Research Students in the Business School
Accounting & Management Control Research Cluster
Mahmoud Jastaniah
Adopting Integrated Reporting: Cases from Saudi Arabia
Integrated Reporting that results in or is a result of integrated thinking is a new form of corporate reporting that is projected at becoming the new paradigm shift in corporate reporting and disclosure. It is a mandatory form of reporting in South Africa but remains voluntary for the rest of the world. Nevertheless, it has gained approval and recommendation at many of the world’s financial markets. The report is significantly different from seemingly similar reports that include a variety of non-financial disclosures. While current reporting culture relies on meeting set standards using a checklist approach, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) suggests a principle-based framework. Organisations report on their strategy, values and context. Thus, they can explain how performance is measured and value is created and what is material to their shareholders, ideally reporting on how the various capitals contribute to their value generation process. Similar to all new forms of disclosure, several theories are proposed to explain the motives for voluntary adoption, resulting in several macro-level studies that attempt to identify if there is a correlation between various factors at this level (country, industry and organisational characteristics) and disclosure. Further studies have also attempted to measure report quality against a variety of macro-level factors.
Taking into account that strategic decisions are taken at the micro-level and that organisational action is carried out by individual actors, this study investigates the choice for adoption by drawing upon two cases from the Saudi Arabian context. Evidence from Saudi Arabia suggests lack of institutional isomorphisms and stakeholder/shareholder pressures within this context. Alternatively, early analysis suggests that seeking legitimacy could be regarded as a motive for voluntary disclosure in this context. Using Legitimacy Theory as a lens, this study uses open-ended interviews to understand how Integrated Reporting is constructed by these organisations in Saudi Arabia and to gain insights on the decision-making process from awareness to implementation. The study contributes to understanding how the choice to implement an IR in the voluntary setting is made within this specific context, thus further contributing to the use of LT in analysis of strategic choice within this context.
Megan Kelly
Ethics education in UK undergraduate accounting degrees: a comparative study
21st Century financial scandals and the global financial crisis of 2008, have led to increased attention on ethics education in accounting at both an academic and professional level. It is important to explore how students engage with ethics in accounting, in relation to the curriculum design and pedagogical methods used. The purpose of this research is in two parts: firstly, to understand how engagement may be achieved in ethics education through the content and delivery methods; secondly, in providing practical recommendations for practitioners to promote student engagement through the undergraduate accounting curriculum. Existing research typically focuses either on staff or student perspective, rarely mutually. Furthermore, student engagement is seldom applied in accounting education research. This is addressed by collecting data through focus groups with staff and students from two Business Schools, one a UN PRME champion school and another non-UN PRME champion school.
The perceptions of staff and students will be considered mutually. Similarities and differences in responses are expected to highlight what methods and content impact levels of engagement, and thus how ethics education may be improved. Anticipated practical recommendations include recommendations for greater student engagement across the accounting curriculum; identification of pedagogical methods to engage students in business ethics successfully; and revision of business ethics curriculum in order to achieve relevance and relatability in the subject.
Sendem Badam
Management Accounting and Control Systems in a Transitional Economy: Case of Mongolia
The appropriateness of the management accounting and control systems is contingent upon the settings of an organisation. Prior research primarily focused on examining static sources of controls within the US and Europe. The purpose of this research, therefore, is to establish how and why the control processes facilitate the design of optimal systems of organisations operating in a transitional economy. Extending the contingency theory, it aims to focus on the dynamics of the evolutionary processes that influence the local adaptations of control systems. Its findings are expected to contribute to the further understanding of the management accounting and control systems within the management accounting research as well as to facilitate improved decision makings for the participating organisations.
Tingting Song
A comparative study on Earnings Management in Commercial Banks in China, the UK and the US
The recent spate of corporate scandals and the global financial crisis have led to an increasing emphasis on the integrity of financial information. Earnings (profits) in financial reports attract decision-makers most among all other information. Earnings management is managerial manipulations of reported earnings through a change of business activities and/or accounting choices and judgements within Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to meet managerial purposes. The manipulations could mislead stakeholders’ view of firms’ performance or convey managerial private information about firms’ real performance and prospects.
