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Purpose This paper aims to use a perspective informed by practice theory to examine the influence of change agents in enacting management control systems (MCS) in the process of shaping strategy. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a case study approach to examine the implementation of a business strategy in the utility sector. The authors seek a better understanding of practice theory and its role in influencing institutional change and stability. Findings The case study findings show that the change agents enacted MCS practices that aided the metamorphosis of a once state-owned company into a for-profit enterprise. The findings show how the organisation transformed from a long-established preoccupation with technical systems and engineering and shifted to a focus on customer satisfaction and shareholder interests. Research limitations/implications In terms of policy implications, bureaucrats need to appreciate that inculcating business norms is not an easy path and can be met with resistance, which creates delays in strategy implementation. The current study, while reporting some of the influences of tribal loyalty, was nevertheless limited by not having the time and space to examine in-depth the intersections of MCS and strategy within a strongly tribal context. This can be an avenue for future research. Practical implications The study helps to understand embedded actors in the implementation of strategy by refocusing research on the actions and interactions of strategy implementation practitioners. Originality/value The authors contribute to the literature by seeking to use practice theory and offer a valuable understanding, from the actor level, of how practices are created and enacted. Often accounting studies have paid less attention to the change agents in the process of shaping business-oriented strategic activity. This study enabled us to gain a better understanding of the action and practice behaviour around the strategy-MCS nexus.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the actions of public sector accountants in the New Zealand government departments as they respond to the demands of the Central Treasury.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is developed through an understanding of the secondary literature and practical experience of the first author who worked in the New Zealand public sector as a public sector accountant from 1972 to 1998. Both authors have remained active in the public sector through research and practice. The first author's last three placements were being Director Financial Management in the Ministry of Energy, Assistant Secretary in the Department of Maori Affairs and finally as CFO at the Ministry of Education. The first author has been a close observer of the Budget and was a participant at the departmental level for over 20 years.FindingsThe public sector reforms have posed challenges for public sector accountants. The arrival of accrual output based budgeting shaped a reconfiguration of accountants' identities. The politicians made public sector accountants the central entity of accrual output based budgeting and thus responsible for increasing public sector efficiency.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to public sector in New Zealand only.Practical implicationsThis study would be of use to practitioners interested in the pressures and opportunities which arise out of a particular constellation of administrative roles.Social implicationsThe administrative history, in particular, by senior officers is often unwritten for the public sector offices.Originality/valueThis is a descriptive piece on the role of public sector accountants and contributes to the understanding of how financial accountability works within the New Zealand Central Government.

