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流动性比率是用来衡量企业短期偿债能力的比率(Ratios derived
from the balance sheet that measure how easily a firm can pay its debts)。流动比率大于2,企业也可以足额偿付其短期债务;速动比率大于1时,企业才能维持较好的财务稳定状况和短期偿债能力。这里有两个关键的ratios需要计算用以指导the liquidity position of a
business,即流动比率(current
ratio)和速动比率(quick
ratio)。这两个比率是目前判断企业短期偿债能力最常用的两个财务指标,前者是指企业流动资产与流动负债的比,后者是指企业速动资产与流动负债的比,公式如下。
The current ratio=current assets/current
liabilities(流动比率=流动资产/流动负债)(一般为2/1)
The quick ratio=quick assets/current
liabilities(速动比率=速动资产/流动负债) (一般为1/1)
其中速动资产(quick
assets)=流动资产-存货(current assets less stock)
上文讲述了如何减少查重率,但其实有的相似度时不需要改的,这点也非常重要。曾今有个学生,由于刚刚入学,不太了解查重率的工作原理和修改的原则,有些没必要的地方也进行了修改,导致论文中专有名词用词不规范,最终致使文章失败,需要重新resubmit. 所以同学们一定要了解,有些论文相似的地方是不需要修改的。具体如下:首先由于Turnitin是采用通篇检测的原则,所以目录、声明、小标题和参考文献部分也会参与检测,这几部分如果有标红的地方可以直接跳过,不改,也可以在提交论文检测的时候将目录、声明、参考文献删除,不参与检测。(这部分字数少,不检测的话对重复率的影响就1%左右)。其次,论文检测,本来就是个机器活,机器肯定不如人脑,会有一定的误判存在,这个是可以理解的。而Turnitin的检测又是最严格,那么肯定会存在少量太严不沾边的误判,这些可以直接跳过,不修改。比如:“I am her son”和“He is my son”任何检测系统检测出来肯定都是百分百相似。机器是死的,人是活的,我们可以灵活修改。最后,当抄袭的内容是法规条文名人名言概念真理等固定的条款,这种情况就不需要修改了,改也改不出一个道道。
在国外留学的同学们会发现,国外论文的写作会经常需要引用文献等材料,而文献也不是随意引用的。引用不当的话,会使文章出现被判定为抄袭的情况以及其他的一些问题。而且,通过引用,读者可以follow your arguments and check your sources。 那么怎么样才能正确的使用论文引用格式,成为同学们在完成论文的过程中需要重点注意的问题。因此,在本文,君道小编就和大家分享一些正确论文引用格式的方法,帮助同学们顺利完成论文!
The
point made by an analytic philosopher (O’Connor 1969, p. 32) is that values
cannot be justified in this way. However Kneller (1963b, p. 102) insists that
the theorist will inevitably be involved in value claims.
通过上述example可以如果作者引用了大段的信息,同学们便可发现,页码,章节可能会包含在文本内引用中。(Page, chapter or section numbers
may be included in the in-text citation if the cited work is long and
information locate by the writer.)。当文本中提到作者的姓名时(e.g.
Kneller in the example above),只有文献的出版年限和页码会出现在文本的页码中( add year and page numbers only to the in-text reference)。此外当作者相同时,文献出版的年限会加上a,b,c等做区分。(Entries that have the same author
and year are noted by adding a, b, c etc. to the year, both in-text e.g.
Kneller (1963b, p. 102) )。
Inductive
thinking proceeds from the specific to the general. Understandings are
generated by starting with specific elements and finding connections among them.
To argue inductively is to begin with particular pieces of evidence, then pull
them together into a meaningful whole. Inductive data analysis is a search for
patterns of meaningful data so the general statements about phenomena under
investigation can be made (Hatch 2002, p. 161).
当文章中的引用部分是作为独立的部分存在,并且字数超过30以上时,这些引用会用不同的格式以凸显引用的部分,比如indented e.g. 5 spaces and are in
a smaller font e.g. 1 point size smaller than the surrounding text. 这里同学们注意一定不能enclose the quote in quotation marks.
第二种情况为在文章结尾处的Reference lists, 具体格式如下:
首先reference list 的排列方式一般是以人名的首字母顺序排列(Arrange your list alphabetically
by author.)具体如下:
Book
with one author
In-Text:
(O’Connor
1957, p. 33)
References:
O’Connor,
DJ 1957, An introduction to the philosophy of education, Routledge &
Kegan Paul, London.
Book
with two or three authors
In-Text:
(Zikmund
& D’Amico 1989)
References:
Zikmund,
WG & D’Amico, M 1989, Marketing, 3rd edn, Wiley, New York.
Book
with more than three authors
In-Text:
(Peirson
et al. 2006)
References:
Peirson,
G, Brown, R, Easton, S, Howard, P & Pinder, S 2006, Business finance, 9th
edn, McGraw-Hill, North Ryde, NSW.
