Suresh Cuganesan

Industry specific social and environmental reporting: The Australian Food and Beverage Industry

Abstract Regulators and other industry associations have recognised the importance of considering the industry setting when determining social and environmental (SE) policy and reporting requirements. However, social and environmental impacts vary greatly from industry to industry.

Intellectual capital-in-action and value creation: a case study of knowledge transformations in an innovation project

Purpose – This paper investigates the inter‐relationships between different components of intellectual capital (IC) and value creation.Design/methodology/approach – A single in‐depth case‐study of an innovation project within an Australian financial services firm (“TransactCo”) is conducted.Findings – The actual IC inter‐relationships and transformations that occurred were different to those originally envisaged by organisational participants, and reflected choices about IC deployment and transformation. Considering IC‐in‐action, inter‐relationships between different IC elements and value creation were found to be pluralistic and temporally contingent.Research limitations/implications – The limitations of the paper are as follows: the use of a single case study design limits its generalisability; the empirical analyses was conducted at a project‐level and may not be transferable to other levels of analyses; and a narrow conception of value was utilised, grounded in economic value and shareholder value ter...

An integrated framework for visualising intellectual capital

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to trace the techniques and consulting methods developed and deployed by an Australian project team during an investigation of a client organisations intellectual capital management, measurement and reporting (ICMMR) practices. The article aims to highlight the benefits of adopting an integrated approach to investigating intellectual capital (IC) and proposes the Intellectual Capital Value Creation (ICVC) framework as an analytical model for extending the breadth and depth of existing management consulting and research practices into ICMMR.Design/methodology/approach – The methods deployed by the project team during the consulting project included semi‐structured interviews and content analyses. Furthermore, the ICVC framework was developed and deployed as an analytical model to facilitate the investigation of the client organisations ICMMR practices.Findings – To the client organisation, the ICVC framework proved beneficial in that it enabled senior management t...

Reflecting on the production of intellectual capital visualisations

Purpose - The first aim of this paper is to present the methods developed by one of the co-authors to render visible the complexity of intellectual capital (IC). These were developed to make relationships between IC elements and value creation accessible to managers seeking to act on IC. The second aim of the paper is to explore the ability of visualisation techniques to inscribe the complexity of IC. This is pursued through a process of reflecting on the experiences of “being involved” in the production of IC visuals. Design/methodology/approach - The study details the methods utilised in a case study of a shared service centre of a financial services organisation and presents a reflective analysis using the Latourian notion of inscriptions. Findings - In conducting its reflective analysis, the paper traces the various translations undergone by the inscriptions of IC, with the end result of these movements being a visual meta-narrative connecting the various IC elements to one another as well as dimensions of IC value creation. Originality/value - The paper presents a novel examination of visualisations of IC as might be used within firms for the purposes of resource mobilisation and managerialist intervention.

Investigating the Management of Knowledge for Competitive Advantage: A Strategic Cost Management Perspective

The purpose of the paper is to develop and apply a framework that examines the effectiveness and efficiency of managing knowledge in organizations for competitive advantage. The paper reviews knowledge management and strategic cost management literatures to identify key elements that determine and facilitate the enhancement of competitive advantage. It then develops a cost-knowledge management (CKM) framework that integrates these elements and enables the analysis of how knowledge utilization in organizational activities can be made more effective and efficient. The CKM framework is applied to a sample of four Italian firms operating in the mechanical industry. Both the results of applying the CKM framework and the insights that are generated are discussed.

Reporting organisational performance in managing human resources: Intellectual capital or stakeholder perspectives?

Purpose – To examine how the performance of organisations in managing and utilising their human resources is disclosed through key performance indicator (KPI) reporting.Design/methodology/approach – Utilises intellectual capital (IC) and corporate social responsibility (CSR)/stakeholder perspectives in performing a content analysis of KPIs reported by Australian banks.Findings – Examining KPI reporting in relation to human resources across the sample of Australian banks indicates significant differences in the amount of KPIs reported and the focus of the KPIs reported, with the emphasis varying from disclosing the value derived from human capital to the value provided to employees and the broader society. Overall, the findings suggest the popularity of a stakeholder perspective in reporting on the management of human resources.Practical implications – Policy formulators and researchers need to investigate the benefits and cost of mandating or providing further guidance for extended performance reporting, ...

Enrolling discourse consumers to affect material intellectual capital practice

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical account of the discourse-practice nexus relating to an accounting for intellectual capital (IC) at an Australian public sector organisation (LandsNSW). Design/methodology/approach - The paper is a case study. Data collection techniques comprised semi-structured interviews, Findings - Although ambiguity in discourse may reduce its ability to prescribe particular practices, the paper argues that such qualities allow discourse producers greater flexibility in attempting to shape action. At LandsNSW, IC discourse was given shape by those mobilising it. Specifically, constructing IC as a potential solution to practical concerns made IC more attractive to discourse consumers. By interesting and enrolling users in this manner, IC discourse was taken up where it had previously been discarded. Research limitations/implications - External factors that comprised IC discourse outside the organisation have only been given limited attention. It is also acknowledged that discourse consumers extend beyond practice manager level to also include employees in lower level operational positions and that these have not been explored in this study. Purpose - The paper provides useful information on enrolling discourse consumers to affect material intellectual capital practice.

Examining CSR Disclosure Strategies within the Australian Food and Beverage Industry

Abstract This study examines intra-industry variation in CSR disclosure practice. Specifically, it investigates whether companies from industry sub-sectors with different CSR profiles have varying patterns of CSR disclosure. The industry analysed is the Australian food and beverage industry. The paper finds that companies from industry sub-sectors with higher CSR profiles engage in greater ‘symbolic’ disclosures. Further, the relationship between CSR profile and disclosure strategy was found to be influenced also by the centrality of the CSR issue under examination to the companys business. While the small sample size limits generalisability, these findings have implications for both CSR research and practice.

Disclosure Media for Social and Environmental Matters within the Australian Food and Beverage Industry

Abstract Historical studies that have examined the extent and quality of Corporate Social Disclosure (CSD) have limited their analysis to annual reports. However, there is growing evidence that companies use other media to communicate their corporate social and environmental performance (Frost et al., 2005; Unerman et al., 2007). This paper assesses the appropriateness of relying exclusively on analysis of CSD within annual reports in developing an understanding of CSD practices. This paper applies an industry‐specific CSD framework to the annual reports and websites of a sample of companies. The paper finds that the companies utilised corporate websites for their CSD. Annual reports and corporate websites were used for reporting different types of CSD information. This indicates the need for researchers to consider including multiple reporting media sources in their CSD analysis.

Making sense of intellectual capital complexity : measuring through narrative

Purpose – Drawing on the concept of intellectual capital (IC) as a complex web of intangible resources, this paper seeks to outline a method for making sense of IC utilising narratives, numbers and visualisations.Design/methodology/approach – The paper details the use of organisational narratives to make sense of the complexity of IC and how it works within a firm. It then demonstrates how organisational interventions into IC might be prioritised and developed.Findings – The method is presented in the context within which it was developed, being a research project into how IC works within a division of a financial services company. In the project, divisional management was dissatisfied with its current financial and non‐financial performance measures. As a result, it engaged with the researchers to identify how to make sense of IC, how IC created value and how this could be used to inform management interventions.Originality/value – The paper contributes to the literature on management accounting and IC b...