Paul M Collier

Stakeholder accountability: A field study of the implementation of a governance improvement plan

Purpose - This study aims to focus on the accountability of organizations to multiple stakeholders with differing interests and power, where there is an absence of accountability towards shareholders. Design/methodology/approach - Longitudinal field study via participant-observation. Findings - The study focuses on the relations between the subsidiary and the parent boards and how a governance improvement plan affected the internal dynamics of the organization and helped to clarify the demands of multiple stakeholders. A stakeholder-agency model is developed which emphasises the role of governance, the importance of structure and process, and the culture or ethos of boards in which multiple stakeholders may have compatible rather than competing interests. Originality/value - The paper focuses on the quasi-public sector and develops stakeholder-agency theory by identifying governance at the centre of differing relationships with stakeholders with unequal salience where there is both an economic concern with efficiency and a broader social concern.

Reflections on the use of case studies in the accounting, management and organizational disciplines

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain the background to the special issue and to provide an introduction to the articles on case studies included in the issue.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a review of developments in both the qualitative tradition and case studies in management research to provide a backdrop for the articles that are included in the issue. The articles discuss: the merits of unique cases and singular forms of evidence within a single case; the comparability of case studies with tools in other areas; and methods of theorising from case studies.Findings – The merits of case studies have often been understated. The articles in this issue highlight a broader variety of uses of case study research than is commonly recognized.Originality/value – This guest editorial introduces the papers in this issue, which may be read either as individual contributions that have merits per se, or as part of a collection that this introductory paper helps to knit together.

Valuing intellectual capacity in the police

Presents a case study of intellectual capital within the police service of the UK. Describes the acquisition and maintenance of intellectual capacity through five mechanisms and explores the ways in which the utilization of intellectual capacity is reported. Makes two contributions to the emerging debate on intellectual capital. First, differentiates intellectual capital as an investment in the stock of knowledge from intellectual capacity as the flow or utilization of that knowledge. Second, emphasizes the difference between the (instrumental) value of intellectual capital in pursuit of purposes and the (representational) value of intellectual capital as contained in published reports. Concludes that intellectual capacity is essential for the police to prevent and detect crime, and to maintain public order, road safety and the confidence of the public. Despite the limitations of traditional accounting measures, the paper argues that those who report performance should value intellectual capital rather than be concerned with reporting its value through financial or quantitative metrics.

Policing and the Intelligent Application of Knowledge

Effective knowledge management is as important to policing as to any other public (or private) sector organization in terms of improving performance. This article reviews the literature of knowledge management in policing, set in the context of the public criticism of intelligence systems in the aftermath of the Soham murders, but exemplified by the National Intelligence Model (NIM).

In Search of Purpose and Priorities: Police Performance Indicators in England and Wales

The notion of police performance needs to be unpacked into what is done; how it is done; and the results of what is done. But performance indicators are inextricably bound up with the objectives of policing. The change in these objectives and in police performance indicators that have taken place between their inception in 1992 and 2004 in England and Wales reflect political priorities but portray a continual shift in focus. Without a fuller public discussion about the objectives of policing, efforts to improve public satisfaction with policing are likely to fail. What is needed is a set of priorities that are consistent and embedded in a three-year policing plan that actually stays in place for three years.

Communicating knowledge about police performance

This paper describes the organizational processes of knowledge acquisition, sharing, retention and utilisation as it affected the internal and external communication of knowledge about performance in an English police force. The research was gathered in three workshops for internal personnel, external stakeholders and chief officers, using Journey Making, a computer-assisted method of developing shared understanding. The research concluded that there are multiple audiences for the communication of knowledge about police performance, impeded by the requirement to publish performance data. However, the intelligence-led policing model could lead to a more focused means of communication with various stakeholder groups. Although technology investment was a preferred means of communicating knowledge about performance, without addressing cultural barriers, an investment in technology may not yield the appropriate changes in behaviour. Consequently, technology needs to be integrated with working practices in order to reduce organizational reliance on informal methods of communication.

Making a journey in knowledge management strategy

This paper reports results from an ongoing project examining what managers think about knowledge management in the context of their organisation. This was done in a facilitated computer-assisted group workshop environment. Here we compare the outcomes of workshops held for two relatively large UK organisations, one public sector and the other private. Our conclusions are that there are relatively few differences between the perceptions of these two groups of managers, and that these differences stem more from the stage of the knowledge management life cycle that the two organisations have reached, rather than from the difference in context between public and private sector.

Police Performance Measurement and Human Rights

The management of police performance through cash-limited budgets, performance indicators and crime statistics is the result of a control systems paradigm. This article uses examples of police practice to raise the possibility that this performance culture may be in tension with human rights legislation. The article suggests a shift to a values-based learning paradigm and the need for greater balance between the rationality of a control paradigm and the subjectivity of values.

The effects of perceived business uncertainty, external consultants and risk management on organisational outcomes

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relations between perceived business uncertainty (PBU), use of external risk management (RM) consultants, formalisation of RM, magnitude of RM methods and perceived organisational outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on a questionnaire survey of members of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in the UK. Using AMOS 17.0, the paper tests the strength of the direct and indirect effects among the variables and explores the fit of the overall path model. Findings: The results indicate significant and positive associations exist between the extent of PBU and the level ofRMformalisation, as well as between the level ofRMformalisation and the magnitude of RMmethods adopted. The use of externalRMconsultants is also found to have a significant and positive impact on the magnitude of RM methods adopted. Finally, both the extent of RM formalisation and the magnitude of RM methods adopted are seen to be significantly associated with overall improvement in organisational outcomes. Research limitations/implications: The study uses perceptual measures of the level of business uncertainty, usage of RM and organisational outcomes. Further, the respondents are members of a management accounting professional body and the views of other managers, such as risk managers, who are also important to the governance process are not incorporated. Originality/value: This study provides empirical evidence on the impact ofRMdesign and usage on improvements in organisational outcomes. It contributes to the RM literature where empirical research is needed in order to be comparable with the traditional management control system literature.

Policing in South Africa

This article is a study of the introduction of local financial management (LFM) to South African policing. Four forms of institutional theory are used to interpret and understand this comparative study. The conclusion of this article is that the deliberate attempt to replicate the English experience in South Africa failed because of the different ideologies and value-laden beliefs that underlay the need for change and the different dynamics of power of the interest groups that were represented in the organizational structure. The taken-for-granted organizational processes that supported the implementation of LFM in English police forces impeded implementation in South Africa. A pluralistic model rather than a single institutional perspective is shown to be beneficial in understanding institutional impacts on organizations. In particular, different perspectives help in an understanding of how culturally derived norms of behaviour can be in tension with formal rules and how the formal structure must be adaptive to the environment and culture within which people cope with uncertainty by relying on established routines.