Different editions
(refer
Snooks p. 196)
An
edition statement is placed after the title of the work. An edition statement
is not necessary if the book is a first edition.
In-Text:
(Zikmund
& D’Amico 1989)
References:
Zikmund,
WG & D’Amico, M 1989, Marketing, 3rd edn, Wiley, New York.
Edited
book
In-Text:
(eds
Douglas, Douglas & Derrett 2001)
References:
Douglas,
N, Douglas, G & Derrett, R (eds) 2001, Special interest groups: context
and cases, John Wiley & Sons, Brisbane, Qld.
Book
with one author
In-Text:
(O’Connor
1957, p. 33)
References:
O’Connor,
DJ 1957, An introduction to the philosophy of education, Routledge &
Kegan Paul, London.
Book
with two or three authors
In-Text:
(Zikmund
& D’Amico 1989)
References:
Zikmund,
WG & D’Amico, M 1989, Marketing, 3rd edn, Wiley, New York.
Book
with more than three authors
In-Text:
(Peirson
et al. 2006)
References:
Peirson,
G, Brown, R, Easton, S, Howard, P & Pinder, S 2006, Business finance, 9th
edn, McGraw-Hill, North Ryde, NSW.
Different
editions
(refer
Snooks p. 196)
An
edition statement is placed after the title of the work. An edition statement
is not necessary if the book is a first edition.
In-Text:
(Zikmund
& D’Amico 1989)
References:
Zikmund,
WG & D’Amico, M 1989, Marketing, 3rd edn, Wiley, New York.
Edited
book
In-Text:
(eds
Douglas, Douglas & Derrett 2001)
References:
Douglas,
N, Douglas, G & Derrett, R (eds) 2001, Special interest groups: context
and cases, John Wiley & Sons, Brisbane, Qld.
另一种常用格式是APA格式(American Psychological Association)。是一个为广泛接受的论文引用格式,特别针对社会科学领域的研究,规范学术文献的引用和参考文献的撰写方法,以及表格、图表、注脚和附录的编排方式。其规范格式也主要包括文内文献引用(Reference Citations in Text)和文后参考文献列举(Reference
List)两大部分。APA格式强调出版物的年代(Time of the Publication Year)而不大注重原文作者的姓名。APA格式的“作者和日期”的引用方式和“括号内引用法”相当著名。引文时常将出版年代置于作者缩写的名( the Initial of Author’s First Name)之前。详细的引用或参考资料则放在位于文章最后的”参考文献”部分。APA格式明确的定义”参考文献”只放入文章内容引用的来源,所以有些文章才会有”参考文献(Reference)”和”Bibliography”的分别。(Bibliography另外包含了作者背景知识的来源,不一定是直接被引用的文献。)
APA参考文献的格式与其他写作格式比较,虽然比较单纯但也相当复杂,以下介绍文献的排列顺序。
一、依作者姓氏字母顺序排列,如以文章篇名或书名当作者,而该篇名或书名是以数字开头
时,以国字之字母顺序比较,如21st century education 是以Twenty-first
century education
作为比较的基准。
二、第一位作者姓名相同时,如为同一作者,依年代先后顺序排列:
例 如:Hewlett, L. S.
(1996) Hewlett, L. S. (1999)
三、一位作者永远排在多位作者之前
例 如:Razik, T. A. (1991)
Razik, T. A. , & Lin, T. -Y. (1995)
四、当有多位作者必须比较时,依序由第二或第三
第四 …作者姓氏字母
例 如:Gosling, J. R.,
Jerald, K., & Belfar, S. F. (2000) Gosling, J. Y., & Tevlin, D. F.
(1996)
五、相同作者且相同年代,则依 (去除A, The等冠词之后) 篇名或书名字母
例 如:Razik, T. A., &
Lin, T. -Y. (1990a). Fundamental concepts…
Razik, T. A., & Lin, T. -Y. (1990b). Human relations…
六、作者姓氏相同,名字不同时,依名字字母顺序排列
例 如:Liu, C. -R. (1993).
Liu, M. -C. (1990).参考文献格式生成器参考文献格式及要求参考文献格式标准英语论文格式规范
七、作者为机关团体时,以机关团体全名字母作为比较的基础,当作者为机关团体的附属团
体时,全名要以「主团体先,附属团体后」来呈现
例 如:State University of
New York at Buffalo, Department of Educational Organization, Administration,
and Policy. (1994).
