Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government

This paper presents the details of a study examining three measures of community social capital and their effect on residents' levels of perceived satisfaction with service delivery by a regional local government authority. The results indicate that residents with stronger involvement in the local community have significantly lower perceived satisfaction scores than those who have less community involvement. The findings are a challenge to local governments who are seeking to improve service delivery satisfaction. The implications for local government authorities, especially those seeking to create greater community involvement, are discussed.

This study evaluates two of the most pressing issues facing public practice in Australia today – the growing gap in the importance placed on professional values by public practice accounting firms, and the effect of this gap on job satisfaction, organisational commitment and employee intention to turnover. The results of this study clearly show that there is a perceived gap in professional values that is associated with lower levels of both organisational commitment and job satisfaction for public practice accountants. The alignment of these results and those of previous researchers that show job satisfaction and organisational commitment are associated with increased intentions to turnover is an early-warning signal to accounting practice managers. Employees seem prepared to take action if there is a perceived gap in professional values with their employers.

The 2005 NSW decision of McCracken v Melbourne Storm Rugby League Football Club generated much interest as it appeared to circumvent the provisions of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), the main purpose of which is to impose a cap on damages awards for personal injury claims and to place limitations on liability in negligence. Western Australia has the Civil Liability Act 2002 (WA), but the relevant section is slightly different to that of the NSW legislation. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the McCracken case would be likely to be decided in the same way in Western Australia. If so, the administrators, clubs and players involved in professional sport in this jurisdiction should be mindful of the implications, such as the potential for more litigation as a result of injuries sustained in the course of play, or an increase in insurance premiums

A study based on the extent of voluntary social disclosure practices of Indonesian listed entities using Global Reporting Initiatives as a simplified social disclosure index found that all Jakarta Stock Exchange listed entities voluntarily disclose some social information in their annual reports, but at a low level (14.15%). Stakeholder theory partially explains the disclosures but does not explain why some issues such as Child Labour, Forced and Compulsory Labour, Bribery and Corruption and Political Contributions are not disclosed by any listed companies. This paper examines the motivations for these non-disclosures and suggests that one of the more likely reasons that companies do not disclose certain items is to avoid scrutiny, particularly on issues where they are not performing or where it is evident that they are in breach of government regulations.

This paper explores both academic and professional literature, published over the past few decades, addressing the proliferation of accounting standards and the imposition and increasing burden that has been placed upon the preparers of financial reporting information. The 'pro' argument for increased reporting regulation and disclosure has been the protection of stakeholders; however, recent experiences suggest that this approach has not been entirely successful. A significant number of unexpected corporate collapses have continued to occur. The suggestion is made that, in addition to improved corporate governance and regulation, the interests of stakeholders may be better served through efforts to promote a culture of ethical conduct within the wider business community.

This paper considers the design of a dynamic measurement framework for public procurement from an emergent system’s perspective. In order to continue into sustainable excellence, an adaptable and reliable measurement system is needed to measure procurement’s current performance and make well-informed sustainable decisions into the future in the context of a changing political environment. Measurements would need to include: public confidence (with ethical accountability and transparency), efficiency and effectiveness (as measured in value for money and the delivery of procurement outcomes) and policy compliance and consistency. These measures would need to be nested in a larger measurement system (as reflected in a sustainable generic public management system that would reflect quality of life as opposed to simply material wealth). In terms of design principals for such a measurement system, three main themes have emerged in the literature. First, organisations are complex multidimensional nested systems, second the integrity of the whole system needs to be maintained and third, in order to improve complex social systems, such as large public procurement entities, performance management systems need to function as an ethical learning tool. The actual design of an integrated measurement system to gauge procurement performance within public procurement is potentially a research area for the future.