The importance of operational reasons to budget for two budget forms, and their relationship to organisational characteristics

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Business.This thesis investigates a range of operational reasons to budget, their relation to the fixed budget and rolling forecast forms, and their relationships with selected organisational characteristics. Notwithstanding repeated practitioner and academic criticisms of budgeting, budgets appear to be used by most organisations. Why do organisations continue to budget, if budgets are repeatedly criticised? Prior research has suggested that most budget research, and budget criticisms relate to a budget’s use for performance evaluation. Following Hansen and Van der Stede (2004), this thesis argues that the disconnect between the high use, and low perceived usefulness of budgeting in practice may be explained by considering the impact of other nonevaluation operational reasons to budget used in practice. This rationale is investigated through three inter-related studies, using a combination of quantitative cross-sectional survey and qualitative case data. The first study investigates the importance of ten operational reasons to budget, for the fixed budget and rolling forecast forms. Findings show that organisations conduct budgeting for a range of reasons, and that non-evaluation operational reasons to budget such as “control costs”, “coordinate resources” and “board of director monitoring” are more important than the “staff evaluation” reason to budget most often studied in existing research. The first study also found that this range of operational reasons to budget were important for both fixed budgets and rolling forecasts. The second study investigates relationships between the importance of four of the ten operational reasons to budget (coordinate resources, formulate action plans, staff evaluation and business unit evaluation), and three major organisational characteristics (strategy, autonomy and uncertainty) for both budget forms. The four operational reasons to budget were an elaboration of the two broader operational reasons to budget (operational planning and performance evaluation) proposed by Hansen and Van der Stede (2004). Findings show that contingency relationships between the four operational reasons to budget and organisational characteristics are often different to that found in or implied by prior research. Also, in many instances, relationships for the two detailed reasons to budget within each of Hansen and Van der Stede’s (2004) broader reasons and organisational characteristics were different. This supports the need to consider more detailed operational reasons to budget in future budget research. The final study investigates an organisational setting where a dominant nonevaluation reason to budget had a different contingency relationship to that found in existing budget research. Existing research has argued that in low uncertainty conditions, organisations with a high level of budget emphasis require high budget participation (Lau, et al. 1995). The case organisation operates in low uncertainty conditions, and has high budget emphasis. However, it attained significantly increased budget benefits when it changed from high to low levels of budget participation. The main reason for this difference is that prior research has conceptualised and measured budget emphasis predominantly from the perspective of a budget’s use for staff evaluation. However, the case organisation primarily uses budgets for resource coordination. Its pattern of budget emphasis is more complex, being low for staff evaluation but high for resource coordination. The case emphasises the need for budget research to consider a range of operational reasons to budget other than staff evaluation, in order to understand the nature of the contingency relationships between organisational characteristics and established budgetary variables such as budget emphasis and participation. Different operational reasons to budget appear to impact the nature of these contingency relationships, and therefore, should be acknowledged in budget research. Overall, this thesis confirms that a range of operational reasons to budget are regarded as important by organisations, and that reasons such as “coordinating resources” and “formulating action plans” are often more important than staff evaluation, the dominant reason considered in extant budgeting studies. This may impact the nature of contingent relationships found in existing research

Budget participation and budget emphasis in low uncertainty conditions - Considering alternative reasons to budget

This case study investigates how lower budget participation may be better suited to firms with a high budget emphasis, in lower uncertainty conditions. The organisation studied generates greater benefits when budget participation is low, though it has a high budget emphasis. This result is opposite to that found in Lau, et.al. (1995). The reason for this difference is shown to arise because budget emphasis in the case firm is not primarily related to performance evaluation as defined in prior budget research (Hopwood, 1972). Instead, the main reason for budgeting is operational planning (Hansen and Van der Stede, 2003), and this difference is shown to lead to the opposing findings. When budgets are used primarily for operational planning, their relationships to organisational antecedents appear to be different than when used for performance evaluation

Emphasis on accounting controls: asset specificity and the use of accounting and non-accounting information within IT outsourcing engagements

This study observes the nature of asset specificity in different Information Technology (IT) outsourcing typologies, and investigates the relevance of accounting and non-accounting numbers in relation to these outsourcing typologies, with consideration to the findings of literatures concerning Transaction Cost Economics Theory and Social Capital Theory. It represents a response to the lack of research on relationships of IT outsourcing engagements. A case study research method is used to analyse the effect of asset specificity on the nature of relationship, and the use of accounting and non-accounting information in supporting the decision making processes of the Outsourcing Service Provider. Contrary to the findings of many researchers, the outsourcing-service provider adopted an integrative approach to its relationships as opposed to a distributive approach even in engagements that were highly asset specific, and short-term in duration. Additionally, the nature of asset specificity for IT outsourcing engagements is not static, but dynamic and in continual flux. Overall, this study suggests that large IT outsourcing-service providers value non-accounting factors in decision-making processes, in addition to accounting information, thus reflecting the Integrative Outsourcing Typology. This further validated the fact that factors advocated by Social Capital Theory such as corporate reputation, trust and collaborative interactions are crucial in IT outsourcing relationships

Managing systemic uncertainty: The role of industry-level management controls and hybrids