Salman Rushdie has established himself as one of the most powerful modern writers. With his famous novels Grimus (1975), Midnight's Children (1981), Shame (1983) and Satanic Verses (1988), he has emerged as a novelist of repute. The theme in his novels is fairly varied. Rushdie is a trend setter. He has conjured up a new trend by mixing free-flight-fairy tale with savage political indictment. The concept of postmodernism includes a wide variety of subjects, including art, architecture, music, film, literature, sociology, communication, fashion and technology. In postmodern art we note self-reflexivity and consciousness, fragmentation and discontinuity, ambiguity and emphasis on the destructured, decentered, dehuminized subject. Nowadays there are some sub-continental writers giving voice to the broad political, religious, historical and cultural experiences of South Asia. These writers are very much interested in India and write in English. Salman Rushdie is the first and the most prominent sub-continental writer, writing in English who constructs Indian history and Indian experience within the context of this hybridity. His novels have personal touches and the element of subjectivity is found in his novels.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the perceptions of owners and accountants of small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs) on the users and their financial information needs of SME financial reporting.Design/methodology/approachPostal questionnaire surveys with owners and accountants of SMEs were used to identify users and their financial information needs. In total, 1,498 questionnaires were sent to SME owners and accountants. A total of 358 questionnaires were returned, generating 323 useable questionnaires. The management branch of stakeholder theory is used for the study which asserts that company management is expected to meet the expectations of those stakeholders who are more powerful than others.FindingsThe users of Sri Lanka SME financial information were limited to owners, banks and Department of Inland Revenue. Users and financial information needs of owners varied in relation to the size of the SME. Financial information are useful for making capital investment and planning decisions for owners regardless of the size of the SME. By sharing information with outside parties, disclosures can diminish information asymmetries between the firms and its stakeholders. The top three reasons for which owners use SME financial information are for planning purposes, estimating income tax liabilities, and taking marketing and pricing decisions.Research limitations/implicationsSince the study focuses only on the views of owner-managers and accountants of SMEs, the holistic understanding of uses of SME financial information by other user groups cannot be achieved.Practical implicationsThe results of this study provide international and local standard setters with an indication of future direction for SME financial reporting.Social implicationsThis paper extends existing knowledge on users and their financial information needs of SMEs in developing countries. Consequently, the findings of this paper make a valuable contribution to the work of practitioners such as local and international standards-setters and regulators who may be considering developing/revising financial reporting framework for SMEs either worldwide or in developing countries.Originality/valueAlthough SME financial reporting has attracted enormous attention in the recent accounting literature, academic research into SME financial reporting is scant. This paper extends existing knowledge on users and their financial information needs of SMEs in developing countries. The general purpose financial reporting model and the accounting standard IFRS for SMEs in particular would not be applicable to Sri Lankan SMEs unless it modifies to reflect the financial information needs of users of Sri Lankan SME financial information.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the embedding of sustainability courses in the accounting curriculum by using the Delta Business School in New Zealand as an example. The focus of this paper is an effective learning strategy on sustainability education, which other business schools could follow using this approach. Design/methodology/approach Each course’s published outline was subjected to an in-depth analysis. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather information from the course controllers and students. Findings The findings revealed that while some courses are considered stand-alone sustainability courses, others incorporate a technical focus on accounting as required by the professional accounting bodies: Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, certified public accountant (Australia) and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Research limitations/implications The research is limited to sustainability education content at a single university. Practical implications Students at tertiary education institutions, who will be future managers, are dependent on business schools to teach them the importance of sustainability. Social implications Sustainability education in accounting could be instrumental in transforming the nature and role of the accountant in society. Originality/value This paper contributes to the discussion required to understand how sustainability education is embedded within the accounting curriculum and the perceptions of lecturers and students with regard to sustainability education.

The strawberry plant is an herbaceous perennial and having a shallow root system needs effective nutrient management. The conventional farming system involves the enormous use of chemicals which leads to the degradation of plant and soil health. On the contrary, organic fruit production is more beneficial for plant health and organic fruit production has gained momentum due to increasing the cost of fertilizers and growing ecological concerns. Seaweed extracts are considered an organic farm input as they are environment-friendly and safe for human health. Keeping in view the bio-stimulatory potential of seaweed extracts, a study was conducted to elucidate their effect on the blooming, yield, quality, and runners' production of strawberries under polyhouse conditions during the year 2018-19. The seaweed extract (SWE) was used at variable concentrations viz, 0.75 ml L-1, 1.0 ml L-1, and 1.25 ml L-1 which were applied at the pre-flowering stage (PFS) or Fruit set stages (FSS) or both the stages (PSS and FSS). The study revealed that the foliar spray of seaweed extract at pre-flowering and fruit set enhanced the blooming characteristics and runner production. Furthermore, the plant treated with 1.0-1.25 ml L-1 seaweed extract at the pre-flowering and fruit set stage exhibited the highest cumulative yield and better fruit quality characteristics.

