Conformist innovation: an institutional logics perspective on how HR executives construct business school reputations

In this paper, we explore whether Legge’s classic 1970s criticism of human resource (HR) executives as ‘conformist innovators’ is still relevant. Drawing on institutional logics, we analyse HR managers’ rationales for choosing particular university business schools to provide senior executive development. Our mixed-methods study demonstrates that senior HR managers socially construct and enact business school reputations by drawing on strategic rationales. These rationales are embedded in societal, field and organizational logics, especially the extant reputational rankings of international business schools and an ‘ideal’ template of elite business schools. We find that these rationales, and the decisions they evince, tend to confirm the traditional picture of conformist innovation among HR executives. We discuss the implications for the reputation of HR as a profession, their employers and business schools.     

Bridging the GAAP: the Changing Attitude of German Managers towards Anglo-American Accounting and Accounting Harmonization

This paper presents and compares results from two empirical studies into the attitudes of financial executives of large German corporations towards a global harmonization of accounting principles and towards the adaptation of German accounting to Anglo-American Standards. The first of the studies was conducted in 1994, the second in late 1997, early 1998. A comparison of the results reveals that German managers' attitudes have changed profoundly over the course of only three years. In 1994, they objected to the view that German accounting is inferior to Anglo-American accounting; they had a negative attitude towards US accounting; and they were highly sceptical about adapting German accounting to Anglo-American accounting rules. Today, German managers openly concede that German financial accounts have a lower information value for investors and that the use of German accounting rules reduces the demand for German shares abroad. They are also more willing to accept far-reaching changes in the German accounting system. The survey shows that numerous large corporations have already adopted international standards, or are planning to do so in the near future. A further finding is that opinion among German managers and firms has shifted significantly towards accepting IAS rather than US-GAAP as the basis for the internationalization of German accounting. In fact, more than 80%of managers believe that five years from now the great majority of German firms will publish their consolidated financial accounts according to either IAS or US-GAAP.     

内资企业融资租赁业务所得税会计的处理方法探析

财政部于2001年颁布租赁会计准则,详细规定了企业在融资租赁多种情况下所应该遵循的会计处理方法。但是内资企业在执行这个会计准则时存在困难,特别是承租方的所得税会计处理,尤其是在税法与企业会计准则对融资租赁的判定不一致的租赁会计事项下的承租方的所得税会计处理情况。本文对这种情况下承租方(内资企业)所得税会计处理提出应注意的要点,以供实务工作者参考。     

Economic and normative pressures as drivers for the adoption of International Accounting Standards in Finland since 1976

Abstract

This paper deals with the internationalisation of Finnish business life and the attempts to introduce and apply international accounting standards (IASs) in Finnish accounting practice before the latest developments at the EU level in 2002. The internationalisation of business life creating economic pressures for changes is illustrated. Analysis of four accounting issues is made in order to exemplify how IASs have affected Finnish accounting legislation and practice. The results of the analysis indicate that the effect of IASs has been notable but secondary because of the implementation of the EU Directives in Finnish accounting legislation in the 1990s. IASs have not caused any drastic changes in accounting practice as their requirements have been written as alternatives in legislation. This approach has provided a possibility to large, listed companies to produce financial accounting information in line with the principles of IASs. In the introduction of IASs there have been political aspects when justifications for the national model and for the international orientation have been presented.     

