Disclosing new worlds: a role for social and environmental accounting and auditing

This essay critically analyses modern social and environmental accounting. First, I argue that modern social and environmental accounting models have been developed based on procedural liberal frameworks that limit the proposals for reform. Second, social and environmental accounting focuses on the corporation as the accounting entity and mistakenly claims to be able to influence it. In developing another way to think and act about the environmental and social role of accounting, I consider whether modern communitarian thought can enrich the democratic process. The aim is to foster debate and dialogue concerning the role of corporations and their impact on nature. I argue that implicit in communitarian theory is a democratic model through which language acts as a means to critically focus on the direction of accounting as an institution in the public sphere.     

Intellectual Property Rights and Chinese Tradition Section: Philosophical Foundations

Western attempts to obtain Chinese compliance with intellectual property rights have a long history of failure. Most discussions of the problem focus on either legal comparisons or explanations arising from levels of economic development (based primarily on the example of U.S. disregard for such rights during the 18th and 19th centuries). After decades of heated negotiation, intellectual property rights is still one of the major issues of misunderstanding between the West and the various Chinese political entities. This paper examines the sources of this problem from the standpoint of traditional Chinese social and political philosophy (specifically Neo-Confucianism). It points out that the basic assumptions about the nature of intellectual property, which arose during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, are fundamentally at odds with the traditional Chinese view of the role of intellectuals in society. It suggests that policies which do not take these differences into account, but which attempt to transfer Western legal concepts without the underlying social constructs are responsible for much of the lack of success in the area of intellectual property rights.Dr. Lehman is professor of Business Administration at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he also holdsan appointment in the Department of Philosophy in East Asian philosophy, and serves as Director of International Programs     

Making America poorer: The cost of labor law Morgan O. Reynolds Washington,DC: Cato Institute, 1987, 218 pp.

Conclusion None of the above suggests that Reynolds is incorrect in finding monopoly power in unions; neither is it suggested that labor relations law should not be considered as one source of that power. Reynolds is correct on both counts. However, his study is incomplete. There are additional sources which should also be identified and evaluated.Making America Poorer presents viewpoints held by some economists, some business groups, and some segments of the public. These views will be part of any national debate. The author is grateful to Jack E. Adams for many helpful comments.     

Marketing orientation and activities in the arts-marketing context: Introducing a Visual Artists’ Marketing Trajectory model

Abstract

Answering the call by Fillis, this paper aims to build an ‘arts-marketing orientation’ model by exploring the parallel relationship that exists between the Product Life Cycle (PLC) and the notion of the ‘career trajectory’ (as it applies to visual artists). In so doing, this paper provides a finer-grained understanding of the marketing orientation and activities of visual artists as they progress through their career. Qualitative analysis of the data (and the subsequent development of the Visual Artists’ Marketing Trajectory model) suggests that the marketing orientation and activities undertaken by visual artists deviates significantly from the assumptions underpinning traditional marketing theory. Unlike customer orientation (central to traditional marketing theories), this research suggests that in the arts-marketing context, the marketing orientation and activities of visual artists change according to the career trajectory stage in question.     

Maximizing value in healthcare partnerships: A case examining an inter-organizational relationship in the public and non-profit sectors

Healthcare organizations around the world are striving to find the right balance between using their resources effectively and providing personalized care to patients. Health care is shifting from a reactive, towards a more person-centric approach to improve health outcomes. To achieve quality improvements and efficiencies, health care organizations are forming inter-organizational relationships. Despite the benefits, little is known about how organizations capture value from strategic partnership. In this context, this paper aims to examine the processes that occur as part of a public and non-profit sector relationship within health care that directly relate to how the partnering organization acts to capture value. Using a qualitative case study of an Australian public-sector health service partnership, the study employs a value mapping framework to distinguish between different types of value (captured, missed, destroyed, and opportunity), and presents an integrated model consisting of three process phases: (1) inter-organizational cooperation effort, (2) organizational effect, and (3) social value. The study highlights the potential for negative and unintended consequences and discusses implications for management.