© 2019 We study how multiple firms voluntarily design inter-firm mechanisms to manage industry-level systemic uncertainty. Facing a threat of systemic uncertainty that cannot be addressed by any one firm, we explain how the Australian cotton industry mobilised hybrids and boundary spanners to develop an industry-level solution at the inter-firm level. We apply resource dependence theory to extend Miller, Kurunmäki and O'Leary (2008), and identify a broader range of hybrid characteristics (novel, inter-firm, public/private and open source) than currently acknowledged in accounting studies. We use these characteristics to explain how hybrid organisational forms and hybrid control processes operate at the inter-firm level to develop and share a solution to systemic uncertainty, which are subsequently applied at the firm-level. Our findings also show how boundary spanners can operate with less tension in larger industry-level collaborations, explained using our resource dependence conceptualisation. This responds to Dekker's (2016) calls for more inter-firm research clarifying how controls operate beyond the firm

Fat feeding potentiates the diabetogenic effect of dexamethasone in Wistar rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The role of cortisol and its increased action/availability is implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome but the mechanism of increased action/availability is not known. Availability of several other lipophilic hormones, drugs and pollutants are also reported to be increased in obesity. Increased lipids in the circulation are reported to alter the fluidity and permeability of membranes. Hyperlipidemia is also reported to alter the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of lipophilic molecules and also membrane fluidity and permeability. In this context we assumed that the hyperlipidemia associated with human obesity might play a role in the altered action/availability of cortisol and this in turn might have initiated the metabolic complications. To evaluate our assumption we have administered dexamethasone [low [50 μg/kg/day] or high [250 μg/kg/day] dose] to high-fat [coconut oil & vanaspati] fed rats and the results were compared with rats administered with either dexamethasone or high-fat.</p> <p>Results and Discussion</p> <p>Within two weeks, the rats co-administered with high-fat and dexamethasone developed severe hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and insulin resistance compared to rats treated either of them alone. High-fat fed rats treated with higher dose of dexamethasone were presented with severe hyperglycemia, insulin resistance and also severe glycosuria. The hyperlipidemia caused by high-fat feeding might have altered the transport and distribution of dexamethasone, probably by altering the physical state of membranes and transport proteins.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>From the results obtained, it can be speculated that the altered lipid and cortisol metabolism could affect one another, forming a vicious cycle.</p

Organisational characteristics, alternative reasons to budget and two budget forms

This study examines contingency relationships between organisational characteristics and four alternative operational reasons to budget, across two budget forms (fixed budget and rolling forecasts). Furthering the work of Hansen and Van der Stede (2004), results show that contingency relationships between organisational characteristics and the importance of operational reasons to budget were different for performance evaluation reasons, in comparison to operational planning reasons

Balanced scorecard design and performance impacts: some Australian evidence

consideration to the use of performance measurement systems, notably the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). However, there has been limited empirical investigation into the particular benefits that result from the use of the BSC (Ittner and Larcker, 1998). This study empirically examines how the BSC has been applied in practice and whether different BSC designs result in varying performance outcomes. Data is from a cross sectional survey, which provided a sample of 92 Australian firms using BSC. It is hypothesised that the BSC provides greater benefits when 1) cause and effect logic is used between measures 2) nonfinancial measures are tied to compensation and 3) implemented at multiple levels within the organisation. Results support the first proposition, although cause and effect logic appears to be more important if the BSC is tied to compensation. These results are discussed, and implications for practice and future research are presented

Socio-hydrologic drivers of the pendulum swing between agricultural development and environmental health: A case study from Murrumbidgee River basin, Australia

This paper presents a case study centred on the Murrumbidgee River basin in eastern Australia. It illustrates the dynamics of the balance between water extraction and use for food production, and efforts to mitigate and reverse consequent degradation of the riparian environment. In particular, the paper traces the history of a pendulum swing between an exclusive focus on agricultural development and food production in the initial stages and its attendant socio-economic benefits, followed by the gradual realization of the adverse environmental impacts, subsequent efforts to mitigate these with the use of remedial measures, and ultimately concerted efforts and externally imposed solutions to restore environmental health and ecosystem services. The 100-year history of development within the Murrumbidgee is divided into four eras, each underpinned by the dominance of different values and norms and turning points characterized by their changes. The various stages of development can be characterized by the dominance, in turn, of infrastructure systems, policy frameworks, economic instruments, and technological solutions. The paper argues that, to avoid these costly pendulum swings, management needs to be underpinned by long-term coupled socio-hydrologic system models that explicitly include the two-way coupling between human and hydrological systems, including the slow evolution of human values and norms relating to water and the environment. Such coupled human-water system models can provide insights into dominant controls of the trajectory of their co-evolution in a given system, and can also be used to interpret patterns of co-evolution of such coupled systems in different places across gradients of climatic, socio-economic and socio-cultural conditions, and in this way to help develop generalizable understanding. © 2014 Author(s)

Analisis Trend Bagi Pesalah Muda Yang Telah Menjalani Hukuman Perintah Khidmat Masyarakat Di Malaysia (A Trend Analysis Among Young Offenders Undergone Community Service Order In Malaysia)

This article attempts to present the trend among young offenders undergone Community Service Order (CSO) in Malaysia. An archival time series analysis approach was applied to identify the ethnicity, gender, type of crime and the total number of young offenders undergone CSO across Malaysia from 2009 until 2015. Relevant information was gathered after obtaining official statistic from the Department of Social Welfare Malaysia. In sum, a total number of 13,896 cases were reported in sixyear duration throughout Malaysia. The highest number of cases were recorded in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (545 cases). Moreover, an overall number of 2,989 young offenders have successfully undergone CSO from 2009 until 2015. The resultant data also indicated that majority of male young offenders undergone CSO are Malays in ethnicity (67.79%) and most of them have involved in property-related crime (47%). As an overall impact, the study provided implications to the concerned parties and key personnel such as welfare officers, criminal justice authorities and policies makers to reinforce the implementation of a community-based approach to recuperate young offenders who have involved in criminal activities