Accountability for sustainability : An institutional entrepreneur as the representative of future stakeholders

Stakeholder views have often been presented as the source of sustainability while a lack of sustainability has been presented as a self-centered focus on the organization itself. The present paper reports a case in which a case organization, not present stakeholders, brings up sustain-ability and a concern for future stakeholders. We rely on interviews and archival data gathered in a case organization in the construction industry, and interview data from stakeholders. The study shows how the representatives of the case organization feel accountable to future (not present) stakeholders’ needs, as present stakeholders are considered to be short-term oriented. As it is organizational representatives, not stakeholders, who predominantly envision the future, the source of accountability for sustainability appears, surprisingly, to originate from the organiza-tion itself. The organization thus becomes an institutional entrepreneur in altering accountabil-ities in the industry. This is shown here particularly in the organization’s “war against the gray economy”. It is suggested that the needs of certain stakeholders whose views cannot easily be expressed in existing accountability systems, such as future stakeholders, flora and fauna, can sometimes be legitimately represented by unexpected entities. The study also sheds light on an important paradox in sustainability: it requires dialogue with stakeholders while future stake-holders, considered important, cannot directly participate in a dialogue and it is uncertain who can speak for such stakeholders. In this study, the organizational representatives represent the future stakeholders, making true dialogue with outsiders demanding. Concerns for dialogue and the future can sometimes contradict each other.Peer reviewe

Introducing the sustainability framework of ‘external control’ in interfirm control

This study addresses the phenomenon of interfirm control in the context of sustainability. The research question is: How is it possible to develop interfirm control in the field of sustainability and with the associated stakeholder focus needed, so that stakeholder views are taken as explicit goals? The study is connected to theories on interfirm control, control package, and sustainability. The research uses an intensive case methodology and semi-structured interviews focusing on a case company in the building industry and its stakeholders. The major theme of control in the company studied is sustainability. The paper reveals attempts by the company to establish interfirm control, and even to control customers, as has been rarer. However, it is shown that the control approach to sustainability can result in the theme being defined on the basis of the perspective of the industry, the company, and control itself, not on the basis of stakeholder needs. Alternative ideas, such as wider societal and planet-related needs, contradictions within sustainability, and the risk of simplification to economic concerns, are considered less. The study then presents a novel framework, ‘external control’, that considers stakeholder expectations as explicit goals. This framework of external control contributes to the interfirm control literature and ties missing perspectives to controls, thereby also contributing to the sustainability and control package literatures.Peer reviewe

Development and Application of Assessment Standards to Advanced Written Assignments

This study describes the results of a project that focused on developing an assessment rubric to be used as the assessment criteria for the written thesis of accounting majors and the quality of the coursework during the seminar. We used descriptive analysis and the survey method to collect information for the development work and to examine the effect of the rubric on learning. We find that the rubric has a positive effect on students' understanding, self-assessment, confidence, and integration. We contribute to the extant literature by adding to prior work that has examined factors that can improve students' learning outcomes. By synthesizing theories on approaches to learning and self-regulation, and combining them with literature on self-efficacy and social/academic integration, we bring conceptual clarity to the elements of learning in a course, which consist of written assignments and the accompanying group work. The paper demonstrates a way to help university students to learn via explicit assessment rubrics, and thus offers novel ideas for accounting educators.Peer reviewe

Discourse-level structuring of information in narrative:Signalling structural, interactional and cognitive shifts

Discourse-level structuring of information is explored in narrative in the light of three parameters subsumed under this umbrella notion: (i) the structural concepts of “theme-rheme”, connected to “position”; (ii) the interaction-oriented pair of concepts “topic-comment”, grounded in the notion of “aboutness”; and (iii) the cognitively motivated gradient from “given” to “new” information, related to interlocutors’ assumptions of their memory constraints as well as those of others. In each pair/gradient of concepts one member/pole – “theme”, “comment”, and “new” – is argued to constitute the Figure, against the (necessary) Ground of the other. The linguistic signalling of the structural, interactional and cognitive shifts in information structuring is examined in two different kinds of narratives in written French. The analysis of a short legend, in its entirety, and a narrative paragraph from a news story both point to high context-sensitivity in the signalling of the three parameters of discourse-level structuring of information, with that of the discourse level “newness” differing most markedly from the others.Cet article étudie la structure informationnelle dans des textes narratifs en observant trois distinctions linguistiques que recouvre cette structure : (i) au niveau textuel, le couple « thème-rhème » défini par une distinction positionnelle ; (ii) au niveau interactionnel, l’opposition « topique-commentaire » reposant sur la notion d’« à propos » ; et (iii) la distinction cognitive entre information donnée et information nouvelle, mettant en jeu les présomptions des interlocuteurs sur les contraintes mémorielles de l’autre. Dans chacune de ces oppositions binaires ou graduelles, l’un des concepts joue le rôle de Figure (le « thème », le « commentaire » et l’information nouvelle) par rapport à un Fond, joué par l’autre concept (le « rhème », le « topique » et l’information donnée). Cette étude propose d’examiner la signalisation du passage entre Figure/Fond au niveau structurel, interactionnel et cognitif à travers l’étude de deux types de textes narratifs : un conte dans son entier et un paragraphe extrait d’un article de presse. Cette analyse met en évidence une signalisation hypersensible au contexte ainsi qu’une grande différence entre le niveau cognitif (donné / nouveau) et les autres niveaux

