1,721,061 research outputs found
Internal performance management with UK higher education; strategising and performancing
No full textThis article reports an investigation of the internal performance management of UK higher education establishments in the south of England. Through the use of a grounded theory methodology detailed insights were obtained which explored the relationships between performance measurement, management and strategic planning. The study suggests that current internal performance management systems are amorphous and discusses the implications for higher education policy makers<br/
Internal performance management within UK higher education; strategising and performancing
No full textThis article reports an investigation of the internal performance management of UK higher education establishments in the south of England. Through the use of a grounded theory methodology detailed insights were obtained which explored the relationships between performance measurement, management and strategic planning. The study suggests that current internal performance management systems are amorphous and discusses the implications for higher education policy maker
Performance management in a third Sector housing association: management commitment and the balanced scorecard
No full textThis article explores the post implementation phase of the balanced scorecard in a Third Sector housing association. A case study analysis using semi-structured interviews and direct observation over a five year period provides empirical insight into an evolving performance management culture. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by revealing how leadership and culture can build capability and trust to support performance management
Performance, strategy and accounting in local government and higher education
No full textThe research investigates the management of performance measures and the perceived effectiveness of such measures in UK public services. A range of methodological approaches is used, commencing with a pilot study comprising four case studies in local government and higher education. It will investigate the relationship between strategic planning, accounting information systems and performance measurement systems within each case study. A comparison of these phenomena between cases and with prior research in the private and public sector research will also be undertaken. The pilot study will also include the initial development of a questionnaire, built upon the case studies to gain knowledge of performance measures across the whole of public services. The questionnaire survey will be develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between organisational variables and performance is achieved
Acceptability of accounting learning and teaching through the world wide web
No full textA notable shift in emphasis from teaching to learning, coupled with the increasing financial pressures that universities throughout the sector are faced with, has made many institutions consider more efficient learning and teaching strategies including embracing and adopting new technologies. The use of the Web as an effective means of learning and teaching has not yet been pedagogically proven however, it is a strategy that many higher education institutions are currently pursuing, or are seriously considering.This paper considers the effectiveness of web-based learning and teaching and appraises whether it could provide the appropriate medium to create an efficient and robust learning environment for accounting students. Changes in learning styles of students were evaluated and it is suggested that the model put forward in this paper has engendered a move to more autonomous learning on behalf of the students. The net effect is an effective and integrated virtual learning environment
Enablers and limiters of measuring performance: a grounded theory study of Saudi universities
No full textIn recent years, the development of management control systems and performance measurement in particular within higher education institutions has been a major focus of policy makers and academics. Recent studies have, for example, attempted to provide an objective framework for performance of academic administration (Dorweiler, and Yakhou, 2005), they have examined how private sector performance management techniques could be applied to higher education (Chen et al., 2006, Umashankar and Dutta, 2007), they have tested the usefulness of performance management for universities in developing countries (Waal, 2007) and investigated the relationship between strategy, accounting and performance management in UK Higher Education (Broad et al., 2007). This paper reflects on the use of performance measurement systems within two Saudi government universities. It has become apparent that government universities within Saudi Arabia follow similar rules and regulations, yet the manner in which they have operationalised their internal performance measurement systems is very different. This paper is concerned with developing an understanding of the thinking, perciption and use of performance measures in a Saudi university context. This research uses an interpretive grounded theory approach (Strauss and Corbin, 1998) to generate a theory which is grounded in data obtained during the study. It particularly focuses on the actions, interactions and processes of those involved and suggests that there are enablers and limiters of performance management, which operate at organisational and individual levels. Data was collected through face to face semi-structured interviews with over fifty administrators and academics within the two universities. The data was analysed using the coding structures advocated by Strauss and Corbin (1998) to develop a contextualised theory which helps understand the complexities of performance management within the universities studied
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Activity based costing in universities: an inappropriate technique?
No full textThe technique of ABC has been widely adopted by universities in the UK, with the assumption that the more accurate identification of costs makes them more manageable. It is the purpose of this paper to consider this question of manageability through identification and allocation in the university sector and to question this as a basis for decision making and resource allocation. The type of costing systems in place in an organisation must meet the needs of the organisation as a whole and there are a number of factors that will affect the type of costing system that is required and there are a number of costing systems that can be used. This paper considers the use of ABC within a university and whether school costing and course costing can meet the requirements of a university facing a challenging business environment where a significant amount of pressure is being exerted on the financial stability of some universities. In doing so, the ability of ABC to satisfy the informational requirements of a university is called into question.The use of ABC is contrasted with the Theory of Constraints (and its derivative costing system - throughput accounting), which the authors argue is an alternative to the more traditional costing systems. It is the authors' view that the environment with which universities are now faced places added impetus to this question of appropriateness and could have a bearing on the design of an accounting system and the type of financial analysis that a university requires. It is also argued that the stage of decentralisation within a university has a bearing on the type of costing system that may be required; the culture within that university and the extent of a financial control system will also be important factors that will need careful consideration. The focus of this paper is that the search for a costing system has been simplified to a consideration of ABC, and that the problems with this technique in the university environment make it in appropriate. The alternative of throughput accounting is therefore propose
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