最后我们来讲一下MLA引用格式要求。MLA主要被应用在人文学科,如文学、比较文学、文学批评和文化研究等。当我们在正文中引用文献时,文中引用文献的标注在引用部分后面,句号前面,作者姓空格页码,中间没有逗号),如果同一页引用同一作品,则只标页码。例如“A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that she’s afraid of herself sometimes” (Hawthorne 431). She’s a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night I’ll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven”(432)。 如果文献作者是三位以上,文中引用只用第一位作者的姓,后面是空格加“et al.” 再空格加页码。例如,(Barker et al. 23)。如果被引用的部分超过三行,则引用整段。整段引用另起一行,双倍行距,自页边空白整体缩进一英寸(2.54厘米),不用引号,末尾添加引用来源(作者姓空格页码)。如果你去掉引文中的一些单词,用省略号(三个前后有空格的小圆点)。由于MLA格式较为繁杂, 此处未包含的具体格式请参阅《MLA科研论文写作规范》的最新版本。
首先,同学们要了解什么是计划书:商业计划书是总结一个企业或企业家如何通过必要和足够的努力和活动使创业成功。商业计划书是企业就公司管理模式问题向投资人进行的书面解释。商业计划的主要是为企业和政府而制定。(A business plan is a summary of how a business or entrepreneur
intends to organize an entrepreneurial endeavor and implement activities
necessary and sufficient for the venture to succeed. It is a written
explanation of the company’s business model for the venture in question.
Business plans are developed for ventures in both business and government)
商业计划是用于内部管理和规划,也是用来说服银行或投资于风险投资家等局外为创业注入资金。(Business plans are used internally for management and planning and
are also used to convince outsiders such as banks or venture capitalists to
invest money into a venture.)
商业计划以通常很快过时而闻名。商界内的一个共同的信念是,实际的计划可能没有什么价值,更重要的是计划的过程,在这个过程中,经营者能对业务和更多的选择有了更深入的了解。(Business plans are noted for often quickly becoming out of date.
One common belief within business circles is that the actual plan may have
little value, but what is more important is the process of planning, through
which the manager gains a greater understanding of the business and of the
options available.)
商业计划是为客户准备的,因为他们需要知道该产品是否符合市场目标而不是该产品的实用性,同时也是为政府准备,因为政府需要了解产品的法律,经济和补贴问题是否符合要求等诸如此类的问题。(Business plan is prepared for customers for they need to know
whether the product serves the purpose or not and the utility of the product,
for government because it is necessary to know for government whether the legal
economical and subsidy concerns are met or the like.)
For Demographic segmentation, 研究者Wedel and Kamakura (2012) 在自己的研究中指出,这个细分可以用来target specific customers being targeted for specific benefits. Whilst it thus can be used to segment a market on the basis of age, gender, income, education, family size, employment and religion, age demographic segmentation is the most appropriate to the business idea of E-Taxi Elderly. 而对于geographic segmentation, 研究学者Goyat (2011) 指出这个细分是基于顾客的location, climate, populating density, terrain and languages spoken. 至于Targeting,同学们需要在文中指出the potential target market for the product/company/industry 有何特点,为什么确定此群体customer为target。
随后,同学们还要确定product的range。Desmet and Hekkert (2007)在他们的研究中有说明,product
range可以帮助项目计划理解一个特别的顾客对于产品不同层次的需求。通常情况下,会有三个产品层次:core benefit, actual product and augmented product. 对于Core
benefit, 他是顾客最基本的需求fundamental need that a customer wants satisfied upon purchasing a
product. 对于Actual product,它是顾客对the features and design of a product的需求。至于Augmented
product,它代表着the non-physical attributes of a product.这个是迎合特殊顾客需求最重要的手段。当然同学们在具体的写作过程中不仅要给出理论的解释,还要明确产品在这三个层次所要实现的目标,并给出恰当的原因来解释为什么要这么做这个二产品。
这里同学们要分析自己商业计划所涉及的产品的附加价值所在。并给出原因说明。例如,我们分析英国数码的士行业的附加价值,我们就可以这么写:Currently and as captured by International Longevity Centre (2017),
1.45 million UK citizens aged 65 and above experience challenges in traveling
to hospital. With the dominant Aged Care Transport system prioritising
emergency cases over routine check-ups, elderly individuals unable to drive to
healthcare facilities, unable to summon help from family members or having
unique conditions that limit effective use of public transport or Uber, there
exists a market gap. On the app side, leveraging on improving technology and
customisation of ride hailing apps, having a dedicated feature that is tailored
for elderly people is important. For instance, it can have an interface of a
single click that beams the location of the elderly person in the event they
are incapacitated, profile that captures important health information such as
existing conditions that give an idea of how serious a particular request is.
The sum total of this information can be used to suggest an appropriate ride
design and prior communication to a healthcare facility informing them of an
incoming emergency. A number of questions were posed to the interviews to help
complete the strategy canvas. For instance, in response to the question, in
your view, what are the most important factors in the digital taxi industry?
The interviewee findings indicated that reliability and convenience were the
most important, followed by responsiveness and speed. Another question posed
was that of, in your view, which is the main source of sustainable competitive
advantage in the digital taxi industry? The interviewee findings indicated that
the main source of sustainable competitive advantage was comfort and car
intelligence systems, followed by speed, customer care services and GPS
systems.
除此之外更为重要的一点便是Market gap,这个是指a market opportunity exists based on the view that the current product option available to the service/industry(这里是你作业里要求的服务或者产品所属行业)In support, two interview questions can be and resulted in the same finding. Firstly, it was posed, what do you feel are the challenges of the current industry options? Secondly, it was posed what challenges does the company face in providing an effective product(选定的) for target customer?