我国会计准则与国际会计准则的差异分析

我国新颁布的会计准则与国际会计准则相比,顺应了国际化的要求,体现了一种趋同趋势。但需要明确的是,我国的会计准则是依据我国的政治、经济、文化等特定的综合因素而制定的,与国际会计准则相比存在着一些差异;因此有必要对存货准则、合并问题、借款费用以及政府补助准则等方面的差异进行分析。     

Repatriation of European female corporate executives: an empirical study

The increased internationalization of business in recent years has made the understanding of international human resource management problems more important for executives in multinational companies. In recent years, researchers have paid considerable attention to the issues of adjustment of managers to international assignments. Interestingly, comparatively little research has been undertaken on the topic of repatriation, i.e. re-entry and readjustment of international managers and their families to their home countries. Despite the growth of women in international management there are very few studies that document the repatriation experiences of female international managers. In particular, very few studies have been conducted outside North America on the topic of repatriation of female corporate executives. This paper reports on the experiences of re-entry to home organizations and home countries by an exclusively senior sample of female international managers in Western Europe. Based on extensive empirical research, the findings establish that the repatriation phase of the international career move may be even more stressful than expatriation. The findings also establish that female international managers experience more difficulties than their male counterparts because of their pioneering roles. Finally, the paper suggests that home-based mentors and access to networks while abroad are important factors in contributing to the successful repatriation of international managers. The research findings make a theoretical contribution, not only to the analysis of gender and international human resource management but, also, to wider debates within the contemporary women in management and career theory literatures.     

论我国基本会计准则的重大变革

随着国际经济一体化不断深入、信息技术广泛应用和金融工具不断创新,会计作为国际通用的商业语言,面临着新形势带来的挑战。在这一背景下,财政部于2006年2月15日发布了新的《企业会计准则——基本准则》。本文通过对新基本准则(2006)与原基本准则(1992)的比较,揭示新准则在确立我国的财务会计概念框架,构建完整的会计准则层级体系,拓展准则制定的法律法规依据和明确会计目标等方面与原准则间的差异,以便更好的理解和把握新的基本准则。     

Skills for managing human resources in a complex environment: the perceptions of human resource managers in Singapore

This paper analyses some of the difficulties that human resource (HR) managers have in responding to problems of labour turnover and labour shortages.It provides a brief overview of the complex environments in which Singaporean HR managers operate. This paper suggests that, when the roles of management and personnel are ambiguous or when there is tremendous change, line managers and executives take over some of the functions of HR managers, a practice which is seen as a problem for HR managers. However, content analysis of interviews with HR managers shows that this encroachment becomes a problem only when the HR managers lack the skills necessary to perform their duties competently. Thus, it is suggested that HR managers should adopt an HRM approach which focuses on roles and skills necessary to manage ambiguity. In this respect, a more inclusive model should involve roles such as: reconciliation, recruitment and retention, employee relations, planning and internal management.     

International work in domestic jobs: an individual explanation

Australian firms are attempting to internationalize and to become global companies. One way of staffing the forays into international business is by incorporating international work into domestic jobs. This study sought to understand the factors related to the amount of international work Australians perform in their domestic jobs. Alumni from an Australian university were surveyed, providing 1,046 full-time domestic employees working in a range of industries. Regression analysis showed that, beyond individual and organizational controls, employees performed more international work in domestic jobs when they worked in organizations at higher than at lower international levels with human resource support, worked in jobs at higher rather than at lower managerial levels and had international skills. However, there was no or little link with employees' international attitudes or family situation. As predicted, the managerial level of the job made a difference to the effects of the work environment. Working in MNCs and domestic organizations with operations abroad was related to the amount of international work in domestic jobs performed by senior managers and executives more than by lower and middle managers or subordinates and supervisors. Analysis of open-ended responses shows the major reasons Australians take up domestic international work are money, professional development and challenging content. The major reasons they would not are family commitments and disruption, in contrast to the quantitative results in which family factors are unimportant. The difference between the quantitative and qualitative results and the importance of family factors, international skills versus attitudes and human resource support are discussed.     