William Golding was versatile genius. He wrote novels, plays, short stories, poems and essays. With all these talents, he was sure to win the best of honours in the world of literature. William Golding presents a variety of women characters in his fictional world: As a novelist he has a deep penetrating insight into the life of modern men and women. The women's world in William Golding is not very large. His basic concern is to make a psychological study of man-woman relationship. In his novels we see that sometimes woman has a free fall and other times she becomes an agent in the hands of man to add to the decline of human values. Family in British society is a small unit: it is not as vast as it is in the Eastern society. There are families in William Golding but they are in most of the cases, single units, When we read William Golding's novels, we find that the central characters in novels are men. There are less women characters in his novels. But still they play an important role in the novels. He presents women in various roles. They are teachers, housewives, clerks, nurses, students, labourers and prostitutes. The female world of William Golding is very limited but significant

This study examines the sustainability and green banking performance of Indonesian banking sectors from their disclosures in sustainability reports covering a period of nine consecutive years. The findings elucidate that sustainability and green-banking disclosures are still dynamic year to year. Economic disclosures are the most widely disclosed information, while environmental disclosures are the lowest. Applying a content analysis method, this study uses the sustainability disclosure guidelines from the global reporting initiatives (GRI) and Measuring Green Banking Practices guidelines developed by Shaumya and Arulrajah (2016). Combining these two measurements provided a more comprehensive disclosure list as guidance. This study is important, as it will contribute to the literature on green banking, which is scarce in the extant literature. Given the lack of standardization in sustainability, this study develops an indicator database to advance research on sustainability measurement and reporting in relation to green banking. The managerial implications for banks implementing sustainability they require sustainability governance as a platform to evaluate and monitor the sustainable finance action plan and build a sustainability strategy. This will enable banks to manage not only economic, but also environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk.

The study examines attitudes, concerns, self-efficacy, and intentions of secondary school teachers from Australia (n = 140) and Switzerland (n = 221) to teach in inclusive classrooms. Australian ed...

Queuing theory is the mathematics of waiting lines. It is extremely useful in predicting and evaluating system performance. Queuing theory has been used for operations research, manufacturing and systems analysis The common problem arises in almost every famous dhaba is that they lose their customers due to a long wait on the line. Some dhaba provide extra chair for the customer to wait. But after waiting too long they leave. However, waiting chairs alone would not solve a problem when customers withdraw and go to the next dhaba. This causes a lot of loss to our dhaba. This shows a need of a numerical model for the restaurant management to understand the situation better. This paper aims to show that queuing theory satisfies the model when tested with a real-case scenario. Authors obtained the data from a “Gulshan Dhaba” in Hodal, Haryana. in order to derive the arrival rate, service rate, utilization rate, waiting time in queue and the probability of potential customers to balk. The collected data is analysed by using Little’s Theorem and M/M/1 queuing model. The arrival rate at “Gulshan Dhaba”, Hodal during its busiest period of the day is 2 customers per minute (cpm) while the service rate is 2.02 cpm during our study period. The average number of customers in the restaurant is 100 and the utilization period is 0.99.

A need for the successful and sustained implementation of positive and proactive approaches to behaviour support has been widely acknowledged in Australia. School-wide positive behavioural interven...

In recent decades, organic kiwifruit farming has come up as a feasible method for high-quality kiwi production without using chemical fertilizers. The primary objective of this research was to investigate how the sole application of organic and the combined application of organic manures affected the growth, yields, and quality of Allison kiwifruit, as well as the soil's physicochemical characteristics. The field trial was conducted on cv. Allison to determine the efficacy of organic manures (OM) on growth, nutrient absorption, production and soil health. The experiment involved eight treatments, viz.: T

Purpose This paper aims to extend the literature by examining the need for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for Sri Lankan small and medium entities (SMEs) and investigating the institutional pressures that drove the adoption of the IFRS for SMEs in a developing country, Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical framework adopted in this study draws on insights from new institutional sociology theory. An interview-based qualitative research was conducted with accountants and owners of SMEs, representatives from government agencies and the accounting standards-setting authority of Sri Lanka. Findings The emphasis on the need for international accounting standards for SMEs due to international structures and activities is not a priority for Sri Lankan SMEs. Sri Lankan SME owners do not receive requests to provide internationally comparable financial statements from their trade partners and international activities such as foreign exports, borrowings and ownerships are irrelevant business activities for them. Hence, findings reveal that the decision to adopt the IFRS for SMEs was in response to institutional pressures rather than alleged benefits of internationally comparable financial information. It appears from the results that the influence of local users’ needs and the government interference on the development of accounting standards does not exist in Sri Lanka. Research limitations/implications The research is limited to a single country. The data were collected from SMEs in Sri Lanka, as intended by the research boundary.[AQ1] The study has implications for policy makers, and standard setters charged with developing and implementing an appropriate financial reporting framework for SMEs. Originality/value The extant literature on IFRS for SMEs is sparse and mostly conducted through questionnaire surveys with a single user group of SME financial information.