一个好的计划,需要适合的人去执行实施,因此,在写商业计划时,人事(Personnel)也是需要考虑的问题。根据公司的大小,业务的范围,我们可以决定计划实施时,人员分配的多少。比如说,如果是一个小公司,人事需要就是非常有限的。例如,it only needs three categories of roles filled for a small company
for E-Taxi Elderly business. In the first role, the overall manager that will
be in charge of the E-Taxi Elderly business is required. The available position
is for a single manager. In the second role, customer care personnel that will
handle rider affairs is required. The available positions will be for five
representatives. In the third role, the strategy manager that is responsible
for analysing feedback and positioning E-Taxi Elderly business to be more
customer centric is required.
产品转化为价值,离不开产品的销售与市场推广。好的营销和推广会达到事半功倍的效果。这里,同学们需要结合产品自身的特点,以及上文的分析,给出最优的营销和推广计划,并给出原因。我们仍旧以针对老年人的数字化的士为例:For instance, the company will manage the spread of information to
its customers whilst also regulating the spread of marketing information in
order to maximise the appeal of the business idea. This can help communicate to
the customer how the new innovative idea can create extra value over existing
platforms. Moreover, further primary research revealed that E-Taxi Elderly
should also rely on marketing practices to not only highlight the promotions
run by the brand but also show how the service adds comparative value in
relation to rival services. For instance, within he first three months of
operations, a discount can be offered to older persons using the service as a
way of bringing them into the service. after the three-month period, the price
can normalize to competitive levels because the customers will be engaged to
the quality and experience of the brand.
在财务部分(Financials),要明确财务计划的币种,限定计划的时间,这里要对拥有的时间和资源保持客观现实,不可过于乐观或夸大。 通常情况下,在财务部分,商业计划要考虑以下四个方面:Sales and cost forecast;Cash flow analysis;Profit and loss statement;Key ratios。
了解完什么是文献评论,接下来我们来讨论如何完成一篇critical
analysis of a journal article. 在开始阅读文献之前,同学们需要就文献问自己一些问题,以帮助自己更好的理解将要评论的文章,也为了完成一篇更好的文献评论。具体问题如下:
Full reference
Title of the source
Type of the source
What is the title of the source? What
does it imply? What type of source is it?
When was it published? Is it an up-to-date
source?
Intended audience
What type of reader is the source
intended for?
Is the source aimed at a specialised or a
general audience? Does the source provide basic, advanced, technical or
general information?
What is the purpose of the source: informative,
instructive, persuasive or descriptive?
Relevance
What is the topic of the source?
Is the source relevant to your
essay/module/course?
Does the source provide specific enough
information or is it too general?
Structure
Does the source have an abstract? Is it
clear? Does it summarise all sections of the source?
How many sections does the source have?
Are they clearly indicated?
Are the research focus, research aims and
objectives clearly stated and justified?
Literature Review
Does the source provide completely new
information based on primary research or does it repeat information from
other sources – secondary research? Are references to other sources evident?
Is the literature review well-structured
with logical progression of ideas?
Has the author used literature relevant
to the research aims? Has the author discussed all key areas of the subject
in sufficient detail?
Has the author provided sufficient
evaluative comments on the literature that was discussed?
Has the author made any major assumptions?
Objectivity
Is the information presented in the
source factual or opinion-based? Has the information been well-researched and
is it reliable or does it seem to be an opinion unsupported by evidence?
Are the author‟s views similar to other
writers within the same discipline or are the views profoundly different? If
different, a closer critical analysis of the source should be done.
Has the author provided equal amount of
information for both sides of the argument or is one side more discussed than
the other? If so, do you think the author might be biased? What bias can you
identify – political, institutional or personal?
Are there any pieces of information that
have been omitted? If so,
why might that be?
Methodology
Methods
Rationale
Has the author clearly stated and
justified the methodology, methods? Has the author related (provided a
justification) the methodology, methods to the research aims and objectives?
Has the author provided sufficient
information on the methods and strategies used to carry out the research? Are
they clearly explained? Has the author provided clear information on the
sample used in his research and has he considered the ethics?
Can you observe any issues with the
methods/sample/ethical considerations? If yes/no – write about it.
What alternative approaches could be
suggested to conduct this particular research? Why? Would they provide better
results?
Has the author clearly stated any
limitations of their research?
Findings
Has the author clearly described the
methods of analysing the data? Has the author clearly presented the results
and findings?
Are they major or secondary findings? Do
they confirm what other authors found out or are they totally different and
new?
Has the author used any visuals to
present the results? Are they
clear? Are they the best methods to
visualise the results?
Discussion and conclusions
Has the data been clearly and
sufficiently discussed/ interpreted?
Has the author linked their results to the research aims and
objectives and the literature review?
Has the author provided clear conclusions
and are the conclusions based on the findings?
