1,720,983 research outputs found
The disclosure of liabilities : the case of frequent flyer programmes
No full textThis paper is concerned with the question of what liability (if any) should be disclosed in respect of accumulated frequent flyer benefitts due to regular online travellers. It is concluded that an obligation does exist. There is evidence of the need to recognise, measure, value and disclose the implications of a successful marketing tool such as frequent flyer programmes
Government research evaluations and academic freedom: A UK and Australian comparison
No full textPerformance management systems have been an inevitable consequence of the development of <i>Government Research Evaluations</i> (GREs) of university research, and have also inevitably affected the working life of academics. The aim of this paper is to track the development of GREs over the past 25 years, by critically evaluating their adoption in the UK and Australian Higher Education Sector and their contribution to the commodification of academic labor and to highlight the resultant tensions between GREs and academic freedom. The paper employs a literature-based analysis, relying on publicly available policy documents and academic studies over the period 1985-2010. GREs are a global phenomenon emanating from New Public Management reforms and while assessments of university research have been welcomed, they have attracted critique based on their design, the manner in which they have been applied, and the unintended consequences of their implementation on academic freedom in particular. Consistent with international research on the impact of GREs, Australian research assessments appear to be undoing the academic freedom that is central to successful research. Further empirical research on the impact of GREs on academics is urgently needed
Socio-economic accounting : development of a model for evaluating public sector effectiveness
No full textNew Zealand public sector reforms have provided a clearer delineation between outcome and output responsibilities. Whilst much of the reforms focus upon the performance of chief executives, limited consideration is given to monitoring ministerial performance. This paper develops a model that would enable such a monitoring process to be undertaken
Revisiting organisational change in the New Zeland compulsory education sector: A critical theory analysis of the imposition of managerial values and rationality
No full textPresenting the critical theory model of societal development and identifying societal steering media as an important element in it, the paper analyses the forces at play in the reform of the wider public sector, in an economic, political and ideological context, and details the key features of the New Zealand compulsory educational system, including the introduction and application of managerial values and rationality. Concluding the article focuses on the possible range of responses of key actors in the educational process to change
Public accountability : the perceived usefulness of School Annual reports
No full textAnnual reports are an important component of New Zealand schools’ public accountability. Through the annual report the governance body informs stakeholders about school aims, objectives, achievements, use of resources, and financial performance. We examine the perceived usefulness of the annual report in the discharge of public accountability. We find that 15% of the recipients (mainly parents/caregivers) do not read the annual report because they trust in the school to do the right thing or rely on others to monitor school activities. We find that the annual report is used for a variety of purposes including to determine if the school has conducted its activities effectively and achieved stated objectives and goals; to examine student achievements; to assess financial accountability and performance; and to make decisions about the school as a suitable environment for their child/children. We find that other forms of communication such as school newsletters, parent-teacher interviews, children and other parents are more important sources of information about the school than the annual report. \u
Business reporting : financial analysts expectations for management disclosures
No full textIt is to be expected that managers will provide sufficient disclosure to enable informed assessments of firm performance and firm value. Through an investigation of the performance indicators used and/or desired by Australian and New Zealand financial analysts, this study identifies a state of continuing information asymmetry. The empirical results indicate that key performance drivers are under reported; especially in regard to measures of product quality and customer satisfaction, product and process innovation, and the competitive environment. Managers need to take cognisance of the importance for disclosure of non-financial operational-type information that focus on factors that create longer term value to complement the traditional reporting
Accounting for volunteer services : a deficiency in accountability
No full textThe purpose of this study is to identify the extent to which NFP organisations disclose information on volunteer contributions of services. \ud
\ud
Design/methodology/approach – The study relies on information disclosed in the websites of NFP organisations.\ud
\ud
Findings - We find that disclosure was more prevalent on NFP websites compared to digital annual report disclosures. We find that more NFPs provided disclosure on the activities of their volunteers than other items pertaining to volunteers and the quantification and valuation of volunteer contributions were the least likely to be disclosed. Importantly, the findings illustrate an accountability deficiency in the comprehensiveness of disclosure which results in an under-representation of the contribution volunteers provide to organisational sustainability and impact on mission fulfilment. \ud
\ud
Research limitations/implications – The convenience sample size restricts further interrogation to tease out organisational characteristics that may influence current disclosure practices.\ud
\ud
Practical implications - The findings contribute to international debate over the inclusion of volunteer contributions in the assessment of a NFP’s accountability over its resources and ultimately the enhancement of its sustainability
Observations on the imposition of New Public Management in the New Zealand state education system.