Considering the crucial role of commercial banks in supporting a sound economic environment, this research looks at three countries, China, the UK and the US, with different accounting standards and bank regulations to explain whether and how different accounting standards and bank regulations are associated with earnings management in commercial banks. Theoretically, it contributes to enrich evidence supporting different mechanism of earnings management. Empirically, it contributes to improve accounting quality in commercial banks at the firm level and to build a sound commercial banking industry at the country level.
Business Economics & Quantitative Finance Research Cluster
Sahil Sambyal
The impact of changes in brand equity on firm performance and the moderating role of organisational efficiency: A comparative assessment of consumer and financial-based brand equity
Marketing Research Cluster
Viveka Santharam
An investigation into the antecedents and consequences of multichannel retail brand experience
The primary objective of this research is to investigate the concept of multi-channel retail brand experience, with reference to the fashion industry. Studies have from time to time highlighted the importance of offering an outstanding brand experience and pointed out that it helps companies secure more loyal customers and ultimately increase profits. Looking at the extent of work done on brand experience so far, it can be understood that studies have investigated the concept of brand experience ranging from themes such as definitions, measurement scales and management aspect of the concept. Majority of the studies which analysed the concept from different perspectives agreed that brand experience is a multidimensional construct resulting from multiple interactions (direct or indirect) between the brand and the consumer and creates different types of responses (subjective and internal) from consumers. However, most studies relied on the theoretical perspective of brand experience derived from the work of Schmitt (1999) and Brakus et al. (2009) and without providing further theoretical elaboration of the concept, have mostly adopted their scale into various contexts.
This research argues that though academics acknowledged that the shopping paradigm has changed - consumers, markets and consumption contexts, the development of the concept of brand experience has only been marginal. Despite the vast amount of studies that adopted the concept into exploring brand-related concepts, the same level of enthusiasm was not seen in explaining the concept beyond the definition & dimensions provided by Brakus et al.(2009). This study takes the stand that there is an intense need for a broader view of brand experience in the contemporary marketplace. A systematic analysis of existing literature review has revealed that there is a gap in understanding the concept of holistic brand experience in the multi-channel context. Existing studies have looked at the concept mostly focusing either on online or offline perspective, but not an integrated perspective - where both online and offline environments are holistically considered. Hence this research underpins the need to investigate the consumer's perspective of brand experience in the multi-channel environment, especially when multi-channel retailing is a popular model and a key strategy used by retailers. The study will look at the key antecedents and consequences of brand experience in the multi-channel retail context and explore the interrelationship between the various factors.
Supply Chain Management Research Cluster
Gen Zhao
Examining the impact of big data analytics capability and organizational culture on hospital supply chain resilience: contingency theory and the resource-based view
The COVID-19 outbreak has created significant disruptions in hospitals. Researchers and practitioners have suggested that hospitals need to build big data analytics capability (BDAC) to develop supply chain resilience (SCRes) to survive the post-COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, hospitals continue to struggle to fully seize the potential benefits derived from their investment of BDAC. Developing organisational culture (such as data-driven culture and physiological safety) may help hospitals achieve the full benefit of BDAC. Furthermore, hospitals are currently facing challenges to improve operational performance (cost, productivity, quality, delivery, and flexibility), and the need for hospitals to manage their supply chain efficiently and effectively to address performance challenges has become more crucial, especially in response to COVID-19. From the resource-based view, my research aims to investigate how BDAC help hospitals build SCRes and improve operational performance. More specifically, drawing upon contingency theory, my research further explores the moderating role of organisational culture on the effect of BDAC on SCRes.
Hang Yang
How Blockchain-based Supply Chain Finance influences the firm’s performance: an empirical study in China’s manufacture
Under the COVID-19 outbreak, Chinese economic face tremendous hit by the pandemic. Many types of business have been hugely impacted. These impacts would raise financial issues and credit crunch if enterprises have a poor strategy on cash flow management. Supply chain finance (SCF) combined with blockchain technology has the potential capability to address firms’ financial problems and provide transparency among SCF participants. Thus, this research adopts blockchain technology combined with SCF to explore whether blockchain-based SCF can address companies’ financial problems, which intend to provide new insights to supply managers and political makers.