Integrative Science for Integrative Management

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Design principles for Standard Business Reporting (SBR) taxonomy development : Evidence from Finland

Peer reviewe

Determination of the Michaelis-Menten kinetic parameters with single concentration assays

Bakteeriplanktonin glukoosinottoa kuvaavien kineettisten parametrien määritys yhden substraattipitoisuuden menetelmäll

Tutkimuksia salaatin, tomaatin ja porkkanan sisäisestä laadusta markkinoinnin aikana

Kasviksien sisäiseen laatuun kuuluvat aistinvaraisesti todettavat ominaisuudet ja ravintoarvo sekä turvallisuustekijät. Tässä tutkimuksessa on tutkittu eräiden sisäistä laatua mittaavien menetelmien käyttökelpoisuutta. Näitä menetelmiä on käytetty sitten markkinoilla olevien kasviksien laadun arvioimiseen. Tutkimuskohteena oli kolme kasvista: salaatti, tomaatti ja porkkana. Kasvikset saatiin tukkuliikkeiltä; joitakin näytteitä hankittiin vähittäiskaupasta tai torilta. Aineisto oli pääasiallisesti kotimaista, vain pieni osa ulkomaista alkuperää. Pääsarjaan kuului tukkukaupan näytteitä kaikista kolmesta kasviksesta 6 kertaa vuoden aikana. Tomaatin laatua tutkittiin lisäksi torilta hankitulla eri hintaisella tavaralla. Varastointikokeita suoritettiin salaatilla ja tomaatilla. Laadun arvioinnissa käytettiin aistinvaraista arvostelua (pistearvostelumenetelmä); tutkitut laatuominaisuudet olivat maku, haju, rakenne ja ulkonäkö. Lisäksi arvioitiin laatuluokka. Analyyttisinä kriteereinä olivat liukoinen kuiva-aine, happopitoisuus, askorbiinihappo sekä nitraattipitoisuus, toisinaan myös painohäviö ja kauppakunnostustappio. Aistinvarainen arvostelu soveltui parhaiten sisäisen laadun arvioimiseen. Enimmäkseen laatuluokan kaupallinen arviointi sopi yhteen aistinvaraisesti todettavien ominaisuuksien kanssa, mutta toisinaan todettiin kitkerää makua tai muuta virhemakua. Nitraattipitoisuudessa todettiin suuria vaihteluita, jotka olivat laatuluokituksesta riippumattomia. Muut kokeillut menetelmät soveltuvat huonommin sisäisen laadun mittaamiseen; niihin voivat vaikuttaa monet eri tekijät. Nyt kokeillut menetelmät voivat olla hyödyksi markkinoitavien kasviksien laatua parannettaessa

DigiBuzz-VTT – Towards digital twin’s concrete commercial exploitation

The DigiBuzz-VTT project, a part of the DigiBuzz common effort, focused on the applications of digital twins in manufacturing industry ecosystems. The DigiBuzz-VTT project had two main focuses, 1) functional digital twins, or simulation-based digital twins, of machines and machine systems and their applications, and 2) the life cycle management of digital twins (the digital part of the twin), emphasising data modelling and data management. These themes were studied from the technical and from the business point of views. The detailed research topics were:• Business opportunities and added value of digital twins for manufacturing industry• Data-based digital twins, use of machine learning for feature recognition• The status of standardisation for the lifecycle data management of digital twins, means for preserving model data• Hybrid modelling with digital twins, combination of experimental and simulation data• The optimisation of the measurement points location, method development• The use of Kalman filters in estimating simulation data correlation with measured data• The status of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for digital twinsThis report summarises the implementation of the DigiBuzz-VTT project and lists the main deliverables of the project. The project produced several scientific articles and research reports, which report the research results in detail

A practical approach to the measurement of microbial heterotrophic activity by the single concentration method

Vesistöjen bakteeriplanktonin aktiivisuuden määritys yhden substraattipitoisuuden menetelmällä: käytännön suoritu