Investigating the development of the internal and external service tasks of non-executive directors: the case of the Netherlands (1997-2005)

During the last decade, globalisation and liberalisation of financial markets, changing societal expectations and corporate governance scandals have increased the attention for the fiduciary duties of non-executive directors. In this context, recent corporate governance reform initiatives have emphasised the control task and independence of non-executive directors. However, little attention has been paid to their impact on the external and internal service tasks of non-executive directors. Therefore, this paper investigates how the service tasks of non-executive directors have evolved in the Netherlands. Data on corporate governance at the top-100 listed companies in the Netherlands between 1997 and 2005 show that the emphasis on non-executive directors' external service task has shifted to their internal service task, i.e. from non-executive directors acting as boundary spanners to non-executive directors providing advice and counselling to executive directors. This shift in board responsibilities affects non-executive directors' ability to generate network benefits through board relationships and has implications for non-executive directors' functional requirements.

External auditors' reliance on internal auditing : further evidence.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore whether internal audit’s reporting relationship with the audit committee and the client’s business risk environment impact external auditors’ reliance on the work of internal audit. Design/methodology/approach – An experiment is conducted using a 2 £ 2 between-subjects design where we manipulate the above two factors at strong and weak levels. Participants are 66 audit partners, managers and seniors, all experienced with clients having internal audit functions. Findings – The results indicate that both factors affect external auditors’ reliance on work already undertaken by internal audit and their use of internal auditors (IA) as assistants. The results also indicate that external auditors are more likely to use internal audit for control evaluation tasks than for substantive tests of balances. The study does not find any significant interaction effects between the two factors. Originality/value – No prior studies have examined the influence of reporting relationship and client business risk on external auditors’ reliance decisions in the current governance environment. Further, the paper examines the impact of these factors on reliance on work already undertaken by internal audit and on using IA as assistants, with respect to both control evaluation work and substantive testing of balances.

Influence of internal fixator stiffness on murine fracture healing : two types of fracture healing lead to two distinct cellular events and FGF-2 expressions

This study aimed to clarify the relationship between the mechanical environment at the fracture site and endogenous fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2). We compared two types of fracture healing with different callus formations and cellular events using MouseFix(TM) plate fixation systems for murine fracture models. Left femoral fractures were induced in 72 ten-week-old mice and then fixed with a flexible (Group F) or rigid (Group R) Mouse Fix(TM) plate. Mice were sacrificed on days 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 21. The callus volumes were measured by 3D micro-CT and tissues were histologically stained with hematoxylin & eosin or safranin-O. Sections from days 3, 5, and 7 were immunostained for FGF-2 and Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA). The callus in Group F was significantly larger than that in Group R. The rigid plate allowed bone union without a marked external callus or chondrogenesis. The flexible plate formed a large external callus as a result of endochondral ossification. Fibroblastic cells in the granulation tissue on days 5 and 7 in Group F showed marked FGF-2 expression compared with Group R. Fibroblastic cells showed ongoing proliferation in granulation tissue in group F, as indicated by PCNA expression, which explained the relative granulation tissue increase in group F. There were major differences in early phase endogenous FGF-2 expression between these two fracture healing processes, due to different mechanical environments.

A capability model to improve infrastructure asset performance

Infrastructure organizations are operating in an increasingly challenging business environment as a result of globalization, privatization and deregulation. In an external business environment that is constantly changing, extant literature on strategic management advocates the need to focus on factors internal to the organization such as resources and capabilities to sustain their performance. Specifically, they need to develop dynamic capabilities in order to survive and prosper under conditions of change. The aim of this paper is to explore the dynamic capabilities needed in the management of transport infrastructure assets using a multiple case study research strategy. This paper produced a number of findings. First, the empirical evidence showed that the core infrastructure asset management processes are capacity management, options evaluation, procurement & delivery, maintenance management, and asset information management. Second, the study identified five dynamic capabilities namely stakeholder connectivity, cross-functional, relational, technology absorptive and integrated information capability as central to executing the strategic infrastructure asset management processes well. These findings culminate in the development of a capability model to improve the performance of infrastructure assets in an increasingly dynamic business environment.

