An analysis of the qualitative characteristics of management commentary reporting by New Zealand companies

The narrative section of annual reports has considerable value to its user groups, such as financial analysts and investors (Tiexiera, 2004; Barlett and Chandler, 1997, IASB, 2006). This narrative section including chairpersons’/presidents’ statement contains twice the quantity of information than the financial statements section (Smith and Taffler, 2000). However, the abundance of information does not necessarily enhance the quality of such information (IASB, 2006). This issue of qualitative characteristics has been long foregone by researchers. This issue has attracted the attention of IASB (2006). Following the dearth in research in regard to qualitative characteristics of reporting this paper explores whether investors’ required qualitative characteristics as outlined by the IASB (2006) have been satisfied in management commentary section of New Zealand companies’ annual reports. Our result suggests that the principal stakeholders’, that is, investors’ qualitative characteristics requirements have been partially met in this section of annual reports. The qualitative characteristic of ‘relevance’ and ‘supportability’ have been satisfied in more annual reports compared to that of ‘balance’ and ‘comparability.’

Planning, development and management of sustainable cities: A commentary from the guest editors

Cities are the most dramatic manifestations of human activities on the surface of the earth. These human-dominated organisms—i.e., cities—degrade natural habitats, simplify species composition, disrupt hydrological systems, and modify energy flow and nutrient cycling. Today, these consequential impacts of human activities, originated from population increase, rapid urbanization, high private motor vehicle dependency, deregulated industrialization and mass livestock production, are increasing exponentially and causing great deal of environmental, social, and economic challenges both at global and local scales. In such a situation, establishment of sustainable cities, through sustainable urban development practices, is seen as a potential panacea to combat these challenges responsibly, effectively, and efficiently. This paper offers a critical review of the key literature on the issues relating to planning, development and management of sustainable cities, introduces the contributions from the Special Issue, and speculates on the prospective research directions to place necessary mechanisms to secure a sustainable urban future for all.

The science of horticulture, including a practical system for the management of fruit trees, arranged on demonstrative physiological principles; illustrated by sketches, in twelve plates. With a commentary on the works of Bradley, Hitt, Miller, Forsyth, Knight, Kirwan, Sir Humphry Davy, and Mrs. Ibbotson.

Mode of access: Internet.

Building a supportive environment for teaching and learning : a reflective commentary

Universities are increasingly caught in the transition between college institutions of independant academics to become managed businesses of research and teaching and learning. This is introducing substantial issues with the work, approach and personal development needs of individual academics. It is causing even greater concerns for managers within universities. The developments in University Management have increasingly become driven towards issues of finance, quality and marketing. Organizational development in teaching and learning practices has been less commonly a point of focus. This paper outlines developments of this nature at the University of Salford. Through its combination of authors it does so at whole University, Faculty and School levels. It outlines the variety of ways in which teaching and learning developments can be supported within an organisation.

Australasian nutrition research for prevention and management of child obesity : innovation and progress in the last decade

The Food and Nutrition stream of Australasian Child and Adolescent Obesity Research Network (ACAORN) aims to improve the quality of dietary methodologies and the reporting of dietary intake within Australasian child obesity research (http://www.acaorn.org.au/streams/nutrition/). With 2012 marking ACAORN’s 10th anniversary, this commentary profiles a selection of child obesity nutrition research published over the last decade by Food and Nutrition Stream members. In addition, stream activities have included the development of an online selection guide to assist researchers in their selection of appropriate dietary intake methodologies (http://www.acaorn.org.au/streams/nutrition/dietary-intake/index.php). The quantity and quality of research to guide effective child obesity prevention and treatment has increased substantially over the last decade. ACAORN provides a successful case study of how research networks can provide a collegial atmosphere to foster and co-ordinate research efforts in an otherwise competitive environment.

Data replication and extension: A commentary

Honig and Samuelsson (2014) and Delmar (2015) recently had an exchange in this journal related to a replication-and-extension attempt of two papers which originally arrived at different conclusions based on the same data set. This commentary provides further clarification on the issues and links the debate to broader issues scholarly culture and practices in entrepreneurship research.

David Clutterbuck, mentoring and coaching - A commentary

Simon Jenkins, in his stimulus piece on David Clutterbuck amply demonstrates just how prolific Clutterbuck has been over a working lifetime. Generally accepted as the person who introduced supported mentoring into Europe, Clutterbuck has written widely on matters that relate to relationships, processes, evidence (and its capacity or otherwise to influence practice), procedures, complexity, management, supervision, guidance (of one kind or another); the list goes on. It is an impressive vita indeed and yet, Clutterbuck’s influence on the world of sports and more specifically, sports coaching; remains relatively modest. Of course this is the purpose of Jenkins’ piece, to stimulate our thought processes such that our attention can be drawn to the possible impact Clutterbuck might have in sport, sports coaching, and athlete and coach mentoring. If nothing else, this is an admirable challenge that Jenkins has set himself.