Queuing theory is the study of waiting lines and is very helpful in solving many problems. In this paper, the idea of queuing theory is adopted to model about practical problems like filling the admission form in colleges. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis has bought unprecedented challenges to higher education. The COVID-19 pandemic has left students and colleges struggling. The COVID-19 pandemic bought extraordinary disruption to the education landscape with the campuses everywhere almost overnight. This method can be extended to larger scales and would provide better idea of how to fill admission form in colleges while during the pandemic period COVID-19 is very essential in saving me, saving money and energy.

This paper describes the methodology designed to maximize the service of medical system in hospitals. We apply the result of queuing theory to find maximum number of servers served by hospital authorities to provide oxygen. Too much waiting may be fatal to a critical patient and it may leads to increase the mortality rate than expected further a serious situation for Government and Medical authorities.

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that supported Australian teachers to meet the needs of all learners during COVID-19 lockdowns. A qualitative design was used, and interviews were conducted with teachers who were purposely identified. The participants (n = 5) worked across different educational contexts ranging from primary to secondary school settings. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Five themes were identified related to teachers’ intrinsic strengths: passion and commitment, a proactive and organised approach, enhanced flexibility, building relationships and access to online technology. A further three extrinsic supporting factors were identified: supportive school teams, supportive school leadership (empowerment, autonomy and time) and supportive school systems and structures. The implications of these findings are discussed and the need for sharing and applying learnings across the profession are emphasised as an opportunity to further improve the access of every learner to a high quality and inclusive education.

Vascularized composite tissue allotransplantation (VCA) to replace limbs or faces damaged beyond repair is now possible. The resulting clear benefit to quality of life is a compelling reason to attempt this complex procedure. Unfortunately, the high doses of immunosuppressive drugs required to protect this type of allograft result in significant morbidity and mortality giving rise to ethical concerns about performing this surgery in patients with non-life-threatening conditions. Here we tested whether we could suppress anti-graft immune activity by using a safe βA heterotopic hind limb transplantation model was used with C57BL/6 (H-2b) as recipients and BALB/c (H-2d) mice as donors. To test the modulation of the immune response, graft survival was investigated after daily intraperitoneal injection of βTreatment with the ββ

Parental perspectives about the inclusion of their child with a disability has received limited attention in the literature. Considering parental voice plays an important role in determining the quality of inclusive education, the lack of reliable and valid tools to investigate parental experiences has significantly limited research in this area. One of the key objectives of this study was to build the evidence base in the field by testing the psychometric properties of the newly developed Parental Perception of Inclusion Climate Scale, using a systematic approach drawing on a review of available research in the field. The scale incorporates items that address parental perspectives regarding six key aspects of inclusion for their child including presence, participation, acceptance, achievement, happiness and belonging. Participants were recruited through social media, and data from 190 parents of children with additional learning needs attending a range of school settings were collected. Results suggested a three-factor structure, with strong internal consistency for the scale. These factors were: Teacher and School Support; Student Engagement; and Friendships. The scale showed that parents are generally moderately satisfied with their child’s inclusion in school overall. A series of independent sample t-tests and one-way ANOVAs revealed significant differences in parental perspectives of inclusion as measured by the scale according to school sector, disability type, and parent gender. Parents whose children attend government schools reported less satisfaction with their child’s inclusion at school and also with the support provided by teachers and schools more broadly as measured by the Teacher and School Support subscale, as compared to parents of children who attend independent schools. Results also suggested that parents of children with a social emotional disability reported less satisfaction with their child’s engagement in school as measured by the Student Engagement subscale as compared to parents of children without a social emotional disability. Finally, fathers reported higher levels of satisfaction with their child’s engagement in school as measured by the Student Engagement subscale and also higher levels of satisfaction with their peer relationships as measured by the Friendships subscale than mothers. This study provides a tool that researchers, school educators, and policy makers could use to collect evidence about the efficacy of inclusive practices for students with a disability or additional support needs. The scale could provide educators and researchers with a valuable tool to guide evidence-based practice and theory in inclusive education.

