A sociology of rankings: a longitudinal examination of the Financial Times MBA rankings

Although rankings have been in existence for almost a century, scholars have only developed a limited understanding of the role of such aggregations of performance measures in organisational fields. In particular, there is little understanding of how cognitive and strategic processes at the organisational level, which underlie the measurement and ranking process, impact on macro outcomes on the level of the organisational field. This is due to the persistence of two assumptions about the impact of rankings on organisations and fields. These are, firstly, that here is a cause-effect relationship between the emergence of rankings and change processes in organisational fields, and, secondly, that those processes lead to the emergence of a single model of organising around which organisational fields and actors homogenise. Refuting these assumptions, I develop the concepts of the ranking template and frame to explain the ways in which rankings can impact on organisations and fields, given the dynamics between organisations that produce and those who are subject to rankings. In particular, I show that through ranking frames, the latter develop notions of actual and aspired ranking performances and a strategy to align the two. An in-depth analysis of a novel longitudinal data set from the Financial Times Global MBA rankings as well as data from business schools provides evidence of the multitude of ways in which rankings can impact on organisations and fields. Specifically, I show how ranking fields are made up of field boundaries, vertical segments of competitors, horizontal segments of different performance measures, as well as clusters of peers. I conclude by discussing the contribution of these findings to the understanding of the dynamics between producers and subjects of performance measures in organisational fields

The impact of managers' work hours on employees' use of parental leave

This study examines how a company’s family-friendly culture affects the probability of an employee’s use of parental leave. Using a national representative and linked employer and employee survey, this study finds that a long-hour organizational culture, which is revealed through managers’ work hours, discourages new parents from taking parental leave

Transactions boursieres des administrateurs des grandes banques canadiennes pendant la derniere crise financiere

L’objectif de cette étude est d’une part, de vérifier si les administrateurs des grandes banques canadiennes obtiennent des rendements anormaux en achetant ou en vendant des actions de leurs banques et, d’autre part, d’évaluer la réaction du marché boursier lorsque cette information est rendue publique. Nos résultats montrent que pendant la dernière crise financière, le marché a réagi de façon plus négative aux opérations de vente qu’aux opérations d’achat. Ils indiquent également que les administrateurs des grandes banques canadiennes ne emblaient pas s’enrichir en achetant des actions et avaient vendues stratégiquement leurs actions à la suite d’une hausse du cours boursier

Board governance issues with not-for-profit organizations: knowledge of financial statements and assurance received

Cape Breton not-for-profits are trying to find what amount of adherence to the guidance contained in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is necessary to ensure their organizations are accountable and transparent to their stakeholders. I will explore what financial reports are presented to the boards and the assurance levels received on the annual financial statements as it pertains to good governance by Cape Breton not-for profits. Accordingly I will compare them to international organizations in order to illustrate what is done and what should be best practice

Pertinence de le divulgation d'information sur la juste valeur des instruments financiers selon le chapitre 3860 de l’ICCA

La présente étude a pour objectif d’évaluer la pertinence de la divulgation de la juste valeur des instruments financiers selon le chapitre 3860 du manuel de l’Institut Canadien des Comptables Agréés (ICCA). L’analyse de 268 entreprises manufacturières canadiennes sur une période de neuf ans tend à démontrer que les investisseurs considèrent seulement la variation entre la valeur comptable et la juste valeur des passifs financiers, et ce, avec une certaine réserve

Spin-offs in the metal-mechanic sector in Mexico: the case of machine tools

This paper focuses on the creation of spin-offs in traditional and low-tech sectors located in a Mexican region. We analyze different factors that affect the creation of spin-offs such as the strategy of linking, role of the entrepreneurs’ education and experience, and geographical location within the region. We identified that entrepreneurs’ education and experience play a key role for the creation of spin-offs. We also found that geographic location within the region play an important role for the creation of spin-offs

Evidence based millennials

The workforce is changing, as Boomers are retiring and being replaced by Millennials. This paper explores how organizations can best prepare to train Millennials in new, or existing, initiatives, in an effort to increase successful adoption, by the younger workforce

Differential market pricing of components of accounting rate of return on common shareholder's equity

Accounting or book rate of return on common shareholders’ equity is often disaggregated into profit margin, asset turnover, and financial leverage in financial statement analysis. Our paper investigates and finds that capital markets price these components differently; in particular, capital markets assign very significant value to the profit margin component

The balanced scorecard as a stakeholder report for public sector agencies

This paper explores a Canadian public sector agency’s employment of Kaplan and Norton’s (1992) Balanced Scorecard (BSC) to provide progress reports on achievement of its strategic plan. This research contributes to the BSC literature by expanding the framework to include stakeholder involvement in developing the strategic plan and related targets and to improve dissemination of the report