Sociomateriality — taking the wrong turning? A response to Mutch

In responding to Mutch's (2013) commentary on sociomateriality, our aim is to reassert a well-established tradition of plurality in theoretical approaches in information systems and organization research. We challenge his critique by proxy and exclusionary discourse in favour of identifying commonalities and mutuality among theories that explore subtle realism. Further, we maintain that ruling out novel perspectives and stifling innovation is likely to undermine any field of study. If there is a measure of healthy scholarship then it is surely our capacity to sustain the conditions that foster openness and experimentation in the framing and doing of our research endeavors.     

The Health Consequences of Adverse Labor Market Events: Evidence from Panel Data

This study investigates the associations between self‐assessed adverse labor market events (experiencing problems with coworkers, employment changes, financial strain) and health. Longitudinal data are obtained from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions. Our findings suggest problems with coworkers, employment changes, and financial strain are associated, respectively, with a 3.1 percent (3.3 percent), 0.9 percent (0.2 percent), and 4.5 percent (5.1 percent) reduction in mental health among men (women). Associations are smaller in magnitude and less significant for physical health.     

Stock of downstream complementary assets as a catalyst for product innovation during technological change in the U.S. machine tool industry

Research summary : We investigate the effect of incumbents' stock of downstream complementary assets on their product innovation during a disruptive technological change. We theorize that a firm's stock of downstream complementary assets, by providing critical information about shifting demand conditions, will play a catalytic role in firm adaptation during such a change. Using the advent of disruptive computer numerical control machine tools in the U.S. machine tool industry during the 1970s and 1980s as the context, we find that firms with greater stocks of downstream complementary assets are likely to be product innovation leaders during such a change. Managerial summary : Disruptive changes are challenging firms across industries. We concentrate on the U.S. machine tool industry during the 1970s and 1980s when Japanese manufacturers with disruptive computer numerical control systems challenged the U.S. manufacturers. We find that, under the threat of disruption, the greater the stock of downstream complementary assets a U.S. machine tool manufacturer has, the more likely it is to be the product innovation leader with the disruptive technology. Our findings provide novel insights for managers in companies that face disruptive changes and can help them avoid the consequences of such changes as predicted by prior research. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

More than imagination: Making social and critical accounting real

We offer a critical consideration of the roles of cognitive dissonance, imagination, and critical thinking in accounting education, suggesting that all three are important elements of critical and emancipatory accounting education, but that they must be set within a context that is rooted in the “real lives” of students and teachers alike, seeking to both understand the world and to challenge it.     

Complementors as connectors: managing open innovation around digital product platforms

In the digital age, open innovation is increasingly organized around platform ecosystems. This paper investigates how firms can coordinate open innovation as a platform strategy for the development of complementary products by independent third parties. We draw on a qualitative case study of Philips Hue – a connected lighting platform for consumers with its variety of complementary products. We identify three increasingly complex ways in which independent complements connect to a focal platform. Our findings show that managing these connections requires a hybrid open innovation approach that combines arm’s length coordination, with a large number of complementors through open interfaces, and intensive bilateral collaboration, with a selected number of partners. Our findings demonstrate that complex interconnections across digital platforms and products lead to the management challenge of navigating an ‘ecology of platforms’, which warrants future research.     

Assessing professional ethics in tax: A case on uncertain tax positions

We develop and present an ethics case dealing with an uncertain tax position. The case can be used to assess professional ethics as part of an assurance-of-learning (AOL) plan as well as a component of a course grade. We present data on student performance on this case over a 5-year period. Students consider existing ethical frameworks to identify and frame the potential ethical “dilemmas” they might face in addressing whether to countenance a client’s suggested treatment and disclosure of an uncertain tax position. In addition, students evaluate the AICPA guidance and U.S. Treasury standards on taking and reporting uncertain tax positions in the tax return and the FASB and PCAOB standards on reporting and auditing uncertain tax positions in the financial statements. The case allows faculty to assess students’ ability to frame potential ethical dilemmas when clients engage in aggressive tax behavior, to recognize with whom and with what professional reference documents they should consult when an uncertain tax position arises, and to choose among alternative actions when faced with client/preparer conflicts.     

Anticipating independence,no premonition of partition. The lessons of bank branch expansion on the Indian subcontinent, 1939 to 1946

We examine investment in bank branches on the Indian subcontinent in 1939 and 1946. In 1947, the states of India and Pakistan were created from the erstwhile colony of British India. Partition was destabilizing to both economies. We use branch expansion as a proxy for entrepreneur's pre‐partition predictions of the future of these regions. Our results indicate there were no premonitions of economic dislocation. Banks tended to deepen their presence in regions which were already developed. But controlling for the level of 1931 development, branch placement was highest in exactly those regions, Bengal and the Punjab, which were to experience the greatest negative consequences from political division. After 1947, multiple banks failed; most failing banks were registered in the Punjab or Bengal region. In United India, businessmen saw as much promise in regions which were to become Pakistan as in regions which were to become India. After partition, the Pakistan regions were immediately more economically fragile. This event provides a general lesson. Economic integration had intensified over the years of British rule. The abrupt stop to integration harmed especially the smaller, less diversified region. Politicians should be wary of politically dividing regions which have evolved to function as integrated economic units.     

Succession Planning in Small Accounting Practices in Regional Far North Queensland

The importance of succession planning, particularly in small and medium accounting practices, continues to become increasingly important with the impending retirement of the ‘baby boomer’ generation. Planning for succession and retirement within a small practice is even more critical in rural, regional and remote areas where staff recruitment and retention is already an issue. This study provides insight into the views of principals of small accounting practices toward succession planning within a regional area of Australia. Applying Sambrook's model of succession, findings reveal that formal succession planning is no longer considered possible by these principals given the perception of generational differences and a change in employment and workplace expectations within the small accounting practice environment.