Keith Dixon

Experiences of an accounting educator in Kiribati

Discussed and reflected upon are experiences of participant-observation in accounting education in Kiribati intended to inform situations accounting educators face elsewhere. This is set in the context of the third world, the roles of accounting there and particular macro developments in Kiribati. Included are descriptions and explanations of the participant–observers activities from 1997 to 1999 in this remote country of atolls scattered around the Pacific Ocean, followed by an elaboration of illuminating episodes that occurred while courses were staged for accounting specialists and accounting users. Main outcomes comprise reflections on the interrelated issues of how accounting and accountants are seen in Kiribati, the contrasting merits and demerits of domesticated and imported courses, and the transitory nature of programmes.Discussed and reflected upon are experiences of participant-observation in accounting education in Kiribati intended to inform situations accounting educators face elsewhere. This is set in the context of the third world, the roles of accounting there and particular macro developments in Kiribati. Included are descriptions and explanations of the participant-observers activities from 1997 to 1999 in this remote country of atolls scattered around the Pacific Ocean, followed by an elaboration of illuminating episodes that occurred while courses were staged for accounting specialists and accounting users. Main outcomes comprise reflections on the interrelated issues of how accounting and accountants are seen in Kiribati, the contrasting merits and demerits of domesticated and imported courses, and the transitory nature of programmes.

Tertiary Education in New Zealand: Radical changes to Funding and Accountability

This paper summarises the main provisions of new requirements for financial reporting by tertiary institutions and a new EFTS based funding system. The new arrangements were published in January 1991 by the Ministry of Education. The paper indicates that financial reporting by the NZ universities, with one or two exceptions, has been poor and that the new requirements will improve accountability to stakeholders. Some weaknesses are identified in the area of timeliness, accessibility, asset valuations and the allocation of indirect costs.

Perceptions and experiences of annual report preparers

Between 1986 and 1993, tertiary education institutions, [TEIs] in New Zealand have transformed their annual reports from being uninformative, untimely and unobtainable documents, to ones that are well-presented, comprehensive and readily available in a timely fashion (Coy, Tower & Dixon, 1994). This paper reports a study of the events and experiences according to report preparers in bringing about this change, including the incentives and difficulties that they have been facing.The study uses data collected from 48 staff involved in report preparation at 15 of the 37 TEIs that are in New Zealand. These data are qualitative, and are analysed from a realist perspective mixing causal analysis and interpretive understanding (Silverman 1985).The study suggests that the mandated changes to reporting are seen as one facet of several recent public sector reforms in New Zealand. Interviewees felt that the changes to reporting were driven externally by legislation, and internally by the stances taken by some chief executive officers and by the professional ardour of some accountants. Moreover, the Audit Office was seen as a prominent agent of change.The general reactions of preparers of reports to the reforms range from strong support to resentment and scepticism. A major concern voiced was the potential for data reported by TEIs to be used for political purposes. On the other hand, improved staff motivation was noted in many institutions as well as greater cost consciousness and awareness of student, needs. However, these positive attributes were probably derived from the reforms in general, and not just from the changes to reporting.

Sustainability reporting: Insights from the websites of five plants operated by Newmont Mining Corporation

Purpose - Sustainability reporting serves as a means of communication between corporations and their stakeholders on sustainability issues. This study aims to identify and account for the contents of sustainability reporting communicated through the websites of the plants in five continents of the same multinational mining corporation. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses data published by Newmont Mining Corporation. The corporation has regional headquarters in five continents: Africa, Asia, Australia and North America and South America. The data were drawn from the websites of the five plants adjacent to those regional headquarters. Economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability as reported by each plant were identified; to do so, a disclosure analysis based on the elements of the Global Reporting Initiative and the United Nations Division for Sustainability Development was used. These aspects were then compared and contrasted to highlight if, and to what extent, institutional isomorphism influences variations in sustainability disclosures among plants compared with the parent company. Findings - It was found that most of the reporting about sustainability matters comprises narratives; there were also a few physical measures but very little financial information. Notwithstanding that the websites of all five plants used similar headings, the contents of reports differed. The reports from the plants in Australia, South America and Africa were more comprehensive than those from the plants in Asia and North America. The authors attribute these differences to institutionalisation of location-specific characteristics, including management discretion, legislation and societal pressures influencing sustainability reporting. The authors argue that managers responsible for preparing sustainability reports and who work essentially as sustainability accountants should develop templates and measures to raise the standard and comprehensiveness of reports for improved communication, information and behaviour. Originality/value - Extant studies on sustainability reporting have focused mainly on comparisons between sustainability reports published by different corporations or sustainability reports published in different years by the same corporation. The authors believe that this is one of the first studies to have examined differences in sustainability information published by different subsidiaries within the same large corporation and the first to show how concurrent disclosures can differ.

One Down, Nine to Go: A View from the Podium at a University Engaging in Disaster Recovery

The units of measurement in the title are years. Our disaster started in September 2010. It is dawning on us, as events unfold and we find out about others’ experiences, that recovery activities will be distinguishable until 2020. Sometimes, it is hard to believe it is only a year since we saw ourselves on BBC World, CNN, etc. as being the unfortunate victims of the first Christchurch earthquake. At other times, it is hard to believe that a whole year has passed since then. Most times, however, one is focused on the here and now, with a sense of foreboding about the next aftershock. I had that earlier this afternoon, walking past a high-rise concrete edifice labelled the (Ernest) Rutherford Building: Physics. Only just now my editing of this Postcard was interrupted momentarily by the first aftershock I had felt for nearly a week—the house where I spend far more time working these days rattled. As we all here know now, the reality of this and other earthquakes around the planet is a prolonged period of seismic activity. That is quite a contrast to how the world and even most of the rest of New Zealand has viewed our plight; that is, as two earthquakes, on 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011. The Christchurch ’Quake Map (http://www. christchurchquakemap.co.nz/) shows this quite well, there having been over 8500 ‘aftershocks’ since it started. It also shows us still experiencing them at the rate of about three per day, although smaller ones are imperceptible. Looking back over the year, so much has happened. The September 2010 ’quake occurred in the early hours of a Saturday morning. It woke us up and was shocking. Although the damage and uncertainty it caused disrupted the university as elsewhere, we soon re-occupied most campus buildings and had resumed the podium within three weeks. Teaching, learning and assessment were modified to take account of the trying Accounting Education: an international journal Vol. 20, No. 6, 585–588, December 2011