Negotiating the credibility of performance auditing

This paper reports the results of a longitudinal field study of a performance audit which used in-depth interviews and observation to examine the process by which auditees and auditors in the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) negotiated their relationship. The findings enhance understanding of auditee reactions to both the practice of performance auditing and the auditors themselves and the impact that these have on the credibility of performance auditing. Using the lens of Oliver's typology of strategic responses, the study confirmed the prevalence of auditee responses to performance auditing by the ANAO which ranged from co-operative acquiescence and co-operation to confrontational defiance. The paper addresses recent and ongoing calls for more studies of public sector auditing in action to deepen our understanding of the responses or manoeuvring of auditors and auditees during the process of performance auditing. A key contribution of the paper is confirmation that performance auditing continues to be a contested activity and its credibility in practice remains uncertain. The empirical (and historical) evidence suggests that audits that are perceived as especially politically sensitive can provoke active forms of resistance, including avoidance and defiance.     

Book reviews

MARKETING BUDGETING by Nigel Piercy (Croom Helm, 1986) 522 pages, £27.50 hb. ISBN 0–7099–2092‐X.

STATISTICS FOR MARKETING by Leslie W. Rodger (McGraw‐Hill, London, 1984), 280 pages, £10.95. ISBN 0–07–084728–2.

ANALYSIS FOR STRATEGIC MARKET DECISIONS by George S. Day (West Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minnesota, 1986), ISBN 0–314–85227–1.

MARKETING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY by Norman Fisher (Longman, Harlow, Essex, 1986), 270 pages, £19.95 HB. ISBN 0–582–503302.

SOURCES OF UNOFFICIAL UK STATISTICS by David A. Mort and Leona Siddall (Gower Publishing Co., 1985), 457 pages, £45.00. ISBN 0–566–02620–1.

HOTEL & FOOD SERVICE MARKETING by Francis Buttle (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, London, 1986) 406 pages, £9.95. ISBN 0–03–910682–9.

POSITIONING: THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND by Al Ries and Jack Trout, first edition revised (McGraw‐Hill, New York, 1986), 213 pages, £17.95 hardcover. ISBN 0–07–065264–3.

BUSINESS WARGAMES by Barrie G. James (Abacus Press, Tunbridge Wells, 1984), 254 pp., £14.95. ISBN 0–85626–441–5.     

Applying a transformative learning framework to volunteer tourism

This paper applies the educational theory of transformative learning to reconceptualising the practices of volunteer tourism. The theory of transformative learning posits a 10-step process to experience a radical shift in consciousness that dramatically and irreversibly alters how participants see their place in the world. Volunteer tourism has commonly been seen as a form of alternative tourism that provides a cathartic experience for the volunteer tourists and benefits to the hosting organisation and the natural and/or social environment of the project. Existing research suggests that these outcomes have not, as yet, been achieved by current practices in this sector. In referring to the theory of transformative learning we note that some, but not all, of the 10 steps have been applied and that we might therefore expect volunteer tourism to fall short of its promises. We conclude that the theory of transformative learning offers a useful framework for volunteer tourism, providing insights into the need to create opportunities for participants to complete the transformative process. We suggest that volunteer tourism organisations redesign their activities to include the remaining steps of transformative learning to improve their product for both the tourists and the sustainability outcomes of the projects.     

Effect of perceived environmental uncertainty on exporter–importer inter-organisational relationships and export performance improvement

Limited research exists on the effect of environmental uncertainty on inter-organisational relationships and export performance improvement in supply chains that transcend national boundaries, especially in developing markets such as sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the dominance of the economic perspective in export performance literature, increased attention over the last decade has turned to the Resource Base View (RBV) and the relational perspective. Highlighting this theoretical gap, we develop an approach that argues export market buyers gain advantage by leveraging internal resources and draw upon RBV and relational exchange theory. Data from 262 fresh-produce export suppliers in Zimbabwe was used to investigate the effect of perceived environmental uncertainty on inter-organisational relationships and supplier export performance. Results indicate that perceived environmental uncertainty dimensions have varied influence over inter-organisational relationships. Results support the relational theory's tenet that commitment to future exchanges is associated with export performance improvement, and driven by a reciprocal pattern of each partner's perception of the other's commitment, relationship-specific investments and dependence. These inter-organisational relationships are seen as complementary resources of the firm, which export market buyers can rely on through power to coerce developing export suppliers to cooperate in conditions of perceived market turbulence and high competitive intensity. Market turbulence emerged as a complex factor and is negatively linked to commitment and cooperation. Contrary to prior research, cooperation had a negative effect on export performance improvement.     

Senior female international managers: empirical evidence from Western Europe

Abstract This paper is an assessment of the international career transitions made by senior female managers in Western Europe. The perspective explored is that of currently employed senior female managers in a wide range of companies, who have made at least one international career move. The article is based on data collected from interviews with fifty senior female international managers. The voices of the female managers illustrate difficulties they encounter in a 'man's world', and confirm that there is still much improvement to be made in order to accommodate and entice more women to senior management assignments. The study, for the first time, assesses an exclusively senior sample of female international managers in Western Europe. Previous studies have established that, throughout Europe, women's promotion into senior domestic management positions has been very slow, despite legislative changes, including the European Union's social protocol, to enforce issues related to equal opportunity such as equal pay and measures against sex discrimination (Davidson and Cooper, 1993). This article examines a number of explanations from the relevant literature and analyses the empirical data collected from the fifty interviewees in order to develop an understanding of senior female international career progressions in Europe. From the data, a model of the typical senior female international path was developed (Linehan, 2000). This research is particularly relevant, as existing European studies have not specifically addressed issues pertaining to senior female international managers.     

Software engineering standards: the ‘formal methods debate’ in the uk

This paper traces the evolution of two standards, Def Stan 00-55 and 00-56, regualtin the identification and productin of safety-critical software for defence applications, issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as interim standards in 1991. The standards—00-55, in particular—have become an important forum for articulating the interests of those who work in the UK safety-critical software engineering field; a debate which has largely revolved around the intergral role 00-55 demands for formal methods of sofware development for safety-critical functions or components. In recounting the stor of their gestation within the MoD during the early 1980s; their controversial release in draft form in 1989; and their subsequent second release as interim standards in 1991, the aim has been to illuminate some of the current ‘politics’ of formal methods of software production, and to consider how the standards are reshaping the discipline of software engineering.     

AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION IN THE EASTERN STATES OF THE U.S.A

The Year-Book of Agricultural Cooperation, 1940, which has just been published by the Horace Plunkett Foundation (1) contains a detailed and extremely competent study on agricultural cooperation in the eastern part of the United States by Miss Margaret Digby, Secretary of the Foundation. The study is based on personal experience collected by the author during a tour in the spring of 1939.
We reproduce below the last chapter of this study in which Miss Digby summarises some of her observations.