The world population is expected to be around 9 billion by 2050 which would be 34 per cent greater than the today’s population. This will enhance the food demand to match the rising population. Horticultural commodities in general and fruit in the particular has been designated as the source of nutraceuticals. For reaching up optimum level of production, Biostimulants may come up with and the emerging concept of to meet out with this challenge and over the last decade, utilization of natural plant biostimulants is gaining importance. The use of biostimulants can be extensively exploited under fruit crops as they contribute towards a crucial role in enhancing the anatomical, morphological, physiological, that ultimately ameliorated the fruit productivity, and quality of the fruits. In addition, the application of biostimulants helps in promoting physiological actions like photosynthesis, nutrients metabolism, enzymatic activities, chlorophyll, protein and carbohydrate content. It also helps to mitigate abiotic stress like water stress, salinity, temperature, and changes related to oxidation–reduction reaction, reactive oxygen species detoxification, stress signaling, and hormonal pathways. After much exploration regarding the effects of biostimulants on fruit crops, there is still a void that exists in the area related to its impact on various traits. Henceforth, an appropriate tactics approach is much needed under the areas of research about biostimulants. Graphical Abstract

Students exhibiting behaviours of concern are at increased risk of poor outcomes during their school years. The implementation of school-wide positive behavioural interventions and supports (SWPBIS) has repeatedly been shown to be an effective, evidence-based approach that supports teachers to select and adopt effective practices to meet the social and behavioural needs of all learners. Implementation of SWPBIS within Australian schools is increasing. Although there is considerable evidence supporting the effectiveness and efficacy of SWPBIS as a means to improve the behavioural outcomes of all students, these positive outcomes largely depend on the actions of teachers. To this point, very limited research has been published that explores the experiences of teachers working in Australian schools currently implementing SWPBIS. The current study asked 206 Victorian teachers working in schools implementing SWPBIS two open-ended questions about the factors that they believed were facilitators or barriers to their ability to improve the behavioural outcomes of their students. The most commonly reported facilitators were availability of time, consistency of staff implementation of behaviour support, and adequate training. The most frequently identified barriers were a lack of time and inconsistent implementation. The practical and research implications of these preliminary qualitative findings are discussed.

Deterioration of pavement is defined in terms of decrease in serviceability caused by various defects such as cracks, surface defects and disintegration. Potholes are the surface defects and the primary neighbourhood problems, as they are exceptionally visible defects. In the present study, an attempt has been made to determine the underlying causes for the development of potholes on the streets of Chandigarh city. Bitumen extractor was used to determine the bitumen content present in the road sample taken by core cutter alongside pothole. Grading of aggregates was performed in order to determine the type of soil subgrade. Using the traffic volume data, the required thickness of the road was determined and compared with the existing core cutter sample. For V1 and V2 roads, the present traffic volume is higher than the value for what the road was designed. It was found that the existing bitumen content in V3 roads is less than the optimum value.

Despite policy initiatives to ban use of corporal punishment, some teachers still use punitive classroom management strategies in countries like Indonesia. With the urgent need for teachers to use ...

