“Publish or perish” – the researchers dilemma
Part of my job as a lecturer is to do research on management accounting and related areas. It can be a really interesting part of the job and, yes I know this is sad, but I get a great kick of it. Research in management accounting means getting out to (or surveying) businesses to understand for example, what management accountants do in practice. The outputs of research can be twofold, namely 1) integration into teaching, and 2) publication in an professional or academic journal. The latter is probably the main goal of most academics, but in some countries, more pressure is exerted to publish a certain number of research pieces in a given time period.
I read this article (Times Higher Education – ‘Publish or perish’ culture distorting research results) recently, which mentioned some work by Daniele Fanelli from the University of Edinburgh. (The original journal articles is freely available here) Fanelli points out that research is often better accepted if outcomes are positive. He is not (I think) saying that this is bad, but simply questioning if the way academic output is measured effects the way academics behave. To relate this is management accounting, it is the basic problem of placing too much emphasis of a single or small number of performance measures. For example, profit is the most commonly known performance measure used by accountants and managers. In addition business also assess performance based on other measures such as health & safety, customer satisfaction and how “green” they are. Now, getting back to research, let’s assume the only thing academics are measured on is published papers, the big question is “is this one single output measure adequate to give “true” picture. Well, to be honest as I’m a more a “newbie” to research (having only just got my PhD this month) I don’t know the answer. But, given my experience as a management accountant, I would be a little concerned that any one single performance measurement does not give the the true picture. So, if an academic has to “publish or perish”, will there be manipulation of the “budget” or “budgetary slack” to borrow some management accounting terms. In other words, can targets – e.g. x papers in n years- be achieved to the detriment of other noble objectives like teaching quality or student engagement? I don’t know, but it’s worth asking the question. Is their a thesis there?
Emerging markets – are they still emerging?
I don’t normally delve too much into the world of economics and marketing, but this piece from The Economist (April 15th, 2010) caught my eye.
Antoine van Agtmael, a Dutch investment banker, actually coined the phrase “emerging markets” almost 30 years ago. In this time some of what were emerging markets are now the largest markets in the world – China and India for example. Market knowledge is a must for any business, even small ones, but when a business gets to the global level a detailed knowledge of (and arguably a presence in) all global markets is a must – emerging markets included. Van Agtmael cautions though on the use of the term “emerging markets”. Some markets, for example China, Brazil, South Korea and Mexico, have not only emerged, but upstaged developed economies. For example, the SamSung brand from South Korea is one of the worlds best known electronics brands. Perhaps a mindset change is needed to appreciate the business challenges of some economies which have now well and truly emerged.
Here’s a link to the full article: Schumpeter: An emerging challenge | The Economist.
Small business cash flow – a week from a business owners’ diary
One of the most common issues in small business today is cash flow. As sales decrease and consumers have less cash, smaller businesses are finding it difficult to get paid in some cases. I have spoken to 3 or 4 small business owners here (in Ireland) in the past week or so and while they are all “ticking over”, they all recounted difficulties in getting paid – none are cash only businesses. Some are sailing quite close to the wind with their bank overdrafts. Trying to live within the overdraft limit can become a daily task. And of course, it’s a viscous circle and both suppliers and customers are often experiencing similar cash flow issues.
To relate the kind of problems businesses are facing, and maybe you’ll get some help here, read the 5 blog posts by Paul Downs in the NYTimes. He has a small cabinet making business in Pennsylvania. Yes, ok it’s a US example, but the problems are the same as those in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe at the moment. Here’s a link to the first post from a week in Paul’s business.
My Week in Cash Flow: Monday – You’re the Boss Blog – NYTimes.com.
Links to the other four posts follow on from the above link.
The profit volume relationship – an important lesson for any business
Tracey Taylor writes in the NY Times (Apr 7, 2010) about a US design and build company, mkdesigns. The company designs and builds prefabricated, environmentally friendly homes. The founder, Michelle Kaufmann, decided in 2006 to buy or build a factory as she could not find producers willing to form a strong business alliance to deliver quality product on time. The reason for this? Simply, it was 2006 – the top of the construction boom in the US (and Europe). Kaufmann acquired one factory, then another, which increased the businesses cost base. Higher sales volumes were needed to cover the increased costs and maintain profits. Then, the bust came in 2008, sales volume declined and the business had to close its two factories. The basic lesson here is that a certain level of sales are needed to cover costs; increase costs without a corresponding increase in sales an your business is in trouble . Read the full article here –My Green Prefab Business, and How It Once Grew – NYTimes.com.
Some good YouTube videos on basic accounting
If you struggling with basic accounting concepts, here’s a great collection of videos from Susan Crossan which cover the basic accounting topics. The audio quality if not great on some (and some of the terms are more US than Europe) but she gets the topics across well. This link ( FA YouTube Videos ) will bring you to a summary page, where you can then click on the topic of interest to you.
Tacit knowledge in management accounting
Burns, J. & Scapens, R. 2000, “Conceptualising management accounting change: an institutional framework”, Management Accounting Research, vol. 11, pp. 3-25.
Verbs used on exam papers, what do they mean?
It’s exam time for many accounting students, be it college or professional exams. People often ask me for exam tips, and I usually focus on what not to do. There’s no point in mentioning things like the need to read and revise – if you haven’t figured that out, you’re in a lot of bother.
So what should you not do.Probably the worst thing you can do in any exam is to answer something other than what the examiner has in mind. While numerate questions may be relatively easy to understand, narrative questions can be much more troublesome.
Of course, the best advice is always to read questions in full before attempting any answer. It’s also quite useful if you understand the language used by the examiner. Many examiners reports frequently cite things like “the question was not answered”, or “the question was misinterpreted”. To avoid misinterpretation, the Chartered Institute of Management Accounting (CIMA) in London have written a very useful article which explains the verbs used by their examiners. Here’s a link; scroll down to page 4 and you’ll see the list of verbs and their meaning.
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