Coping with Ambiguity: Reconciling External Legitimacy and Organizational Implementation in Performance Measurement

This article reports the results of a study of the implementation of performance measurement in 74 UK public sector organizations. Performance measurement is often imposed on organizations by external stakeholders and those charged with implementation have to reconcile the demands of competing interests. These interests reflect the complex relations that 'street-level' public organizations engage in. The authors use institutional theory to make sense of how these relations, and the competing demands of performance measurement, are managed.     

The effects of information order and hypothesis-testing strategies on auditors' judgments

This research examined the effects of information order and hypothesis-testing strategies on audit judgements. Auditors started with high or low prior beliefs about an internal control system and then reviewed both positive and negative evidence. The results suggest that, unless specifically requested to do so, auditors do not generally seek confirming evidence. We also found that prior beliefs have an effect on the importance of information order: with high prior beliefs, subjects' judgements were unaffected by information order, while low prior beliefs were associated with a recency effect.     

运用PDCA循环促进团队学习:以台湾医药物流业务团队为例

以台湾某外商医药物流公司为例,介绍了如何运用PDCA循环,历经多次沟通、协调、冲突与妥协的运作,进而成功建立"业务-营销运作中心"的方法.期间团队领导者与成员为达成高绩效表现,持续进行各种业务流程的改善,并以全员学习导向为标竿,不仅构筑了行业进入壁垒,并且培育了企业的核心竞争力.     

Broadening the concept of rational economic behavior: A case study of cheese making at the Abbey of Tamié

Through an analysis of the business activities of a Trappist monastery, an attempt is made to add to the understanding of how ethical considerations, custom, and culture, as well as the profit motive, affect how actual economic decisions are made. This analysis is implemented through a case study of the cheese-making business of a monastery in the French Alps where the tradition of cheese, agriculture, and monks is important to the culture and customs of the area. The analysis finds that the monks are able to successfully conduct their business in ways that honor their custom and culture within the religious confines imposed by the monastery.     

DETERMINANTS OF SCHOOL ENROLMENT AND EDUCATION ATTAINMENT: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM KENYA1

This paper investigates the determinants of demand for schooling in Kenya. Probit and ordered probit methods are used to model enrolment and attainment respectively. The results show that child characteristics, parental education and other household characteristics, quality and cost of schooling are important determinants of demand for education services in Kenya. The results further show that girls would be more affected by policy changes than boys. The findings call for targeting in efforts to boost and sustain demand for schooling in Kenya. The study recommends immediate policy interventions focusing on improving quality of education and poverty alleviation.     

Engaging stakeholders in corporate accountability programmes: A cross‐sectoral analysis of UK and transnational experience

This paper explores the type of stakeholder engagement currently being undertaken by many organisations as part of social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting (SEAAR) processes. Specifically, the paper seeks to determine the extent to which current corporate practice iteratively promotes stakeholder participation in collaboratively designing accountability programmes, or whether it merely is a new term for canvassing stakeholder opinions. Arnstein's Ladder of Citizen Participation is used as a conceptual model for positioning contemporary methods of stakeholder dialogue. The findings from interviews with representatives from twenty‐nine UK and transnational organisations actively engaged in stakeholder dialogue are presented. This paper concludes that contemporary organisations seem to be seeking to engage with stakeholders in partnerships, yet their attempts still fall short of what Arnstein called Citizen Control, the level of achievement that non‐governmental organisations would like stakeholder engagement to attain.