Writing style:
Logic
Emotional language
Evidence
Does the author present information in a
logical order?
Is the text easy to read or is it confusing?
Can you clearly identify main points and
supporting ideas? Can you easily identify the author‟s central argument –
thesis statement?
Is that central argument well supported
with relevant and sufficient evidence or is it just an opinion?
Does the author use any statistics and
examples? Are they accurate, can they be checked?
Language
Has the author used clear, simple or
rather sophisticated, technical and confusing language? Can you find examples
of that language? Why do you think the author would use sophisticated,
confusing language?
Has the author used objective, cautious
language (may, can, might, etc.) or have they used emotional (extremely,
amazing, etc.) and very definite (something definitely is, I know something
for sure, etc.) language?
Critical reviews
Has this source been critically peer
reviewed? Are the reviews positive? Do reviewers/critics have the same
opinion about the source or is there a debate among them?
带着这些问题读完需要批判性分析的文献,相信同学们对此文献应该有了一个深入的理解。接下来,就需要开始critical
analysis of a journal article的写作。当然,这里同学们最好遵循期刊的结构和标题,这样可以帮助同学们客观评价文章的所有章节。此外,当同学们在阅读文献的时候,最好在文献上做一些批注,然后根据在文献上的批注,列出文献评论文章的结构。这里,同学们就需要回顾上述列表中的问题,保证你论文的结构和主要观点符合逻辑顺序。最后同学们可以根据下述结构,开始自己critical
analysis of a journal article的写作。
Introduction(First paragraph):
Information about the author, title of
the article, type of source
Intended audience and the purpose of the source
Topic and the relevance of the source
Abstract and structure of the article
Main body section:
Literature Review
Objectivity
Methodology
Findings
Discussion and conclusions
Writing
style
Language
Critical reviews
Comparison to another source (only if
asked to do)
Conclusion:
Summary of your analysis
当你完成第一稿后,你需要认真的进行检查,包括语法,词汇,标点,拼写,观点组织和文本内引用。有一点需要注意的是,当你做critical review of a
journal article时, 你要确保你的观点合乎逻辑,避免重复。如果你需要重复一些观点,尽量用不同的方式来表达这些观点—可以利用同义词或者改写等。
上述是君道论文小编对如何写critical
analysis of journal article的一些建议,同学们看到这里也许会似懂非懂的。什么也不多,给大家一个具体的例子,帮助同学们更好的理解和消化君道论文小编在上述文章中提到的写作技巧和步骤:
Critical
Analysis of a Research Paper
Towards an
integrated contingency framework for MAS sophistication
Case studies on
the scope of accounting instruments in Dutch power and gas companies
Title
The
title suggests that the article will give guidance towards a contingency
framework for MAS sophistication. The Contingency framework states that there
is no one right way to manage an organisation, so the part “towards integrated
[…] framework” with the word “contingency” seems like a paradox. We feel that
we might not have chosen this article if we were looking at the title only
because it seemingly contradicts itself.
The
group agreed that the title is quite long. We have analysed it by defining the
main words of which we used the Macmillan Dictionary (2002) (See appendix B).
After
understanding the words and theory explanation, the title became quite easy to
understand.
Abstract
and Introduction
We
feel that the abstract provides concise and simple information. It is a good
explanation and expansion of the title. We have chosen this article because it
can be easily understood. The abstract states that many companies are being
convinced to implement newly developed management accounting systems and also
comments on its inappropriateness. The author states the reason for this is due
to the contingency theory perspective. She also highlights that this article is
based on the cases of two power and gas companies.
The
introduction is interesting and very informative. It lays out very clearly what
the author will discuss by dividing the article into sections and also talks
about the „sophisticated‟ techniques such as ABC. She also identifies that the
causes and criticism of MAS sophistication is due to the methodology of
research undertaken in previous years like the cross sectional survey method.
With
this mind, Tillema (2005) says that she will try to overcome the weaknesses by
using different approaches of research.
This
article relates to Management Accounting Systems and its instruments,
contingency theory and two case companies. It is divided into 5 main sections,
which helps with the reading because it is very long.
The
author is an academic staff member of the Faculty of Economics at the
University of Groningen, from which she graduated. She is an assistant
professor in finance and management accounting and is involved in the
university‟s management accounting and finance courses. Her main focus for
researches is a wide area of management accounting (University of Groningen, no
date).
We
think that she knows the topic very well considering she teaches Management
Accounting at the University. The research that she undertakes is convincingly
reliable which we think is highly significant and logical as her main focus is
on management accounting.
Critical
Analysis
We
believe that the main issue of this article is the inappropriate implementation
of the MAS without taking into account the contingency theory. The author
mentions that researchers found out that
the introduction of sophisticated accounting techniques was often unsuccessful
due to the lack of consideration of various contingent variables. It seems that
managers want to find the best way to make their specific company successful
when implementing new MAS‟s. We agreed that the sophisticated techniques are
dependent on the environment in which they are used and this is where
contingency theory becomes very important. We think that the article highlights
the problem really well and feel it is a good pointer in dealing with the
contingency framework and the scope of accounting information.
