Practitioners are from Mars; academics are from Venus? An investigation of the research-practice gap in management accounting

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify and gain insights into the significance of barriers contributing to the purported "gap" between academic management accounting research and practice. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on diffusion of innovations theory, this study collects and analyses data from a questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews with 19 representatives of the four principal professional accounting bodies in Australia. Findings: Professional accounting bodies perceive the gap between academic research and practice in management accounting to be of limited concern to practitioners. The two most significant barriers to research utilisation by practitioners are identified as: difficulties in understanding academic research papers; and limited access to research findings. In acting as a conduit between the worlds of academia and practice, professional bodies have an important role to play by demonstrating the mutual value to both academics and practitioners resulting from a closer engagement between MA research and practice. Research limitations/implications: As one of the few empirically-based, theoretically informed investigations exploring the research-practice gap in management accounting, this study provides insights rather than "answers". Its findings therefore serve as a foundational basis for further empirical and theoretical enquiry. Originality/value: This study contributes to the conversation about the "research-practice gap" in management accounting by adopting a distinct theoretical vantage point to organize, analyse and interpret empirical evidence obtained from Australian professional accounting bodies about management accounting practice. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Intern pharmacists as change agents to improve the practice of nonprescription medication supply: provision of salbutamol to patients with asthma

BACKGROUND: Earlier work established an evidence practice gap during provision of nonprescription salbutamol (albuterol). Pharmacist interns are hypothesized to be in a position to improve professional practice in the community pharmacy setting. OBJECTIVE: To explore the potential of intern pharmacists to improve the professional practice of community pharmacy staff in the provision of nonprescription salbutamol. METHODS: Intern pharmacists (n = 157) delivered an asthma intervention in 136 pharmacies consisting of an educational activity to pharmacy staff and a health promotion campaign to consumers. Post-intervention, simulated patients presented to 100 intervention and 100 control community pharmacies with a request for salbutamol. The appropriate outcome was medical referral for poor asthma control and correction of poor inhaler technique. Incidence and quantity of patient assessment and counseling provided during the visit were also assessed. Logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of medical referral. RESULTS: A doubling in the rate of medical referral was seen in the intervention group (19% vs 40%; p = 0.001). Assessment of reliever use frequency was the main predictor of medical referral (OR = 22.7; 95% CI 9.06 to 56.9). Correction of poor inhaler technique did not improve; however, a reduction in salbutamol supplied without patient assessment (23% vs 8%; p = 0.009) or counseling (75% vs 48%; p < 0.001) was noted. CONCLUSIONS: A doubling in the rate of medical referral showed a clear improvement in professional practice during the provision of nonprescription salbutamol. The improved patient outcome in the intervention group was due to increased assessment of reliever use frequency. Identification of poor inhaler technique remained near zero in both groups, which suggests that intern pharmacists were able to improve the current practice of community pharmacies yet were unable to establish a new practice behavior. This study provides evidence that intern pharmacists can act as change agents to improve pharmacy practice.

The theory-practice divide:thoughts from the Editors and Senior Advisory Board of EJM

Purpose – The purpose of this editorial is to bring together thoughts and opinions from the Editors and Senior Advisory Board of EJM regarding the nature of the long-debated “theory-practice divide” in marketing scholarship. Design/methodology/approach – The authors synthesise diverse opinions from senior academics in order both to inspire further debate in marketing scholarship, and to draw some important conclusions for marketing academia as a whole. Findings – The authors propose that, for marketing scholarship to mature and progress, room must be found for those who wish to focus both on practical and on pure marketing scholarship. Career advancement from both routes is vital. Research limitations/implications – The topic of the theory-practice gap is complex. Many diverse opinions are cited and, due to space constraints, the coverage of many issues is necessarily brief. Practical implications – Scholars should find the thoughts contained in the paper of significant interest. Originality/value – The paper appears to be the first to bring together such a set of diverse opinions on the subject, and to try to draw some overall pragmatic conclusions, while still recognising the multiplicity of valid thought in the area.

Neuromarketing and the perceptions of knowledge

The emerging field of neuromarketing reveals that knowledge has plasticity. In other words, different stakeholders, marketing researchers and practitioners, perceive the development and application of neuromarketing knowledge in different ways. Having different perceptions of knowledge is not a new issue, but finding new interconnections between those perceptions is beneficial to knowledge creation and diffusion. The research-practice gap in neuromarketing is briefly discussed and then resolved through the contribution of this commentary, the proposal of a novel Neuromarketing Research Model. The Model interconnects basic research reporting, applied research reporting, media reporting and power processes.