Said Usman
Understanding the Role of ICT in the Sustainable Supply Chain Management of Nigerian SMEs: An Institutional Theory Perspective
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a massive role in global economies, and they are a vital source for employment and a source of income for most of the world population. In Nigeria, the SMEs sector is said to account for 70 per cent of employment and contributes massively to the GDP (Nuraddeen, 2019). However, their access to reliable information in their supply chains remains a considerable problem due to underdeveloped technological and communication infrastructures and inadequate business support systems. Consequently, giving their significance in the economy, SMEs need to take into account the sustainability in their operations in order to satisfy the future needs and to enable them to respond to the challenges of the sustainable development of Nigeria. Thus, this research aims to examine how ICT and institutional forces (by Formal and Informal institutions) can be used to improve sustainability in supply chains for SMEs in Nigeria. The study intends to contribute to the literature regarding the shortage of empirical evidence and theoretical reflection on sustainable supply chains in developing nations like Nigeria.
Sheikh Muhammad Zahid
Qi Liu
Exploring the effects of digital supply chain platform and entrepreneurial orientation on supply chain viability and business performance: Resource orchestration theory
The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted the global supply chain (SC), abruptly terminating demand and supply. During and post-COVID-19 pandemic, developing supply chain viability (SCV) has become more crucial than ever in enabling firms to tackle the disruptions and uncertainties in the global supply chains. While DSCP necessitates handling environmental uncertainty, firms may always find it difficult to mobilize resources for realizing the value of DSCP in uncertainty times. entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has been considered as such a resource that can be leveraged along with DSCP for developing SCV. Unfortunately, to date there has been no empirical study exploring how DSCP and EO interact with one another to influence SCV. To address these gaps, based on Resource Orchestration Theory (ROT), this research aims to investigate the interaction effect of DSCP and EO on SCV and firm performance.
People & Organisations Research Cluster
Girinandini Khittoo
A case of developing IT Talent in the Republic of Mauritius: Exploring the intersection of Talent Management and Age Diversity in MNEs
My research aims at examining the relationship between ‘talent’ and age diversity within the context of multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) HR practices and policies in the Republic of Mauritius. Despite significant investment in the IT sector by the Mauritian government, including policies to encourage recent graduates to enter the sector, the shortage in talent to fill high skilled jobs is concerning for a national economic policy focussed on developing a knowledge-based economy. Understanding why there remains a shortage in talent is a key question my research investigates.
Considering the extensive research on talent management within the HRM field, it is only recently that interest in the tensions between talent management and diversity has emerged. With a focus to date on gender diversity and ethnicity, the documentation of age diversity and the extent to which organisations embrace age diversity is scarce. Therefore, it is timely to investigate the relationship between age diversity and talent management in the Mauritian context, as age diversity is a key area that is under-explored and needs further investigation. Findings will help contribute to the thinking around diversity management and talent management in the HRM literature, as well as provide key recommendations for organisations and practitioners.
Natasha Gjorevska
Alternative organising and sustainable food initiatives: A multimethod exploration of values and value practices
Alternative organisations have transformative potential and are geared towards social value creation. Alternative food initiatives exemplify alternative organising focused on bringing positive social change through food. Considering the generative capacity of alternative organising and the relevance of food, this research will link and build on the interlocking body of work on alternative organisations, sustainable food systems, and values and value practices. Accounting for the contemporary context of turmoil, this research will explore the values and practices that are mobilised during the crisis, and envisioned for the post-crisis world, by giving voice to communities in alternatively organised food initiatives. The research will explore the experiences and practices of organisational members in UK-based food initiatives through multimodal and creative methods such as visuals, storytelling, and interviews. The study aims to offer insights about alternative value systems and organisational realities, in the hope to inspire positive social transformation and learning through imagination and storytelling.