Every
business may introduce different accounting techniques at various levels of
sophistication. Hence the need for contingent approaches i.e. what suits the
organisation? This paper identifies the contingent factors for the
sophistication of accounting instruments in two Dutch companies.
In
addition, the author tries to answer three questions: “Which contingency
factors influence the scope of accounting instruments? […] How these
contingency factors interact with each other and with the various
characteristic of organisations and their environment? […] Which mechanisms
explain the scope of accounting instruments?” We think that the author writes
the article answering the three questions whilst explaining her findings which
she summarises really well.
The
author‟s intention is to improve awareness about contingency theory by
describing its factors with reference to the two case studies. We think that
the target audience are all people interested in management accounting as well
as students.
Research
We
think that the author has provided a research framework in a positive way
because it is highly detailed and could be helpful in guiding further research.
This framework was planned in three stages.
In
the first stage, the author used the two largest Dutch power and gas companies
to support her study. Here, she mentioned that her main reason were changes in
the scope of accounting instruments in a short period of time within the
companies. The change of accounting instruments used occurred respectively with
regard to the company‟s structures.
In
the second stage, she collected data through interviews. The data were then
compared for verification to the data from document analysis which we think is
a better research method.
compared
to sending postal questionnaires. The process of the interview was well carried
out in the sense that the accountant of a specific department was interviewed
before the managing director of that department.
The
final stage was data analysis which was done in two stages: the first was
within-case analysis and the second cross-case analysis. Each within-case
analysis started by sorting out the case company‟s past, current and future
accounting instrument regarding their scope. We all agreed that the method used
for the research was efficient and substantial.
Results
The
result from the empirical research indicates that nine contingency factors have
a direct influence on the scope of accounting instruments. The author relates
the existence of contingency factors (appendix C) with different level of the
organisation (beyond-organisation, organisation and sub-units, operating task,
accounting tasks).
Beyond
the organisational level, the author revealed that regulations, accounting
innovations and trends will influence the scope of accounting instruments used
by organisations. She supported this assertion by defining the adoption of
management accounting techniques such as balance score card, the economic value
added activity and shareholders‟ value. However, we feel that it would have
been very helpful if the author tells us in this paper the effects of the
adoption of these instruments on the performance of those Dutch companies and
support them with some financial data.
The
author relates the two Dutch companies with willingness or potential
willingness to embrace broader accounting instruments by their shift from a
more focus on “implicit non-financial measure” (Tillema, 2005) to a more
financial performance related behaviour. Here we feel that the author is trying
to convince us that the change of a company financial objective should always
be followed by its shift to the accounting instruments used. We can justify
this statement on the basis of the two case studies.
At
the operating task level, the author defined the visibility of financial
consequences of the operating task as a factor that influences the scope of
accounting instruments. This is because it gives detailed information on the
cost incurred with the activities of those companies.
With
regard to the complexity of operating tasks, the author thinks that it may, in
certain circumstance, be subjective to influence the scope of accounting
instruments. For instance cost- benefit analysis may imply the use of average
or broad accounting instruments whereas restricting costs or expenditures may
imply the use of narrow accounting instruments (Tillema, 2005). In addition, we
understand from the case that in the dynamic environment, acceptable forecast
of the future financial situation requires investigations of the financial
consequences on the possible future market circumstances. Another example is
that the case companies introduced several broad scope instruments since their
environments have become far more dynamic. This was due to the liberalisation
of the energy market and the introduction of external telecommunications
products.
At
the accounting task level, the empirical research revealed two factors as
direct consequences of the type of accounting instruments used in the
companies‟ accounting instruments. These factors are: the significance of
accounting instruments and the clarity of accounting instruments. According to
the author one of the case companies‟ that is concerned with only energy supply
experienced low cost in its decision making which was done in a low frequency
base using narrow accounting instruments. Moreover the author related the use
of this narrow accounting instrument in the event of uncertainty of financial
consequences of a decision.
The
author informs us only about some facts related to the case companies. It would
be better to have some practical examples on the financial performance of the
companies. It would support managers when making decisions in the future.
Conclusion
and Discussion
We
think that the conclusion is pretty much straight to the point defining
outcomes of the research. She answers well, in our opinion, all three questions
from the introduction. She says that scope of accounting instruments is
influenced by many of the contingency factors and there are few factors, which
communicate with institutional context of these instruments.
The
author recognised that the other research methods used in other case studies
i.e. (cross sectional) are considered as inadequate by academics but has
produced one consistent variable (dynamism of the environment). We think this
is an important factor as other research has proved this to be a common factor
including the comparison article by Abdel-Kadera and Luther (2008).
This
article based on two case studies shown “the relationship between a known
contingency factor and the scope of MAS” (Tillema, 2005).
As
a group, we thought this article has been written with precision having carried
out extensive research and taken into consideration other factors like the
mindset of managers and accountants with personal face to face interviews.
