Social Accounting and Organisational Change: An Exploration of the Sustainability Assessment Model

There is increasing recognition that social and ecological challenges necessitate societal change. In responding to these challenges a number of tools have been mooted as having the potential to facilitate change at the organisational level. Accounting is one such tool which is implicated in changing the mental models of those making decisions in organisations (Bebbington, 2007a). However, the role that accounting performs is uncertain and calls have been made to extend our understanding by exploring further empirical cases (Bebbington, 2007a, 2007b; Bebbington, Brown and Frame, 2007a; Bebbington, Brown, Frame and Thomson, 2007b; Tilt, 2006) in a way which can make explicit a priori assumptions of change (Broadbent and Laughlin, 2005). Experimenting with social accounting technologies may provide greater insight into their limiting and enabling aspects. Examples of such technologies include full cost accounting (FCA), the sustainable cost calculation (SCC) and, most recently, the sustainable assessment model (SAM). The SAM is an accounting technology developed to incorporate sustainability considerations into organisational decisionmaking and, potentially, accountability processes. In constructing and implementing new accounting technologies such as the SAM, researchers are confronted with two key challenges: first, a lack of empirical exploration within field studies means the impact a new technology may have is not well documented (Gray, 2002); second, the extant theorisation with which to evaluate 'successful' implementations remains underdeveloped (Gray, 2002). For example, use of non-explicit evaluative criteria glosses over the necessary aspects by which people can facilitate and evaluate change (Thomson and Bebbington, 2004, 2005; Dillard, 2007). This thesis explores the potential of the SAM to foster more critically reflective organisational accounts in the pursuit of sustainability, and involved the application of the SAM in two New Zealand case-study sites. In total, forty-seven individual and group semi-structured interviews were conducted over a three-year period. The resulting empirics provided the basis of an organisational narrative, structured according to Laughlin's (1991) organisational change framework, and evaluated using a Freirian heuristic. Laughlin (1991) provides a framework that sensitises the researcher to identify facets of change considered salient in the application of the SAM. His framework provides a structure for the organisational narrative (that is, both a 'technical' account on how the SAM was applied and a descriptive account on what specific change may have occurred in the organisation). However, drawing on Laughlin's (1991) framework presented two key challenges: first, the SAM requires a critical evaluation framework that makes explicit a priori assumptions of change that are not evident using Laughlin's (1991) 'real' and 'superficial' change categorisation; second, the skeletal nature of the framework focuses insufficient attention on how change occurs (Laughlin, 1991, p.229). To address the above challenges and to evaluate the effectiveness of the SAM, a Freirian dialogic heuristic framework (DHF) is applied to the organisational narrative. The human agency focus of Freire's work makes the evaluative framework complementary to Laughlin's (1991) framework by providing greater insight into how change occurs. To date, the application of a Freirian lens in social accounting literature has been restricted to papers theorising the engagement of the SAM (Bebbington et al., 2007b), generic samples of social accounting reports (Thomson and Bebbington, 2005), accounting education (Coulson and Thomson, 2006; Thomson and Bebbington, 2004), and calls to extend stakeholder engagement (O'Dwyer, 2004a). In this thesis the SAM is explored in an empirical organisational setting and evaluated using the DHF. Findings indicate that the SAM did promote more critically reflective organisational accounts. The SAM created a space which amplified the agency of operational managers and researchers to challenge dominant organisational beliefs held typically by senior staff. Beliefs, such as the organisational commitment to sustainability, were exposed, interrogated, and challenged. The process of applying the SAM fostered the problematisation of organisational issues, broadened the perspectives of participants involved in decision-making, and challenged existing notions of who might have legitimate, 'expert' knowledge. It also made visible differences among viewpoints, highlighted the socially constructed nature of accounting technologies, made visible the interrelationships among different elements in an account, and changed project decisions. However, on several occasions the use of SAM was challenged and in one instance resulted in termination of the SAM application. Findings from this thesis contribute to social accounting and organisational change literature by exploring one form of engagement and extending organisational change frameworks. These two contributions provide possibilities for future research and have implications for those involved in policy and practice

Outpatient antibiotic prescription trends in the United States: A national cohort study

OBJECTIVETo characterize trends in outpatient antibiotic prescriptions in the United StatesDESIGNRetrospective ecological and temporal trend study evaluating outpatient antibiotic prescriptions from 2013 to 2015SETTINGNational administrative claims data from a pharmacy benefits manager PARTICIPANTS. Prescription pharmacy beneficiaries from Express Scripts Holding CompanyMEASUREMENTSAnnual and seasonal percent change in antibiotic prescriptionsRESULTSApproximately 98 million outpatient antibiotic prescriptions were filled by 39 million insurance beneficiaries during the 3-year study period. The most commonly prescribed antibiotics were azithromycin, amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, ciprofloxacin, and cephalexin. No significant changes in individual or overall annual antibiotic prescribing rates were found during the study period. Significant seasonal variation was observed, with antibiotics being 42% more likely to be prescribed during February than September (peak-to-trough ratio [PTTR], 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39–1.61). Similar seasonal trends were found for azithromycin (PTTR, 2.46; 95% CI, 2.44–3.47), amoxicillin (PTTR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.42–1.89), and amoxicillin/clavulanate (PTTR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.68–2.29).CONCLUSIONSThis study demonstrates that annual national outpatient antibiotic prescribing practices remained unchanged during our study period. Furthermore, seasonal peaks in antibiotics generally used to treat viral upper respiratory tract infections remained unchanged during cold and influenza season. These results suggest that inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics remains widespread, despite the concurrent release of several guideline-based best practices intended to reduce inappropriate antibiotic consumption; however, further research linking national outpatient antibiotic prescriptions to associated medical conditions is needed to confirm these findings.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:584–589</jats:sec

