Critical accounting and communicative action: On the limits of consensual deliberation

Richard Laughlin's work provides a framework for scholarly engagement that includes process (middle range thinking), a societal model of administration, and a means for reflexive and collective decision-making. The framework draws on Habermas’ theory of communicative action, which is underpinned by a deliberative, consensus-oriented conceptualization of democracy. Based on recent developments in political theory and related applied fields, we argue that deliberative democracy is only one of several democratic bases useful in understanding and/or improving accounting and accountability systems to better meet the needs of diverse contemporary societies. In particular, we contend that, in relying on Habermasian-style deliberative democracy, Laughlin's conceptualizations do not fully account for the dimensions of disagreement and difference in democratic interactions. Drawing on the work of agonistic political theorists and studies from the applied fields of communicative planning and critical policy analysis, we argue that deliberative democracy approaches based on ideal speech criteria and universalistic consensus need to be balanced with theorizations that recognize the reality and value of more open-ended and unfinalizable struggles among actors with different histories, cultures, and/or ideological orientations. While cognizant of the challenges involved in bridging deliberative-agonistic conceptualizations of democracy, such endeavors provide opportunities for (re)theorizations that offer promise for enriching critical accounting by, as we argue, reinforcing the critical/political in critical accounting. To this end, we consider possibilities of forging links between Laughlin's work and our own proposals for dialogic/polylogic accountings based on agonistic democracy in an effort to foster more enabling accounting praxis.     

Work‐to‐Family Spillover Effects of Workplace Ostracism: The Role of Work‐Home Segmentation Preferences

This study considers workplace ostracism as a source of stress and examines its spillover effects on the family. By integrating the work‐family interface model with boundary theory, we investigate the impact of workplace ostracism as perceived by employees on their family satisfaction by examining the mediating role of work‐to‐family conflict and the moderating role of work‐home segmentation preferences. The results from a three‐wave field survey of 233 employees in China indicate that workplace ostracism is negatively related to family satisfaction; this relationship is also mediated by work‐to‐family conflict. In addition, work‐home segmentation preferences attenuate the mediating effect of work‐to‐family conflict on the relationship between workplace ostracism and family satisfaction. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.     

Realism and constructivism in strategy research: a critical realist response to Mir and Watson

Mir and Watson (2000) advocate that constructivism has the potential to inform strategy research. In their discussions, they compare constructivism with realism, and highlight certain alleged strengths of the former over the latter. Although their paper provides some insights, their version of constructivism is problematic and their understanding of realism is inaccurate. In this note we clarify some key issues concerning constructivism and realism. Moreover, we argue that Mir and Watson's insights can be accommodated within a critical realist framework. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consumer switching costs: A typology,antecedents, and consequences

The management of customer switching costs has been hampered by the lack of a comprehensive typology for conceptualizing, categorizing, and measuring consumers' perceptions of these costs. This research develops a switching cost typology that identifies three types of switching costs: (1) procedural switching costs, primarily involving the loss of time and effort; (2) financial switching costs, involving the loss of financially quantifiable resources; and (3) relational switching costs, involving psychological or emotional discomfort due to the loss of identity and the breaking of bonds. The research then examines the antecedents and consequences of switching costs. The results suggest that consumers' perceptions of product complexity and provider heterogeneity, their breadth of product use, and their alternative provider and switching experience drive the switching costs they perceive. Furthermore, all three switching cost types significantly influence consumers' intentions to stay with their current service provider, explaining more variance than does satisfaction. In view of the potential importance of switching costs, the impact of all strategic moves on switching costs should be considered Michael Porter (1980:122). Thomas A. Burnham (Tburnham@scu.edu) (Ph.D., University of Texas) is an assistant professor of marketing in the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. His research investigates the strategic management of consumer switching costs and the use of customer suggestions in product improvement. Prior to obtaining his doctorate, he developed strategic reports and budgets for MCI Telecommunications and consulted with the management of a cooperative in Paraguay as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. Judy K. Frels (Jfrels@rhsmith.umd.edu) (Ph.D., University of Texas) is an assistant professor of marketing in the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on the marketing of high-technology products, innovation adoption, and consumer switching costs. Prior to obtaining her Ph.D., she spent 10 years developing operating systems and compilers, as well as managing and marketing software and hardware products at IBM and at Tymlabs Corporation. She has consulted with firms including SAIC, Imation, Input-Output, Inc., and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Vijay Mahajan (Vmahajan@mail.utexas.edu) is John P. Harbin Centennial Chair in Business, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin. He is currently serving as dean of the Indian school of Management, Hyderabad, India. He has published extensively on innovation diffusion, new product development, and strategic marketing.     

ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN CHINA: LOWER BOUND ESTIMATES

We construct a structural econometric model to measure partially the economic effects of political movements in China. Consumption, or equivalently investment, is determined by a central planner trying to maximize a multiperiod objective function. Political events are modeled by exogenous changes in the shocks to productivity and to investment which affect the time paths of major economic variables. Effects of the events are measured by comparing the time paths generated by the model with and without the changes in the shocks. The dynamic optimization model is estimated using data from 1952 to 1993. In contrast with our earlier work, we assume a trend-stationary process for log total productivity rather than a random walk process and estimate that without the Great Leap Forward Movement output per capita in China up to 1993 would have been on average 1.18 to 1.71 times as great. Without the Cultural Revolution the corresponding figure would have been 1.08 to 1.12 times as great.     

Feminism Facing Industrial Relations in Britain

This is an opportune time to renegotiate the boundaries between industrial relations theory and feminist analysis in Britain. Such a bargain would involve going beyond an agreement to add 'women's issues' to the research agenda, to a recognition of the gendered character of employment relations and of work itself. The formal institutions involved, namely, management, trade unions and the state, cannot be treated as gender‐neutral. Further, the very way industrial relations scholars define what is 'inside' the industrial relations system and what is 'outside' reflects masculine priorities and privilege.     

Bribery solicitations and firm performance in the Latin America and Caribbean region

This study shows that for firms in the Latin America and Caribbean region, bribery significantly distorts firm growth. Firms that were solicited for bribes when conducting business transactions – such as applying for permits, electricity, or water connections – have 23% lower annual sales growth than firms that do not face such solicitations. Moreover, these distortions are more severe for low-revenue-generating and young firms. Using the instrumental variables method on cross-sectional data as well as evidence from panel data, the authors show that these results are robust to different specifications and the use of different sub-samples.     

Equity diversification among the four Asian NICs

Recent studies have indicated the potential gains to U.S. investors from international portfolio diversification. Due to the rapid growth of the four Asian newly industrialised countries (NICs), namely, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, it is believed that U.S. investors will become increasingly interested in these equity markets. The purpose of the present study is to investigate from the U.S. perspective, the prospects of diversifying across the countries. The results indicate that a diversified portfolio among these markets yields a higher return-to-risk ratio than investing in the U.S. market alone.The authors are with the School of Management, National University of Singapore.     

Negative consequences of deep relationships with suppliers: An exploratory study in Poland

The dark side of buyer–seller relationships may be treated as an under investigated field of research. The main objective of this paper was to explore the negative consequences of being involved in deep supplier relationships. The data gathered from 92 in-depth interviews with purchasing managers were used for the qualitative data analysis. The negative relationship consequences identified in the study were assigned to six categories: supplier-specific forces, buyer-specific forces, relationship-specific forces, product-specific forces, network-specific forces and environment-specific forces.The study extends our knowledge about the negative consequences of deep supplier relationships in Eastern Europe by illustrating the complexity of the factors involved and the complex interactions that influence the context. An exploratory approach was taken which means that findings cannot be generalized to other contexts. However, this creates an avenue for further research.