BACKGROUND This was a randomised single-blinded study. It was designed to compare the superiority of infiltration analgesia and ultrasound guided unilateral transversus abdominis plane block on pain scores, total opioid consumption, and assess the side effects of opioid after nephrectomy. METHODS This study included 56 patients aged between 18 - 50 years with American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) status II - III who underwent nephrectomy. Patients were broadly placed in 2 groups, who underwent transversus abdominis plane block for postoperative analgesia as Group TAP and infiltration analgesia as Group LA. Visual analog scale was used for post-operative pain evaluation at the 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24 hours. Patients with VAS of more than 3 were given tramadol 1 mg / Kg. In the first 24 hours postoperatively, total analgesic consumption, rate of nausea vomiting and other side effect of patients were recorded and results were evaluated statistically. RESULTS Demographic characteristics were similar in the two groups; post-operative visual analog scale (VAS) score were significantly less in the transversus abdominis plane block group at the 6th, 8th and 12th hours compared to the infiltration analgesia group. The total analgesic consumption and nausea-vomiting rates were significantly lower in the transversus abdominis plane block. CONCLUSIONS In our study transversus abdominis plane block method was found superior to infiltration analgesia method on post-operative pain management in unilateral nephrectomy. In conclusion, we recommend the transversus abdominis plane block to be effective for post-operative analgesia after unilateral nephrectomy. KEYWORDS Nephrectomy, Postoperative Pain Management, Transversus Abdominis Plane Block, Infiltration Analgesia, opioid Consumption

The kiwifruit [Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) C.F. Liang & A.R. Ferguson] has attained significant importance for commercial cultivation in the mid-Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent during the last three decades. The fruit quality matching international standards has remained a concern. Keeping in mind the bio-stimulatory effects of seaweed extract, a marine bioactive component in horticultural crops, the current study conducted to elucidate the impact of seaweed extract on kiwifruit growth, yield, and quality was conducted in the Department of Fruit Science’s kiwifruit block at Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Himachal Pradesh, India. For the studies, nine-year-old Allison kiwi vines of uniform size and vigor were planted at a spacing of 4 m × 6 m. With 11 treatments, the experiment was set up in a randomized block design viz, T1: Spray treatment of 1000 ppm (seaweed extract) SWE at fruit set (FS); T2:Spray treatment of 2000 ppm SWE at FS; T3: Spray treatment of 3000 ppm SWE at FS; T4: Spray treatment of 1000 ppm SWE at FS and 10 days after Fruit set (FS); T5: Spray treatment of 2000 ppm SWE at FS and 10 days after FS (DAFS); T6: Spray treatment of 3000 ppm SWE at FS and 10 days after FS; T7: Fruit dip treatment of 1000 ppm SWE at 10 days after FS; T8: Fruit dip treatment @ 2000 ppm SWE at 10 days after FS; T9: Fruit dip treatment @3000 ppm SWE at 10 days after fruit set; T10: Fruit dip treatment @ 5 ppm CPPU at 10 days after fruit set; T11: Control. The current study compared several seaweed extract treatments, which were applied at various times and concentrations, to N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-N-phenyl-urea (CPPU-5ppm) and untreated control. Seaweed extract (SWE) dip at 3000 ppm 10 days after the fruit set produced significant growth in fruit length and diameter in growing kiwifruit, which was non-significant with CPPU treatment and superior to control. The shape index, fruit weight, and total fruit yield were also found to be the highest with the same treatment. Fruit quality parameters, namely fruit soluble solids contents (SSC) and total sugars, were recorded at a maximum with the SWE Spray dose of 3000 ppm at FS and 10 DAFS. The SSC: Acid ratio and reducing sugars were recorded as the highest with an application of SWE dip at 3000 ppm 10 DAFS. The application of SWE dip at 2000 ppm 10 DAFS) was found to advance the harvesting maturity by 6 days and also exhibited the lowest physiological loss in weight (% PLW) with the highest ascorbic acid content. After 15 days of storage at ambient room temperature (25 ± 2 °C), the application of SWE dip at 3000 ppm 10 DAFS recorded the highest SSC acid ratio and the lowest titratable acidity. Thus, the application of seaweed extract dip at 3000 ppm 10 days after the fruit set can be recommended to the farmers as an appropriate alternative to the chemical treatment.