Sjoukje Gezina Ruth Hekman
What influences engagement at an individual level? The importance of context and career stages
Highly engaged employees can make your organisation, disengaged employees can break it. The employee engagement discussion is one which has been very popular over the last decade. Scholars agree about the importance of engaged employees but how does engagement manifest for an individual? What are the factors that influence the experience of engagement for this individual? Within my PhD research, I look at how individuals experience engagement. I specifically zoom in on how the career stage and the context of an individual, influence their engagement experience. This research critically evaluates the 'employee engagement' research stream to date as well as the development of the personal engagement theory founded by Kahn (1990). The research shows that the phase of someone's career, effects which factors contribute to the engagement experience.
Tabitha Sindani
Investigating the Influence of Context and Institutions on Jua Kali women entrepreneurs in rural Kenya
Although critical entrepreneurialism has gained traction over the past decade, the majority of entrepreneurship research is still individualist and functionalist in nature. Research in the functionalist tradition emphasizes job creation and wealth accumulation as the primary goal of entrepreneurship which in turn essentialises the individualist notion that emphasises individual’s role in discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurship opportunities. This study challenges the taken-for-granted belief that only certain kinds of entrepreneurship bearing the functionalist outcomes count as ‘real’ entrepreneurship and often valorised, while a variety of contrasting ‘other’ activities that are classified as non-entrepreneurship often disparaged. Additionally, it problematises the heroic individualist notion of entrepreneurship by offering a contrasting view on how context and institutions influence entrepreneurship. Thus, drawing upon feminist standpoint theory, and informed by in-depth interviews with women entrepreneurs and policymakers this study investigates the influence of context and institutions on Jua Kali (informal sector) rural women entrepreneurs in Kenya.
Theoretically, this study contributes to the entrepreneurship, gender and economic geography literature by highlighting the diversity of entrepreneurship as a gendered and geographic process, embedded in gendered contexts and institutions. Policy implications include recommendations for policymakers to recognise the centrality of context in enterprise policy formulation, evaluation and implementation; adopt a broad-based view of enterprise policy that includes policy interventions that solve other market failures within the business environment in order to promote, encourage and support Jua Kali women’s entrepreneurship development.
Recent completions
2020
Katja Annika Jonsas, Leading and living. Women and Academic Leadership in Finland and the United Kingdom
Christiaan Roel, Internationalisation through a network of relationships: Local perspectives from Dutch MNE subsidiaries in Indonesia
2019
Mirjana Grkovska, Subjective well-being and unemployment in Macedonia
Sree Beg, A comparative multi-country, multi-sector of online loyalty in internet retailing
2018
Catherine Butcher, Heterodox forms of University Ownership/Control, Governance, Financing and Organisation Structure
Gloria Appiah, The Nature and Processes of Creativity: What may be Learned from a Small UK Software Business
Paola Andrea Raffaelli, Social and Solidarity Economy in the context of the global economic crisis. A comparison across the experiences in Argentina and the United Kingdom
Christopher Russell, Resisting Resistance: ICT adoption within a Monastery on Mount Athos
2017
Catherine Kelly, An Exploration of Epistemic Imbalances in Group Work Decision Making Processes
Rodrigo Souza, The Construction of Risk: How 'actors' construct the concept of 'risk' in practice in the Brazilian finance sector
2016
Claire Evans, How do the Big Four accounting firms construct and deploy notions of the 'ideal' worker as a result of their symbiotic relationship with capitalism and what effect does this have upon the gender of the senior levels of the organisation?
Lauran Twort, Peace and Recovery: Witnessing Lived Experience in Sierra Leone
Viktroija Mano, The vulnerabilities of a small open economy: The economic transition of Macedonia
2015
Yalda Haji-Ghassemi, Flexpatriation and Internationalization: The influence of high mobility, communication technology, and networking on SME's
Malcolm James, The Authorisation and Glorification of Plunder – Tthe Role and Operation of Power in Tax Policy
2014
Moataz Elmassri, Strategic Investment Decision–Making in The Uncertain Context of Post-Revolution Egypt
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