The
author suggests areas of improvement and also gives own recommendations on her
article. She suggests how her research paper could be improved by investigating
whether the contingency framework developed in this paper is useful in
explaining the scope of the accounting instruments of organisations that were
not included in the empirical research. We could not agree more with this
statement because by doing so, it enriches the article and adds more substance
to it. Evidently, this has been carried out in the comparison article; here
they carry out the research on the food and drinks Industry.
Another
suggestion she makes is to find contingency factors at the individual level of
analysis.
Overall,
a very good article, it covers a lot of factors and explains the points
concisely based on extensive research and case studies about the sophistication
of MAS in relation to contingency theory. Not only does the article do this
well but the author also recommends ways in which it could be better
understood.
Comparison
to another article
„The
Impact of Firm Characteristics on Management Accounting Practices: A UK-based
Empirical Analysis‟ by Abdel-Kadera and Luther (2008) is the article we have
chosen for comparison.
This
article was chosen because the topics are similar. It attempts to explain why
firms adopt different management accounting techniques, particularly in the UK.
The article by Tillema (2005) has also been referenced in support to their
article because it explains same issues in relation to the contingency theory
and management accounting sophistication. It is a more recent version compared
to the article by Tillema (2005) and also looks at a different type of
manufacturing industry.
This
article uses empirical research meaning the data is based on experiments and
observation as well as interviews much like Tillema (2005) did. However, we
think there is a weakness in the way the research was conducted. Much of the
empirical data was done through postal questionnaires and a limited number of
face to face interviews were carried out (Abdel-Kadera and Luther, 2008).
Whereas Tillema research methodology is more efficient and gives a better view
on the various aspects of difference in management accounting practises; it is
precise and more accurate.
Both
articles come to a conclusion that difference arise in management accounting
practises and MA sophistication because of the external environment and
operating activities. Abdel-Kadera and Luther go further by stating that
customer power, decentralisation and size also affect the accounting practices.
(Appendix A)
We
feel that the article by Tillema is very evident and well researched. It has an
edge over this article and that is why she has been referenced extensively. We
also think that both articles have a common conclusion with slight differences
and additions being made in this article.
Appendix
A
Appendix
B
Towards: nearer to a particular result used for
showing how a process is developing in a way that will produce a particular
result
Integrated: combining things, people, or ideas of
different types in one effective unit, group, or system
Sophistication:the
quality of knowing and understanding a lot about a complicated subject Scope: the things that a particular activity,
organisation or subject deals with
Appendix
C
Contingency
factors:
Accounting
innovations and trends
regulations,
importance
of financial objectives,
interaction
between organization and organizational parts,
the
visibility of operating task,
the
complexity of operating task,
the
dynamism of the environments,
The
significances of financial consequences
the
clarity of financial consequences
References
Abdel-Kader,
M., & Luther, R. (2008). The impact of firm characteristics on management
accounting practices: A UK-based empirical analysis. The British Accounting
Review, 40(1), 2-27. doi:10.1016/j.bar.2007.11.003
Kaplan,
R.S. (1986). Accounting lag: The obsolescence of Cost Accounting Systems.
Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Rundell,
M. (2007). Macmillan English dictionary for Advanced Learners. Oxford:
Macmillan.
Tillema, S. (2005). Towards an integrated contingency framework from MAS sophistication: Case studies on the scope of accounting instruments in Dutch power and gas companies. Management Accounting Research, 16(1), 101.
总的来讲,Report通常以简短,精确和简明的段落来表达文章的内容,旨在分析和报告调研结果(A
report is a type of academic assignment that presents information in short,
precise and concise paragraphs to report and analyse the findings)。Report通常是由多个部分构成,每个部分都需要有标题(headings)和副标题
(subheadings), 要点(bullet
points)或者标题数字(Numbers),
这样同学们才能清楚的组织文章思想逻辑和段落。每个部分根据其写作目的的不同,是会有不同的写作风格。一般来讲,主要有三种:解释(explanatory),描述(descriptive),分析(analytical)。其次,一篇report需要包含图形(Graphs),图表(Charts),表格(Tables)等,这样同学们才能既简明又生动的为读者呈现报告的内容,而不是用冗长的描述性方式。此外,一篇report需要包含建议部分(recommendation
section)。建议部分必须是基于研究的结果来撰写,主要是为未来的行为提供建议。
下面,我们来具体说明report论文的不同之处。写过报告的留学生们会发现,大部分的report作业要求都会为将要研究的问题提供一个特殊的情景和脚本。比如:“You
are a manufacturing manager of the H&M clothing company. Recently, your
department has been engaged in a new project on how to improve the
production process within the company. You need to write a report to
the Board of Directors describing the project you were involved in, including
methods of conducting the project, findings, explanations of findings and
recommendations for improvements”对于此类report要求,同学们需要在情境中快速找到关键问题之所在。同学们可以通过“How”“what”等疑问词快速找到问题的所在。比如上述情景,我们可以发现,老师想要同学们解决的问题为“how
to improve the production process within the company”. 也就是,老师为如何完善生产工艺这个问题提供了一个脚本,而同学们作为服装业的生产经理需要提出一个行之有效的办法来解决这个问题。老师之所以给出情景是为了帮助同学们将理论概念和实际相结合,更加投入的进行问题的调研。当然,除了提供脚本,另外还有一种report作业要求形式,便是直接给出问题。比如,“Produce
a report examining the impact the last recession had on UK airports.” 对于此类report论文的写作要求,同学们就需要迅速找到key
words,以及他们之间的关系。比如上述题目,同学们可以发现此题目的关键词为“the
last recession” “impact” and “UK airports”. 因此,对于此篇论文,同学们就需要探讨至少以下三个问题:最近经济衰退对顾客和飞机吞吐量的影响(The
effect on passenger and freight throughput),最近经济衰退和航空运输经济周期之间的关系(The
relationship between the last recession and the economic cycles that can be
identified in air transport),经济衰退后航空运输业的发展(Developments
in the industry after the recession)。
简要总结主要调查结果,结论和建议(Brief
summary of main findings, conclusion and recommendations.)