会计准则制定导向的博弈论分析

本文运用博弈论的分析方法,对在不同的会计准则制定导向和会计监管下,企业管理当局和企业投资者之间的效用进行了分析。分析的结果表明:在规则导向会计准则和严格会计监管之下的纳什均衡点是社会效用最高的一种情况。最后,本文结合我国的现实情况分析了我国在制定会计准则的过程中要注意的问题。     

Manufacturing strategy: Its assessment and practice

In recent years, the subject of manufacturing strategy has attracted much attention, yet it is still a relatively unresearched area. Among practitioners, unlike the term “marketing strategy,” the term “manufacturing strategy” does not have instant recognition as to its meaning, purpose, and utility.For continued progress in the research and practice of manufacturing strategy, there is a real need for practical methods of assessing the manufacturing strategy of businesses. For example, for practitioners, the assessment of manufacturing strategy is essential to the development, fine tuning, revision, and evaluation of manufacturing strategy.This study presents a method of assessing the manufacturing strategy of businesses. In the process of assessing the manufacturing strategy in thirty-five manufacturing firms, this study found several problems with the practice of manufacturing strategy and recommends some solutions.It has been reported by researchers that the task of assessing manufacturing strategy is often hampered by a lack of understanding of the term manufacturing strategy and the absence of explicitly denned manufacturing strategies within most manufacturing firms. Consequently, this study assessed the implied manufacturing strategy in the participating firms using the responses of both chief executives or equivalents and manufacturing managers. To overcome nonuniform understanding of the term among executives, multiple respondents and multiple methods using several direct and indirect questions were employed to get as good a fix on the manufacturing strategies of the firms as possible.It was found that while chief executives stressed quality, technology, etc., which would contribute to a business level strategy based on product differentiation, manufacturing managers stressed cost, and the keeping of delivery promises. This mismatch of emphasis between the two executives could be a sign of problems in the effective use of the manufacturing function.A major conclusion of this study is that executives in manufacturing firms are not sufficiently “literate” in matters concerning manufacturing strategy. However, this deficiency could be easily corrected by appropriate training in assessing, formulating, and implementing manufacturing strategy.The method used in this study for assessing manufacturing strategy could be used by chief executives and manufacturing managers to identify their implied manufacturing strategy, and to detect agreements as well as disagreements between the two. Further, the method used here could be replicated by executives in developing or reviewing the formal manufacturing strategies of their businesses.     

The challenge of international human resource management: balancing the duality of strategy and practice

Over the last two decades there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of organizations that have internationalized their operations. The international movement of labour that has been concomitant with such expansion of international business has meant that issues associated with the management of human resources across international borders are increasingly important to international human resource managers and academics. The research presented in this paper examines international human resource management (IHRM) pedagogy and practice in Australia. It reports IHRM academicians' and practitioners' understanding of the major issues for teaching and practice in IHRM and elucidates current developments and directions for this field.     

中国会计标准国际化问题研究

本文从会计标准的概念出发,通过与会计国际化的定义进行对比,阐述了中国会计标准国际化的内涵以及会计标准国际化的外在需求性,即经济全球化和信息技术革命的要求以及会计标准国际化的内在决定性和资本计量功效与节约经济资源,说明了中国会计标准国际化的进程及现状。分析了中国会计准则与国际财务报告准则存在的主要差异,并从资本市场、法律体系、职业界与会计队伍、经济后果等方面揭示了上述差异的形成原因。最后,对进一步推进中国会计标准的建设、改善会计标准国际化的外部环境、积极参与会计标准国际化进程、我国会计标准制定过程中的原则导向或规则导向,我国当前环境下会计标准国际化的现实选择等方面提出若干建议。     

工商管理专业一体化实践教学体系的构建

工商管理专业是一个实践性和应用性很强的专业,为了更好地培养该专业本科生的创新能力与实践能力,有必要完善其实践教学体系,本文结合当前工商管理专业实践教学中存在的问题,分析了改进的原则,提出了建立一体化实践教学体系的思路。     

