Paradigm shift in the microfinance sector and its implications for theory development: empirical evidence from Pakistan
Financial and non-financial subsidized resources at the disposal of international donor agencies available for continued support of the microfinance sector are not unlimited. One of the strategies resorted to by the donor community to ensure supply of financial resources to the sector was to make it lucrative to private-sector investment. Thus, for more than a decade now, the donor community has been emphasizing profitability on the part of microfinance institutions to enable the sector to attract commercial capital. This move on the part of the donor community led microfinance institutions to adapt both functionally and structurally to better cope with donor's expectations and show them profits. Many microfinance institutions set example of successful adaptation and reorientation of their tangible and intangible organizational elements to enable them to survive under these new conditions. Laughlin's (1991) Model of Organizational Change provides a theoretical base for understanding such an organizational change in the light of changing external circumstances. While the Model placated all the relevant research questions, it did not fully explain all the trends observed in the empirical data collected for the study, which lent a room for development in the Model.
The microfinance sector responds to the turbulent external environment: A case study of the Akrsp in Pakistan
The drastic shift in the microfinance paradigm during the early 1990s, when the donor community adopted a new approach as to the sustainability of microfinance institutions, changed the overall scenario of the paradigm. Instead of providing subsidized financial services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) for their life time, the donors started emphasizing self-sustainability, financial as well as operational, on the part of MFIs through making them adopt principles of commercialism. The shift in the donors' approach gave rise to a state of stiff competition among MFIs as they had to struggle for more business to ensure their survival in the long run. These new issues came as external disturbances for MFIs, which were previously heavily dependent on the donors' subsidized funding, and they had to adapt and reorient to the changed external conditions. The study resorted to two theoretical frameworks - Laughlin's (1991) Model of Organizational Change and Institutional Theory (DiMaggio and Powel, 1983) to placate two independent but mutually intertwined aspects of the research issue.
Influencing the Organization's Priorities - A Theoretical Rationale for an Independent Intervention
Current literature on organizational change advocates the significance of 'strategy facilitation' on the part of the parent organization in the process of change imposed on the subordinate organization. Through this conceptual paper, resorting to the recent strategic changes Australian tertiary sector's constituents underwent in response to the Australian government's funding-specific policy changes for the sector, we argue that while 'strategy facilitation' by a 'power source' works to the advantage of subordinate organizations, 'strategy imposition' may work the opposite way. Externally dictated conditions for a change that leave an organization with no option but to submit passively to the pressure and adapt its core organizational elements for the sake of its survival, may result in the organization's demise in its real essence, as the organization sacrifices its true identity in an attempt to placate the external demand. Accountability dictates that such a change needs to be scrupulously checked and subjected to an independent enquiry before considered for implementation. We aim to develop theory- and logic-deduced propositions to help guide future empirical research into the area.
A revisit of the participative budgeting and employees' self-efficacy interrelationship - empirical evidence from Indonesia's public sector
The study aims to investigate the effect of employees' participation in the budget construction process, through voice and trust, on employee self-efficacy and performance, in public sector organizations. Budgetary participation and employees' performance have been extensively researched in both private sector organizations and from the perspective of top management. We investigated the phenomenon in public sector organizations and from the point of view of lower level participating employees. We gleaned empirical data from 114 respondents in public sector organizations in Lampung, Indonesia, and analyzed it using SmartPLS to test our hypotheses. We found that in the course of budgetary participation, employees' expectancy attitude, in the light of the expectancy theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs, predicted employees' behavior, and had a significant impact on their self-efficacy and performance. Employees' voice and interpersonal trust in the budget construction process would reap optimal benefit for the organization when participating employees perceive their participation to be objectively appreciated and encouraged by top management. The study has implications for top management's role in the budget construction process, and contributes to the management accounting literature in the context of the public sector in developing countries.
The role of internal auditing in risk management
This paper is based on a theoretical analysis of the role of internal auditing in the accountability framework of contemporary corporate governance. We conceptualize the risk management rationale of internal auditing by drawing on the concept of accountability. We locate the emergence of internal auditing within the metamorphosis of capitalism. It is argued that this development produced the institutionalization of structural control of the firm to address the control problem in the inherently conflicting relationships that characterize accountability relations of capitalist enterprises. The exercise of control in this context entails ensuring accountability of employees, management and the board of directors to shareholders to increase profit. The extant literature does not provide an integrated conceptual framework that explains the role of internal auditing with a holistic view of this accountability landscape. This paper explains how the accountability relations of advanced capitalism create conditions that produce the demand for internal auditing as a risk management technology deployed to advance the managerial values of efficiency and effectiveness of the firm through assurance and advisory services.
'Validity' Issues in Qualitative Research in Social Sciences: View from Two Angles, Have a Better Look
Outcomes under the qualitative research paradigm are usually fiercely challenged by academics and practitioners. The method therefore requires a 'holistic' approach to analysing a particular phenomenon in order to address 'validity' and 'generalizability' issues. Looking at an object from more than one angle understandably gives a better look. In this conceptual paper I argue that through my use of the theoretical underpinnings from two established research theories - Institutional Theory and Laughlin's Organizational Change Model, to 'view' the empirical data collected for my case study research for my PhD, I provide evidence that looking at the research issue and the relevant empirical data from the perspective of a combination of two or more established theories would conclude the research with relatively more 'valid' and 'generalizable' research outcomes.
Culture-Specific Forensic Accounting Conceptual Framework: A Skills Set Theoretical Analysis
Forensic accounting, given its peculiar investigative stance, requires a specific skillset on the part of the forensic accountant, that integrates accounting, auditing and investigative skills. The Jordanian Anti-Corruption Commission's (JACC) struggle to investigate Maward's, a Jordanian state-own company, suspected corruption has raised serious concerns regarding the weak state of forensic accounting in Jordan, and the need for its adaptation to suit the country's peculiar context, to successfully institutionalize at the wider societal level and benefit the state in its aim for ensuring efficient utilization of the scarce resources at its disposal. This study is an attempt to deduce a country-specific conceptual framework for forensic accounting, which can be replicated,with suitable adaptations, to other countries with similar cultural backgrounds, and put forth some theory-supported suggestions to help guide future research in the area.