Table of contents
Introduction(引言)
概述论文将要涉及的内容,以什么样的逻辑进行,开展此论文的原因,以及报告涉及的相关研究背景(Outline
what you will be writing about, in what order and why, with very brief relevant
background information.)
Discussion(讨论)
讨论关键内容,研究结果,以及阐述相关结果(Discussion
of key areas, findings, explanation of the results)
总结(Conclusion)
总结报告得出的关键结论 (Summarise
the key points of what has been found out.)
建议(Recommendations)
基于研究结果,为未来的行动提出可行性建议。这部分可以包含在conclusion里,也可以作为独立的章节存在。具体根据老师要求进行(Based
on the findings, write recommendations for future action. This could be
included within the conclusion section or it may be a separate section. Refer
to your assignment brief or ask your tutor for guidelines.)
附件(Appendices)
文章中出现的数据,图表和计算公式等(Any
extra information that did not fit in the main body of the report. Any charts,
graphs or calculations. Each appendix should be numbered e.g. Appendix 1, it
should also have a title and a reference.)
参考文献(References)
Report正文中用到的所有文献;要注意文献的额引用方式(APA/Harvard)(Books,
articles, journals or texts that have been used as source material.)
2.Structure
for Research report:
Title page:
Name,
student number, module name, module code and tutor’s name.
Executive Summary (Abstract): may be optional
Brief
summary of main findings, conclusion and recommendations.
Table of contents:
一.Introduction:
Outline
what you will be writing about, in what order and why, with relevant background
information.
二.Main
body sections: Report and analyse what was done and make sure
evidence is included. Organise ideas into sections – use headings and
subheadings:
1. 文献综述(Literature
Review):
1.1
Subject section
1.2
Subject section
2. 方法论(Methodology)
2.1
How you did your research(如何做研究)
2.2
How you collected data(如何收集数据)
3. Results and findings
3.1
Description of the results + visuals
4. Discussion
4.1
Discussion of key areas, explanation of the results
三.Conclusion:
Summarise
the key points of what has been found out.
四.Recommendations:
Based
on the findings, write recommendations for future action. This could be
included within the conclusion section or it may be a separate section. Refer
to your assignment brief or ask your tutor for guidelines.
五.Appendices:
Any
extra information that did not fit in the main body of the report. Any charts,
graphs or calculations. Each appendix should be numbered e.g. Appendix 1, it
should also have a title and a reference.
六.References:
Books,
articles, journals or texts that have been used as source material.
此外,君道论文小编还要和大家说一下,上述文章结构中提到的writing
style问题。Reports在不同的部分,基于不同的写作目的,会使用不同的写作风格(different styles of writing)(如图2)。通常情况下,Introduction部分会运用解释(explanatory),以清楚的给出报告展开的背景和目标。方法论通常会运用事实性描述(descriptive),客观的给出报告研究的结果和结论。讨论部分通常会运用分析(analytical)的写作手法。通过分析的手法,把复杂的现象分解成许多简单组成部分,分别进行研究,找出事物的内在矛盾,并对矛盾的各个方面进行深入研究。剔除那些偶然的、非本质的东西,抽象出必然的、本质的因素,并由此得出一些反映本质的简单规定,以把握矛盾的各个方面的特殊性。
图2 corresponding writing style for difference report sections
其次,Report 通常会使用被动式来表达需要采取的研究活动和报告研究的结果。这是因为被动式更加的正式,更加的适合学术写作。比如:The experiment was conducted (Passive voice);it is found out that … …。此外,report应该使用简短,精炼的句子。此外同学们写作report时,还需注意:
the past tense(一般过去时)when you are reporting on something that happened in the past.
the present tense(现在时)when you are reporting other authors’ research.
the present tense(现在时)when you are explaining the results of your research.