我国会计准则国际趋同中存在的问题及对策

随着经济全球化进程的加快和国际资本市场的日益发展,会计国际化呈现出全球加速的趋势,作为规范会计信息标准会计准则的国际化是会计国际化的核心。尽管我国在会计准则国际趋同的道路上已经取得了令人瞩目的成果,发布了与国际会计准则实质性趋同的准则体系,然而由于我国会计改革起步较晚,会计环境的特殊性,在会计准则国际趋同的道路上还有很长的路要走。本文基于我国特殊的会计环境分析,提出我国会计准则国际趋同所面临的一些障碍,并针对这些障碍提出我国应采取的一些策略建议,以期能够对推动我国会计准则的国际趋同有所帮助。     

Coping with International Accounting Diversity: Fund Managers' Views on Disclosure,Reconciliation, and Harmonization*

In this paper we examine the practices of representative samples of U.S.- and U.K.-based international investment managers in order to determine whether and how they are affected by accounting diversity and, therefore, by the presence or absence of quantitative reconciliation, and what their views are towards greater disclosure, reconciliation, or harmonization. We find that all three forms of reduced diversity-more uniform disclosure, quantitative reconciliation to U.S. GAAP, and international harmonization are viewed as good things by managers. None, however, appears to be critical in the investment process. Reconciliation is a costly requirement and we conclude that the SEC's insistence on reconciliation is not well-founded and that other means, especially greater emphasis on mutual recognition subject to certain minimum standards of disclosure and presentation, would be more effective.     

Matching managers to strategies: Point and counterpoint

In recent years, an emerging and increasingly popular theme in the strategic management literature has been that the selection of general managers should be tied directly to the strategies of business units they will oversee. Because different strategies imply different priorities and the need for different skills, such a proposition has obvious intuitive appeal. Beyond intuitive appeal and supporting conceptual arguments, recent empirical research on whether matching general managers to strategies “pays off” in terms of more effective strategy implementation has also yielded positive results. Despite this evidence, several arguments exist for why it may not always be feasible, necessary, or desirable to match general managers to strategies. Thus, there is need for a point-counterpoint “debate” on the subject of matching general managers to strategies. Based on a review of the relvant literature, logical reasoning, as well as some case evidence, this paper is intended to be such a debate undertaken by the author with himself. It is hoped that such a dialectical analysis will open up new avenues for productive research and also enable corporate executives to make better “managerial selection” decisions.     

新会计准则合并报表分析

合并会计报表一直被公认为会计界难题之一,我国新准则体系对原有合并报表方面的规定进行了全面的修正和改进。本文从新准则与旧规定及与国际会计标准的比较分析入手,着重分析合并会计理念对执行新准则合并实务的影响并做简要评述。     

Retraining midcareer managers: Career history and self-efficacy beliefs

Many corporations are retraining midcareer managers in order to combat employee obsolescence and boost corporate competitiveness. The receptivity of midcareer managers to retraining is mixed. Those managers who believe they can master new work-related learning (in the terms of this study, those who have positive self-efficacy in learning beliefs) are most amenable to retraining. The objective of the present study was to determine the antecedents of positive self-efficacy beliefs for midcareer managers facing retraining. We discovered that managers' advancement potential and the relevance of their previous training had a profound impact on their self-efficacy beliefs. These findings have important practical implications. The seeds of receptivity to retraining are planted throughout managers' careers. Hence, retraining should not be viewed on a program-by-program basis, but rather should be understood in the broader context of corporate life and individual career history. To prepare for the inevitable corporate evolution and change demanded in a dynamic business environment, senior executives and human resource managers should be proactive in creating those conditions that facilitate the development of positive self-efficacy in learning beliefs.     

企业技术创新：投资回报与风险控制

技术创新是一种具有探索性、创造性的技术经济活动,常常是机遇与风险并存。因此,控制技术创新风险,提高创新投资收益,是企业技术创新所要把握的核心问题。这就需要科学合理地选择技术创新投资策略;同时,还要尽可能防范和控制技术创新过程中出现的各种风险,以保证企业技术创新活动顺利进行,并使企业技术创新能够获得较高的投资回报。