Company‐based education programmes: what's the pay‐off for employers?

This article addresses the question of whether company‐based programmes of education repay employer investment in terms of learning transfer to the workplace. Building on earlier work by the authors, we use an in‐depth longitudinal case study of a long‐standing programme of continuous education sponsored by the US‐based NCR corporation in Scotland. As educators, we expected to find that the programme would have been associated with positive outcomes, based on the belief that 'embrained' or formal, abstract knowledge can be transferred to the workplace. We were aware, however, that research in this area has not been promising in demonstrating learning transfer, in part because such a process is mediated by the quality of the transfer climate. Drawing on survey data and in‐depth interviewing of a sample cohort, we found that the programme of company‐based education had significant implications for learning transfer. Surprisingly, however, transfer climate had little influence on the willingness of employees to use their knowledge to make improvements or generate innovations at work. Finally, we found that these data supported situated learning theory, stressing the importance of tacit knowledge, informal learning, the communal nature of workplace learning and the difficulties in evaluating learning transfer. We believe that these results have important implications for the literature on the evaluation of HRD interventions, for human resource development (HRD) specialists interested in developing programmes of so‐called lifelong learning and for practitioners working in the area of organisational learning and learning organisations.     

Diffusing 'best practice' in multinational firms: prospects,practice and contestation

This article explores the possibilities and problems of transferring best practice within multinational enterprises. Following a discussion of the literature on the transfer of best practice, we draw on a case study of ABB to highlight some of the issues and problems involved. In particular, we focus on the use of benchmarking as a powerful tool for the diffusion of best practice in ABB. We conclude that under certain conditions the case for the transfer of best practice within multinational enterprises is relatively sound and that the use of internal benchmarking can be a highly effective method of producing such organizational change. However, any form of diffusion has to take into account (a) the local cultural and institutional context and (b) the ability and incentive of local managers to implement best practice.     

Cultural Influences on Judgments of Professional Accountants in Auditor–Client Conflict Resolution

This study examines cultural influences on professional judgments of Australian, Indian and Chinese Malaysian accountants in relation to auditor–client conflict resolution. The study draws on cultural characteristics of, and differences among, these societies to formulate hypotheses that Australian accountants are less likely to resolve audit conflicts by acceding to clients than Indian and Chinese Malaysian accountants, and are also less accepting of resolving audit conflicts in this way. Data are gathered through a survey questionnaire administered to samples of senior accountants from "big-six" (at the time of data collection) firms in Australia, India and Malaysia. The questionnaire comprised an auditor–client conflict scenario, and used both single-item and multidimensional [specifically, the Multidimensional Ethics Measure of Reidenbach and Robin (1988, 1990)] measures of professional judgment. The results support the hypotheses about differences in Australian compared to Indian and Chinese Malaysian professional judgments. Additionally, the results support the Multidimensional Ethics Measure as having greater explanatory power than a single-item measure. The results have implications for the international harmonisation of accounting and auditing standards, and for audit procedures and codes of conduct in international accounting firms.     

Solvency Solecisms: Corporate Officers' Problematic Perceptions

This examination of corporate officers' perceptions provides insights into their confused understanding of solvency. Questionnaire and interview evidence exposes officers' equivocations on whether a separate legal entity or group enterprise perspective should be adopted in assessing solvency. The serviceability of consolidated (economic entity or closed group) accounting data is demonstrated here to be equally problematic for officers making those solvency assessments in respect of an economic group and any related closed group. These outcomes have implications for agencies such as APRA and ASIC in developing regulatory policy.     

Managing labour on a large construction site

Large construction sites are frequently characterised by industrial action and other labour problems. However, some companies have a consistently superior record in managing their labour relations. Here the authors examine the policy and practice of a joint venture composed of two such companies responsible for managing one of the largest sites in Australia.     

Theorizing the links between e-HR and strategic HRM: a model,case illustration and reflections

In this paper we develop a model of e-human resources (e-HR) focusing on the relationship between HR strategy, e-HR goals and architectures, and positive and negative e-HR outcomes. This relationship is moderated by a number of key factors, including the organization and resources of the HR function, the absorptive capacity of HR, the skills and preferred styles of HR professionals, the levels of technology acceptance among employees and line managers and the models of change used in implementing e-HR programs. We illustrate certain features of this model using data from a case study of a leading international oilfield services provider. These data provide a partial confirmation of the model's validity but show the need for a more dynamic understanding of the links between e-HR variables and the importance of context in explaining differences between line managers' acceptance of e-HR.     

The organizational culture of public accounting firms: evidence from Taiwanese local and US affiliated firms

This study examines the organizational cultures of public accounting firms with data from US affiliated international accounting firms in Taiwan and Taiwanese local firms. Hypotheses are tested about the impact of the national culture of the US firms on their Taiwanese affiliates, and about cultural differences across function and rank. The study extends previous research by (1) examining an oriental country whose culture is significantly different from that of the US, (2) using the Hofstede, G., Neuijen, B., Ohayv, D. D., & Sanders G. (1990). Measuring organizational cultures: a qualitative and quantitative study across twenty cases. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 286–316 practices-based measure of organizational culture, and (3) examining the importance of the fit between employee preferences and organizational culture in influencing organizational commitment, job satisfaction and propensity to remain with the organization. Support is found for the cultural impact and fit hypotheses. Additonally, while culture is found to be relatively homogeneous across function, differences are found across rank.