No full textThe enactment of the Education Act 1989 set in motion a reform agenda designed to restructure the New Zealand state school system. School-based management and decision-making lay at the heart of the reformed system. Responsibility for the administration of schools, previously held by the Department of Education and Regional Education Boards, was decentralised to boards of trustees of individual schools. The Act established a model of governance whereby the elected board of trustees were given responsibility for the management of their individual schools with “complete discretion to control the management of the school as it thinks fit” (s.75). Further, principals, as chief executives, were charged with managing the day-to-day administration of their schools. \ud
\ud
The philosophy of these reforms was consistent with the general thrust of restructuring and policy change that was occurring, at the time, within the wider public sector (Dale, 1994). Indeed, it was evident that the educational reforms had more to do with issues of performance, in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, than issues of curricula and pedagogy. Whilst the reforms undertaken in the wider sector were unprecedented they were, nonetheless, universally recognised for their conceptual rigour and intellectual coherence (Boston, et al., 1996). A notable feature was the theoretical underpinnings of the reforms providing an “analytical framework grounded in public choice, managerialism and new economics of organizations, most notably agency theory and transaction cost analysis” (Boston, 1992, p.2). Arguable, managerialism, or what is more commonly referred to as ‘new public management’ (NPM) (Hood, 1990), has had the most visible influence upon the restructuring of the public sector.\ud
\ud
According to Hood (1995), NPM has seen the ‘… lessening or removing differences between the public and private sectors and shifting the emphasis from process accountability towards a greater element of accountability in terms of results” (p.94). For Martin (1994, p.57), NPM represented the ‘debureaucratisation’ of the public service whereby bureaucratic control gives way to managerial responsibility. Hood (1991) noted seven characteristics, or what he terms ‘doctrinal components’, of the NPM approach: (1) financial devolution to service providers, (2) explicit standards and measures of performance, (3) clear differentiation between inputs, outputs and outcomes, (4) increased accountability of service providers, (5) private sector styles of management practice, (6) increased competition and contracting between service providers, and (7) greater stress on efficiency, economy and effectiveness of resource usage.\ud
\ud
Using Hood’s (1991) seven ‘doctrinal components’ of NPM it is possible to conclude that the educational reforms undertaken in New Zealand are an expression, albeit incompletely, of NPM thinking (Painter, 1988; Self, 1993). The key feature of the reforms was the devolution of financial resources to the school site. In the process it has strengthened the position of the central funding agency and hence accountability. Further, the delegated budget enables a shift in emphasis from input to output (results) accountability. Competition between schools is encouraged through the removal of school zoning restrictions (open admissions). Scarcity of resources has seen schools enter into contracts for the provision of inter-school services and facilities (sporting, technology etc.). Less evident is the enforcement of performance standards. Although Statements of Service Performance are statutorily required, the design and measurement of performance standards is still in its infancy. Nevertheless, external agencies such as the Education Review Office do monitor and appraise the performance of schools with publicly released reports.\u
Annual reporting by New Zealand secondary schools : assessing the comprehensiveness of performance disclosures
No full textThe 1989 transformation of educational administration in New Zealand emphasised a new accountability framework. The aim of the ‘new’ accountability was to demonstrate that educational investments yielded educational payoffs; including a demand that educational institutions provide evidence of their performance in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. The accountability was to be, in part, discharged through the provision of performance information in the school annual report. This paper assesses the comprehensiveness of that performance communication. A disclosure index was employed to determine, for each school annual report analysed, the quantity and quality of disclosure. The 1999 annual report of 18 secondary schools were assessed. The findings indicate a failure to adequately disclose key performance indicators. Main areas of inadequate disclosure relate to non-financial measures of service performance and physical condition. Improved levels of disclosure to meet best-practice would contribute to improved communication between schools and their stakeholders, and move to satisfy increasing demands for public accountability
Exercising professional judgement in an era of sector neutrality : a study of choices made by New Zealand reporting entities
No full textSince 1992, New Zealand has engaged in a sector-neutral approach to accounting standard setting – where a transaction is accounted for based on its underlying economic nature rather than on the type of entity undertaking it. Underpinned by the premise that GAAP can be generalised across the public/private divide, we examine whether systematic differences exist between accounting policies adopted by reporting entities with different ownership and/or operating objectives. We find evidence of sector preference in the choice of useful life for comparable depreciable assets, and differences in policies for the amortisation of goodwill. We also find evidence of sector convergence in the choice of methods for accounting for valuation of non-current assets, deferred taxation and inventory. It is observed that the two accounting policies indicating sector preference have a more direct impact on the Statement of Financial Performance than the other policies examined
- …