Creation of orbital angular momentum states with chiral polaritonic lenses

Controlled transfer of orbital angular momentum to exciton-polariton Bose-Einstein condensate spontaneously created under incoherent, off-resonant excitation conditions is a long-standing challenge in the field of microcavity polaritonics. We demonstrate, experimentally and theoretically, a simple and efficient approach to generation of nontrivial orbital angular momentum states by using optically-induced potentials -- chiral polaritonic lenses.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Impact of Incremental Perfusion Loss on Oxygen Transport in a Capillary Network Mathematical Model.

OBJECTIVES: To quantify how incremental capillary perfusion loss, such as that seen in experimental models of sepsis, affects tissue oxygenation using a computation model of oxygen transport. METHODS: A computational model was applied to capillary networks with dimensions 84x168x342 (NI) and 70x157x268 (NII) μm, reconstructed in vivo from rat skeletal muscle. Functional capillary density (FCD) loss was applied incrementally up to ~40% and combined with high tissue oxygen consumption to simulate severe sepsis. RESULTS: A loss of ~40% FCD loss decreased median tissue PO2 to 22.9 and 20.1 mmHg in NI and NII compared to 28.1 and 27.5 mmHg under resting conditions. Increasing red blood cell supply rate (SR) to baseline levels returned tissue PO2 to within 5% of baseline. High consumption combined with a 40% FCD loss, resulted in tissue anoxia in both network volumes and median tissue PO2 of 11.5 and 8.9 mmHg in NI and NII respectively; median tissue PO2 was recovered to baseline levels by increasing total SR 3 - 4 fold. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a substantial increase in total SR is required in order to compensate for impaired oxygen delivery as a result of loss of capillary perfusion and increased oxygen consumption during sepsis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Measurement of circulating 25-hydroxy vitamin D using three commercial enzyme linked immunosorbent assay kits with comparison to liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry method.

The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy and clinical implications of three commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits (Eagle Biosciences, Immundiagnostik, and MicroVue) with a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the measurement of serum 25(OH)D concentration. Methods. Blood samples were obtained from 225 healthy individuals who were recruited as subjects from Loughborough University, UK. Plasma samples were measured for 25(OH)D concentration by means of LC-MS/MS and ELISA kits from Eagle Biosciences, Immundiagnostik, and MicroVue. Results. The 25(OH)D concentration measured by the Eagle Biosciences, Immundiagnostik, and MicroVue ELISAs biased −50.9 ± 79.1 nmol/L, −14.2 ± 91.0 nmol/L, and −7.2 ± 18.9 nmol/L (bias ± SD) from the LC-MS/MS method, respectively. We found that 52% (Eagle Biosciences), 48% (Immundiagnostik), and 38% (MicroVue) of participants were misclassified, and the results showed the poor agreement (Kappa: −0.201~0.251) in classification of participants defined as vitamin D sufficiency and insufficiency between each method and LC-MS/MS. Conclusions. The present study demonstrated that there were negative biases and considerable misclassification of participants using the cut-off point (50 nmol/L) for vitamin D insufficiency and sufficiency using the Eagle Biosciences, Immundiagnostik, and MicroVue ELISAs compared with the LC-MS/MS assay

The effect of 14 weeks of vitamin D3 supplementation on antimicrobial peptides and proteins in athletes

Heavy training is associated with increased respiratory infection risk and antimicrobial proteins are important in defence against oral and respiratory tract infections. We examined the effect of 14 weeks of vitamin D3 supplementation (5000 IU/day) on the resting plasma cathelicidin concentration and the salivary secretion rates of secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA), cathelicidin, lactoferrin and lysozyme in athletes during a winter training period. Blood and saliva were obtained at the start of the study from 39 healthy men who were randomly allocated to vitamin D3 supplement or placebo. Blood samples were also collected at the end of the study; saliva samples were collected after 7 and 14 weeks. Plasma total 25(OH)D concentration increased by 130% in the vitamin D3 group and decreased by 43% in the placebo group (both P=0.001). The percentage change of plasma cathelicidin concentration in the vitamin D3 group was higher than in the placebo group (P=0.025). Only in the vitamin D3 group, the saliva SIgA and cathelicidin secretion rates increased over time (both P=0.03). A daily 5000 IU vitamin D3 supplement has a beneficial effect in up-regulating the expression of SIgA and cathelicidin in athletes during a winter training period which could improve resistance to respiratory infections