Free convection in a triangular enclosure with fluid-saturated porous medium and internal heat generation

Unsteady natural convection inside a triangular cavity has been studied in this study. The cavity is filled with a saturated porous medium with non-isothermal left inclined wall while the bottom surface is isothermally heated and the right inclined surface is isothermally cold. An internal heat generation is also considered which is dependent of the fluid temperature. The governing equations are solved numerically by finite element method. The Prandtl number of the fluid is considered as 0.7 (air) while the aspect ratio and the Rayleigh number are considered as 0.5 and 105 respectively. The effect of the porosity of the medium and heat generation on the fluid flow and heat transfer have been presented as a form of streamlines and isotherms. The rate of heat transfer through three surfaces of the enclosure is also presented.

Organization and management of police

To understand the nature of police organisations and their management in an Australian context it is necessary to appreciate the recent history of policing at least in the last 30 years. In doing so an overall perspective is gained on the various reform efforts and organisational changes that have taken place in Australian policing. With this police reform perspective clearly in mind it then becomes possible to appreciate that the organization and management of the institution of policing in Australia is nested within the larger framework of ‘governance’. Hence, this notion of governance will be used as the key focal point around which to understand how police organizations manage their mission in the Australian context. Finally, the chapter discusses the inevitable ‘tension spaces’ that arise in policing and the need for police organizations to better manage such complexities.

Organizations as distinction generating and processing systems: Niklas Luhmann's contribution to organization studies

Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems has been widely influential in the German-speaking countries in the past few decades. However, despite its significance, particularly for organization studies, it is only very recently that Luhmann's work has attracted attention on the international stage as well. This Special Issue is in response to that. In this introductory paper, we provide a systematic overview of Luhmann's theory. Reading his work as a theory about distinction generating and processing systems, we especially highlight the following aspects: (i) Organizations are processes that come into being by permanently constructing and reconstructing themselves by means of using distinctions, which mark what is part of their realm and what not. (ii) Such an organizational process belongs to a social sphere sui generis possessing its own logic, which cannot be traced back to human actors or subjects. (iii) Organizations are a specific kind of social process characterized by a specific kind of distinction: decision, which makes up what is specifically organizational about organizations as social phenomena. We conclude by introducing the papers in this Special Issue. Copyright © 2006 SAGE.

Project-based organization as adaptation to risk and opportunity in small firms

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in SMEs working collaboratively in inter-organizational projects. But what drives the emergence of such projects, and what types of industries breed them the most? To address these questions, this paper extends the long running literature on the firm and industry antecedents of new venturing and alliance formation to the domain of project-based organization by SMEs. Based on survey data collected among 1,725 small and medium sized organizations and longitudinal industry data, we find an overall pattern that indicates that IOPV participation is primarily determined by a focal SME’s scope of innovative activities, and the munificence, dynamism and complexity of its environment. Unexpectedly, these variables have different effects on whether SMEs are likely to engage in IOPVs, compared to with how many there are in their portfolio at a time. Implications for theory development are discussed.

The internal validity of web-based studies

Honing and Ladinig (2008) make the assertion that while the internal validity of web-based studies may be reduced, this is offset by an increase in external validity possible when experimenters can sample a wider range of participants and experimental settings. In this paper, the issue of internal validity is more closely examined, and it is agued that there is no necessary reason why internal validity of a web-based study should be worse than that of a lab-based one. Errors of measurement or inconsistencies of manipulation will typically balance across conditions of the experiment, and thus need not necessarily threaten the validity of a study’s findings.

Work motivation as a determinant of organizational and professional commitment in case of temporary organizations : theoretical perspectives

The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical framework to investigate the relationship between work motivation, organizational commitment, and professional commitment in temporary organizations. Through a review of theory, we contend that work motivation has two major patterns- internal motivation (that includes intrinsic, need-based, and self-deterministic theories), and external motivation (that includes cognitive or process-based theories of motivation) through which it has been investigated. We also subsume the nature of employee commitment to be of three types- affective, continuance, and normative. This commitment may either be towards organization or profession. A literature review reveals that the characteristics of the temporary organization - specifically tenure, and task - regulate the relationship between work motivation, and organizational commitment, and professional commitment. Relevant propositions are presented.