Plant Breeder's Rights: An Australian commentary December 2004

The aim of this manual is to provide a practical guide to the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994 (Cth). It is a resource of information about the legislation, its administration, and its operation. This commentary is intended to assist plant breeders, scientific researchers, and business managers who want to make a more effective use of the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994 (Cth) in the management and commercialisation of their intellectual property rights. It is also designed to enhance the understanding of the legislation among lawyers, patent attorneys, qualified persons, and policy-makers.

Owning the new economy: A guide to intellectual property management for Australia's clean technology sector

Australia's history of developing and managing the intellectual property rights of domestic innovations is – at best – mixed. The relevant immaturity of Australia's public sector commercialisation infrastructure has, over recent decades, been the subject of both stinging academic commentary and not insubstantial juridical disbelief. That said, improvements have been observed, and increasingly, private sector involvement in public sector innovation has allowed for a deepening refinement of domestic approaches to IP retention and ongoing management. Rather than a bare critique of Australia's IP management track-record, or a call for specific law reform, this manual engages at a more practical level some of the foundational questions that ought be asked by entities involved in the 'cleantech' industries. Beginning simply at what is IP and why it matters, this manual examines the models of IP management available to market participants around the world. The process of IP management is defined and assessed through a commercial lens; assessing the 'pros' and 'cons' of each management choice with a view to equipping the reader to determine which approach may be best adapted to their given clean tech project. The manual concludes with a brief survey of alternative models of Intellectual Property management, including relevant examples from overseas and prominent suggestions arising out of the academic discourse. It appears inevitable that the global warming challenge will prompt specific legislative, regulatory and multi-lateral responses by nation states, however, the ultimate form of any such response remains a highly contested political and social issue. Accordingly, the structure of this manual, and the discussion points raised herein, seek introduce the reader to some of the more contentious debates occurring around the world at the intersection between IP and climate change.

What the problem may be with family intervention . . . and with dissemination more generally: A commentary

While the two decades since the study by Kavanagh et al. (1993) has given additional insights into effective dissemination of family interventions, the accompanying papers show that progress remains limited. The effectiveness trial that triggered this series of papers offers a cautionary tale. Despite management support, 30–35 hr of workshop training and training of local supervisors who could act as champions, use of the full intervention was limited. In part, this seemed due to the demanding nature of the intervention and its incompatibility with practitioners’ roles, in part, to limitations in the training, among other factors. While the accompanying papers note these and other barriers to dissemination, they miss a more disturbing finding in the original paper: Practitioners said they were using several aspects in routine care, despite being unable to accurately describe what they were. This finding highlights the risks in taking practitioners’ reports of their practice in files or supervision sessions at face value and potentially has implications for reports of other clinical work. The fidelity of disseminated treatments can only be assured by audits of practice, accompanied by affirming but also corrective feedback.

Euro-Commentary : Scenario Analysis and Regional Economic Development: The Case of Mid Wales

Fuller-Love, Nerys, et al., 'Euro-Commentary : Scenario Analysis and Regional Economic Development: The Case of Mid Wales', European Urban and Regional Studies (2006) 13(2) pp.143-149 RAE2008

International guidelines for management of metastatic breast cancer: Can metastatic breast cancer be cured?

A distinctive subset of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is oligometastatic disease, which is characterized by single or few detectable metastatic lesions. The existing treatment guidelines for patients with localized MBC include surgery, radiotherapy, and regional chemotherapy. The European School of Oncology-Metastatic Breast Cancer Task Force addressed the management of these patients in its first consensus recommendations published in 2007. The Task Force endorsed the possibility of a more aggressive and multidisciplinary approach for patients with oligometastatic disease, stressing also the need for clinical trials in this patient population. At the sixth European Breast Cancer Conference, held in Berlin in March 2008, the second public session on MBC guidelines addressed the controversial issue of whether MBC can be cured. In this commentary, we summarize the discussion and related recommendations regarding the available therapeutic options that are possibly associated with cure in these patients. In particular, data on local (surgery and radiotherapy) and chemotherapy options are discussed. Large retrospective series show an association between surgical removal of the primary tumor or of lung metastases and improved long-term outcome in patients with oligometastatic disease. In the absence of data from prospective randomized studies, removal of the primary tumor or isolated metastatic lesions may be an attractive therapeutic strategy in this subset of patients, offering rapid disease control and potential for survival benefit. Some improvement in outcome may also be achieved with optimization of systemic therapies, possibly in combination with optimal local treatment. © 2010. Published by Oxford University Press.