International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants: A Behind the Scenes Look at the eCode

Technology is changing the way professional accountants work and how information is accessed. The eCode was launched in June 2019 to promote adoption, implementation and enforcement of the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards). Digital features demonstrate the architecture of the Code and leverage technology to make access widely available to all and as user friendly as possible. This paper provides insight into why and how the International Ethics Standards Board of Accountants has dedicated significant resources to develop an eCode and highlights some of its key features to explore how technology is being used to improve access to and use of professional standards.     

Contextual factors that foster or inhibit para‐teacher professional development: the case of an Indian,non‐governmental organization

The appointment of para‐professionals to overcome skill shortages and/or make efficient use of expensive resources is well established in both developing and developed countries. The present research concerns para‐teachers in India. The literature on para‐teachers is dominated by training for special needs settings, largely in developed societies. Little has been published about para‐teachers working in developing countries with children without disabilities, despite this being a common occurrence. The present research investigates how contextual factors influence the design and implementation of professional support for para‐teachers. The research participants were 12 para‐teachers and five management and administrative staff. Contextual factors included characteristics of para‐teachers, classrooms and students from under‐resourced settings; and the practices and policies found in a non‐school educational setting, here a non‐governmental organization. The study indicates that each factor has potentially enhancing and hindering effects which need to be taken into consideration when designing and implementing professional development work.     

The gender wage gap among China’s rural–urban migrants

In this study, we present new empirical evidence on gender wage differences among rural–urban migrants in China. We use a data set that includes migrants residing in urban communities and those living at their workplaces—the latter were not included in the previous studies. We find that the gender wage gap among migrants is 16%–18% and does not differ between migrants living at workplaces and those living in urban communities. However, gender differences in industry sorting play a more important role for migrants living at their workplaces, whereas differences in education and experience are of importance for those living in urban communities. Overall, differences in the returns to characteristics are the main driver of the gender wage gap, especially for migrants living in urban communities.     

Business strategies for transitions towards sustainable systems

This paper develops a strategic perspective for business to contribute to the innovation of societal systems. Sustainability issues at the level of societal sectors cannot be addressed by single organizations but need to be thought of as systemic challenges in which business, government and civil society each play different roles. Sustainability involves structural changes over longer periods of time, and requires co‐evolutionary changes in technology, economy, culture and organizational forms. We propose that the transition management framework offers a fruitful way to analyze such co‐evolutionary processes of social transformation and subsequently develop strategies to influence and accelerate such processes. We present the case of two firms working in this new context of transition management in The Netherlands. From these cases we conceptualize a more general approach for business to redefine and reframe the societal context in which it is operating and develop novel business strategies. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

《社区再投资法》：成效显著，但仍需改进

1977年出台的<社区再投资法>是为了解决外界对金融机构的经济性歧视行为的指责.它引导存款类金融机构通过"安全、稳健运营"来"满足其所服务社区的信贷需求".1 在这些指导原则和贯彻这些原则的监管方法的引导下,随着时间的推移,<社区再投资法>已被证明具有较好的灵活性和适应性.     

The Environmental Commitment of Consumer Organizations in Denmark, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Belgium

Consumer organizations have traditionally been concerned with protecting, informing, and educating the "weak" consumers. These policies were deemed necessary because of the unequal power balance and conflicts of interests between consumers and producers. Since there are also conflicts between the interests of nature on the one hand, and consumers and producers on the other, this article discusses the rationale of consumer organizations' involvement in environmental issues while considering their original objectives. More specifically, it is aimed at identifying the commitment of several European consumer organizations with respect to environmental issues during the past two decades in order to assess whether and how environmental issues are internalized in consumer policy across time.     

Cultural Enthusiasm,Resistance and the Societal Embedding of New Technologies: Psychotropic Drugs in the 20th Century

The societal embedding of new (medical) technologies involves not only market success, but also regulation and public acceptance. Cultural enthusiasm about their benefits and social concerns about their risks and dangers are in this respect important. Conceptualizing interactions between product championing, cultural enthusiasm and resistance, the article analyses three patterns of societal embedding: (1) hype-cycle, (2) contested embedding, and (3) controversy and stalemate. A fourth pattern of waves of enthusiasm and concern is proposed for technologies with unexpected side effects. This pattern is explored and elaborated with a longitudinal case study of the introduction of a particular form of medical technology: psychotropic drugs such as Veronal and Valium in the period 1900–2000.     

Cultural Enthusiasm, Resistance and the Societal Embedding of New Technologies: Psychotropic Drugs in the 20th Century

The societal embedding of new (medical) technologies involves not only market success, but also regulation and public acceptance. Cultural enthusiasm about their benefits and social concerns about their risks and dangers are in this respect important. Conceptualizing interactions between product championing, cultural enthusiasm and resistance, the article analyses three patterns of societal embedding: (1) hype-cycle, (2) contested embedding, and (3) controversy and stalemate. A fourth pattern of waves of enthusiasm and concern is proposed for technologies with unexpected side effects. This pattern is explored and elaborated with a longitudinal case study of the introduction of a particular form of medical technology: psychotropic drugs such as Veronal and Valium in the period 1900-2000.     

Thinking about U: Theorizing and testing U‐ and inverted U‐shaped relationships in strategy research

Research summary : U‐ and inverted U‐shaped relationships are increasingly explored in strategy research, with 11 percent of all articles published in Strategic Management Journal (SMJ) in 2008–2012 investigating such quadratic relationships. Moreover, a movement towards introducing moderation to quadratic relationships has emerged. By reviewing 110 articles published in SMJ from 1980 to 2012, we identify several critical issues in theorizing and testing of these relationships for which current practice falls short. These include insufficient causal argumentation, incorrect testing, mixing up two different types of moderation, and not realizing that the curve can flip completely. For these and other issues, a guideline is provided which, when followed, may bring clarity to theoretical motivation and rigor to empirical testing. Managerial summary : Too much can be as bad as too little. Many relationships in strategic management follow an inverted U‐shaped pattern, where moderate levels of a strategy lead to optimal performance. To gain deeper insights into the conventional wisdom that too much of a good thing can be harmful to performance, we discuss how such relationships can be better theorized and tested based on a review of articles exploring U‐shaped relationships in Strategic Management Journal during 1980–2012. We identify several critical issues that require close attention and provide a guideline to further develop and validate this important managerial intuition. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.