Proof in the pedagogic pudding? The challenges of promoting evidence-based teaching practice in a research-focused institution

Drawing upon the findings of a mixed methodological study, this paper critically analyses the cultural, pedagogical, and organisational issues encountered by academics and support staff working within a newly established Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice tasked with facilitating a new teaching-focused policy in a previously research-led institution. The aim of this policy is to assure that, across the institution, teaching is given the same priority and kudos as research. Focusing specifically staff perceptions of the impact of the new policy on various aspects of academic life including, pedagogic practice, student support, staff training, and organisational management, the paper critically addresses the cultural and attitudinal challenges of change management (Kotter, 1996) within a ‘grey-brick’ university. In doing so it makes a significant contribution to current academic theory and debate in the areas of pedagogic practice and organisational management.

The silence of the archives:postcolonialism and the practice of historical reconstruction from archival evidence

History as a discipline has been accused of being a-theoretical. For business historians working at business schools, however, the issue of methodology looms larger, as it is hard to make contributions to social science debates without explicating one’s disciplinary methodology. This paper seeks to outline an important aspect of historical methodology, which is data collection from archives. In this area, postcolonialism has made significant methodological contributions not just for non-Western history, as it has emphasized the importance of considering how archives were created, and how one can legitimately use them despite their limitations.

Does move to market have an impact on earnings gap across gender? Some evidence from India

We use Indian National Sample Survey employment–unemployment data for the urban sector for the years 1987 and 1999. Our results indicate that the gender wage gap had narrowed considerably between these two years, for all earnings deciles and for all education cohorts. The narrowing of the earnings gap can be attributed largely to a sharp increase in the returns to the labour market experience of women.

The state of the art in organizational cognitive neuroscience:the therapeutic gap and possible implications for clinical practice

In the last decade, researchers in the social sciences have increasingly adopted neuroscientific techniques, with the consequent rise of research inspired by neuroscience in disciplines such as economics, marketing, decision sciences, and leadership. In 2007, we introduced the term organizational cognitive neuroscience (OCN), in an attempt to clearly demarcate research carried out in these many areas, and provide an overarching paradigm for research utilizing cognitive neuroscientific methods, theories, and concepts, within the organizational and business research fields. Here we will revisit and further refine the OCN paradigm, and define an approach where we feel the marriage of organizational theory and neuroscience will return even greater dividends in the future and that is within the field of clinical practice.

Market risk reporting by the world's top banks:evidence on the diversity of reporting practice and the implications for international accounting harmonisation

The increasing adoption of international accounting standards and global convergence of accounting regulations is frequently heralded as serving to reduce diversity in financial reporting practice. In a process said to be driven in large part by the interests of international business and global financial markets, one might expect the greatest degree of convergence to be found amongst the world’s largest multinational financial corporations. This paper challenges such claims and presumptions. Its content analysis of longitudinal data for the period 2000-2006 reveals substantial, on going diversity in the market risk disclosure practices, both numerical and narrative, of the world’s top-25 banks. The significance of such findings is reinforced by the sheer scale of the banking sector’s risk exposures that have been subsequently revealed in the current global financial crisis. The variations in disclosure practices documented in the paper apply both across and within national boundaries, leading to a firm conclusion that, at least in terms of market risk reporting, progress towards international harmonisation remains rather more apparent than real.

Integrated logistics and supply chain management:the state of practice in Ireland

The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were provided with aid to offset locational disadvantages in the run up to the Single European Market. Since then the Republic has emerged as the fastest growing member of the E.U. Success has not been underpinned by the transport system, suggesting that business has had to overcome locational disadvantages by strong performance elsewhere in the supply chain. The evidence indicates that there are Irish firms operating supply chain management techniques at a truly international standard. The problem is that there are so few in that category Meeting Ireland’s competitiveness challenge means closing the gap between the small group of large and foreign-owned firms, which display excellence in SCM, and the larger group of indigenous small and medium size businesses, which do not.

Knowledge acquisition and research evidence in autism:researcher and practitioner perspectives and engagement

Background: Government policy and national practice guidelines have created an increasing need for autism services to adopt an evidence-based practice approach. However, a gap continues to exist between research evidence and its application. This study investigated the difference between autism researchers and practitioners in their methods of acquiring knowledge. Methods: In a questionnaire study, 261 practitioners and 422 researchers reported on the methods they use and perceive to be beneficial for increasing research access and knowledge. They also reported on their level of engagement with members of the other professional community. Results: Researchers and practitioners reported different methods used to access information. Each group, however, had similar overall priorities regarding access to research information. While researchers endorsed the use of academic journals significantly more often than practitioners, both groups included academic journals in their top three choices. The groups differed in the levels of engagement they reported; researchers indicated they were more engaged with practitioners than vice versa. Conclusions: Comparison of researcher and practitioner preferences led to several recommendations to improve knowledge sharing and translation, including enhancing access to original research publications, facilitating informal networking opportunities and the development of proposals for the inclusion of practitioners throughout the research process.