Frontiers of Non-Financial Performance Reporting in New Zealand

In 1989, legislation in New Zealand introduced requirements for non-financial performance information in the public sector to be reported and audited. This paper describes the initial responses of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand and the Audit Office to this challenge and examines their further development following a decade of experience.     

Gender identity and brand incongruence: when in doubt,pursue masculinity

Gender identity is the extent to which an individual identifies with masculine or feminine personality traits. Sex roles in Western societies continue to evolve, so this research examines the developing relationship between gender identity and consumer responses to gendered branding. Grounded in self-congruency theory [Sirgy, M. J. (1982). Self-concept in consumer behavior: A critical review. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 287–300], the present research reports an experiment that supports a congruence relationship between gender identity and brand response. Masculine consumers prefer masculine brands. The results also show incongruent brand rejection where masculine consumers react negatively to feminine brands although feminine consumers are more accepting of masculine brands. Further, the results suggest that gender identity is a more effective dimension for customer segmentation than biological sex. Overall, the results suggest that masculine brands are more effective than other gendered brand profiles for masculine, feminine, and androgynous consumers.     

The effects of relationships and justification in an interdependent allocation task

Two factors, the type of relationship between the involved parties and the justification of the decision maker for being in his or her position, are predicted to influence resource allocation decisions. These predictions are based on a synthesis of several forces, including self-interest, a politeness norm, and a norm of reciprocity, that we argue underlie the selection of allocation norms that guide interdependent resource allocation decisions. An ultimatum bargaining game, in which player 1 divides a resource ($10) and player 2 decides to either reject or accept this division, is employed in a laboratory study to test the hypotheses. For subjects in the player 1 position, subjects with friends as player 2 or those assigned to their position randomly allocated lower amounts of money to themselves than did subjects with strangers as player 2 or those who earned their position. Friends in the player 2 position demanded significantly less to reach an agreement than strangers. These and other results are discussed in terms of the various allocation norms, particularly equity and equality, that appeared to influence subjects' decisions.     

Learning to organise risk management in organisations: what future for enterprise risk management?

This paper identifies recurring issues in the regulation of new technologies through an historical review of the risk management of automobiles in the 1800s. Parallels are drawn between the regulation of early automobiles and that of the regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) today. It is found that many of the regulatory challenges facing UASs are analogous to those which faced the automobile industry more than a century and half ago and that the need for informed and objective decision making in policy development is reinforced. A systems engineering approach, based on general systems theory and decision‐based design principles, is then proposed as a means for improving the objectivity, transparency and rationality in the risk management decision making process. An example risk management decision making scenario is given within the context of a small UAS operating over a populated area. The results obtained from this case study illustrate how even simple analysis can support the decision making process and highlights some of the potential challenges in the regulatory approach currently applied to UASs.     

Extending the scope of environmental management: The case of company-assisted travel in Britain

European initiatives such as eco‒labelling and eco‒management and audit have encouraged a focus in company environmental policies on the environmental impacts directly associated with the production, distribution, use and disposal of products. Indirect effects, such as business‒related travel, have been given much less attention. The environmental consequences of company policies to include company cars, and other forms of assistance for car travel, in the remuneration packages of British managers are assessed. The need to target the travel miles generated by business activity is highlighted, and sources of resistance to policies to cut back on company cars are identified. Success in bringing company‒assisted travel within the orbit of company environmental policy, it is suggested, would not only bring immediate environmental benefits, but could also be significant in challenging aspects of organizational culture which hold back the development of sustainable business. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Organisational learning in contested environments: lessons from Brent Spar

The Post–Altman model of corporate greening, with its focus on organisational learning as a key component in overcoming organisational barriers to environmental changes, is reviewed in relation to Shell's attempted deep sea disposal of Brent Spar in 1995. It is argued here that environmental innovation requires not only organisational learning but a capacity to collaborate with outsiders. Shell's failure to appreciate different perceptions of its Brent Spar proposals, and to develop the alliances that would have been needed to explore alternatives, resulted in costly damage to both its reputation and its European sales. The decision was reversed, and substantial organisational change took place, but as a result of external pressure rather than internal learning. Shell's experience raises significant issues for corporate greening, and particularly for companies seeking to improve environmental performance in contested environments. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.