new technological paradigm which is based on intelligence. The new paradigm can already be recognized in general trends. At the same time it is both visionary and normative, since it promotes the search for adequate answers to the global challenges with which we are faced.     

The Case for Maximizing Long‐Run Shareholder Value

Criticism of the shareholder model of corporate governance stems in part from misunderstanding about what shareholder wealth maximization means for the other stakeholders of public companies. The corporate goal of shareholder wealth maximization does not imply that such stakeholders “do not matter.” Managers maximize shareholder value by maximizing the total expected cash flows available to distribute to all of their stakeholders. To maximize such cash flows, managers must provide their customers with desirable goods and services at attractive prices—which in turn requires that managers attract the employees, suppliers, and financial capital needed to conduct their businesses by providing each of these groups with market‐determined returns on their contributions to firm value. In this way, successful corporations benefit all of their stakeholders, and what is good for the corporation is generally good for society. External forces such as the media and government exert considerable influence on corporate actions and, in so doing, they play a role in helping to limit negative corporate “externalities” such as pollution and climate change. But direct regulation of productive activities should be used sparingly, and subjected to ongoing cost‐benefit analysis. Government regulation replaces the collective decisions of a broad marketplace of stakeholders using their own resources to act in their own interests with decisions made by government officials with complicated incentives and using resources generated by others. More generally, government should seek to regulate corporate actions only in the limited situations in which there are no market solutions for reducing the effects of externalities. For example, government plays a critically important role in identifying and deterring corporate fraud, and in ensuring competition and a level playing field for companies and all their stakeholders.     

A new basis of calculation for collective pensions insurance in Norway

The writing of collective pensions insurance in Norway was first taken up in 1917 by the “Norske Folk”, a life insurance company, founded by the seven oldest Norwegian life insurance companies, and a short time afterwards this kind of insurance was also taken up by the “Norske Forenede”. Finally, in 1931, the “Samvirke” which had been established a short time before by the Norwegian Cooperative Association, began to write collective pensions insurance.     

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A perspective on systems science and systems philosophy

A philosophical survey of systems science and systems philosophy is offered to provide an integrated, if personal, view of the ideas within the contemporary systems movement. An attempt is made to establish the validity of the two disciplines by meeting some of the criticisms levelled at the systems paradigm—particularly Sir Karl Popper's attacks on holistic thought. During the discourse the arguments that rage around reductionism and holism will be seen to contain some confused thinking, and it is suggested that the philosophy, theories and methods in systems science and systems philosophy offer a means for bringing reductionism and holism into a satisfactory alliance.