Peter Cleary

Creating intellectual capital: a Habermasian community of practice (CoP) introduction

John Seely Brown notes that context must be added to data and information to produce meaning. To move forward, Brown suggests, we must not merely look ahead but we must also learn to “look around” because learning occurs when members of a community of practice (CoP) socially construct and share their understanding of some text, issue or event. We draw explicitly here on the structural components of a Habermasian lifeworld in order to identify some dynamic processes through which a specific intellectual capital creating context, CoP, may be theoretically positioned. Rejecting the individualistic “Cogito, ergo sum” of the Cartesians, we move in line with Brown’s “we participate, therefore we are” to arrive within a Habermasian community of practice: we communicate, ergo, we create.

Board composition, non‐executive directors and governance cultures in Irish ICT firms: a CFO perspective

The emergence of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector in Ireland over the course of the past decade has paralleled a period of exceptional national economic growth. This has raised questions regarding wealth distribution, power and governance. Based on feedback from Chief Financial Officers, and focused specifically on the board of directors of indigenous private firms, this paper seeks to identify some of the characteristics of the governance culture in this sector in Ireland. It deals specifically with issues such as board composition, non-executive directors and the perceived role and usefulness of accounting information in the decision making process.

Intellectual capital and business performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper, building on previous studies of intellectual capital (IC) and business performance, is an exploratory study of how the use of cloud-based accounting/finance infrastructure affects the business performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A survey method is used to capture perceptions of how cloud-based accounting/finance infrastructure affects business performance in SMEs. The study assumes that although accounting/finance systems are generally regarded as one element of a firm’s structural capital; the introduction of a cloud-based infrastructure in the accounting/finance area has the potential to positively impact on all three elements of a firm’s IC. Based on the survey data collected, a conceptual model was formulated to test the relationship between cloud-based accounting/finance infrastructure and business performance through the prism of firms’ IC. Findings – The results indicate ...

Positioning management accounting on the intellectual capital agenda

This paper presents a conceptual framework that situates, integrates and tests, using a structural equation model, the possible contribution of management accounting systems to the management of intellectual capital (IC). Drawing on perceptual data from Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in an ICT sector the findings are mixed. They show positive path coefficients between management accounting systems, structural capital and business performance, as proposed by the model – but none are statistically significant. Other relationships found, however, strongly support earlier work in the field of intellectual capital.

Innovativeness and accounting practices: an empirical investigation

Purpose Innovation, the outcome of innovativeness, is a collaborative activity, requiring an integrated approach to the development and management of organisational capabilities (Tushman and Nadler, 1986), and therefore inextricably implicated in the accounting practices of organisations. Extant research however is not conclusive as to the influence of accounting practices on organisational innovativeness with some considering them enabling while others view them as restricting. This study aims to investigate the process of innovation as suggestive of a greater understanding of innovativeness as a dynamic organisational capability and therefore requiring greater consideration of the enabling conditions underpinning this. Design/methodology/approach Using a case study approach, and from the perspectives of three separate functionally specific organisational actors, this paper investigates the role of accounting practices in managing innovativeness within one high-technology organisation. Structuration theory is used as a lens through which the data collected are analysed. Findings Creative tensions (Simons, 2000) at the operational level between innovativeness and performance measurement are managed through the development of creative boundaries (“guide rails”), within which innovative solutions must be developed. Practical implications The findings support the assertion that the use of performance metrics (i.e. accounting practices) can support organisational innovativeness thereby potentially contributing to enhanced organisational performance. Originality/value Accounting metrics are simultaneously enabling and constraining, whereby the tension created from this dual functionality generates ways of empowering organisational capabilities for innovativeness throughout the organisation.