Search results

Existing literature has begun to identify the agonistic and contested aspects of the ongoing development of accountability systems. These “contests” are particularly important during periods of change when an accountability “deficit” has been identified, that is, when existing accountability systems are deemed inadequate and requiring revision. The purpose of this paper is to explore one such set of contests in the case of large technology and social media firms: the so-called “big tech”. The authors focus specifically on “big tech” because of increasing societal concerns about the harms associated with their products, services and business practices.

The authors analysed four US Congressional hearings, in which the CEO of Facebook was held to account for the company's alleged breaches and harms. The authors conducted a discourse analysis of the dialogue between the account giver (Mark Zuckerberg) and account holders (Members of Congress) in the oral testimony at the four hearings.

Two areas of contestation in the dialogue between the account giver and account holders are identified. “Epistemic contests” involved contestation about the “facts” concerning the harms the company had allegedly caused. “Responsibility contests” involved contestation about who (or what) should be held responsible for these harms and according to what standards or criteria.

The study advances critical dialogical accountability literature by identifying two areas of contestation during periods of change in accountability systems. In so doing, they advanced the theory by conceptualising the process of change as underpinned by discursive contests in which multiple actors construct and contest the “problem” with existing accountability systems. The outcomes of these contests are significant, the authors suggest, because they inform the development of reforms to the accountability system governing big tech firms and other industries undergoing similar periods of contestation and change.

Taking a clue from the aftermaths of colonisation and the need to manage an “unholy marriage” created by the British colonial masters, the purpose of this paper is to examine the peculiar challenges of managing Nigeria’s unique diversity in the public sector through the critical lens of the Federal Character Principle (FCP) with specific focus on how this invented model of diversity management ended up creating more serious problems than it was meant to solve in the Nigerian public administration.

The paper is essentially a review, and it relies on previous studies and real-world evidence on the subject. The paper systematically traces the evolution of diversity management in Nigerian public administration through the critical lens of the FCP with specific focus on how problematic it is to management Nigeria’s unique diversity with more serious problems being created by the FCP application in the public sector.

The paper reveals that the constitutional provisions of the “Federal Character Principle” ended up in creating more problems than it set out to solve, reflecting in the “melting pot” allegory. It reveals how problematic it is to manage the country’s diversity, and highlights some of the problems created by the FCP. The review makes a case for an urgent need to intensify empirical research on the subject in order to fashion out a better way of managing Nigeria’s diversity in the public sector.

One major limitation of this paper is rooted in lack of empirical research such as survey to further explore the topic. Few real life examples and cases provided are considered insufficient to justify some of the assertions. Thus, a call for more systematic and empirical research is made.

The implication of the finding is that the model for managing workforce diversity especially in the Nigerian public sector (not limited to the public administration) must be “Nigerianised” such that the unique socio-cultural realities of the Nigeria’s society as well as benefits accrued to diversity can be fully explored in driving the growth of the country and survival of the “unity-in-diversity” goal.

The paper will benefit the government, all stakeholders, and the Nigerian society at large. It offers some useful insights into public administration. It stimulates an interest to conduct further research on diversity management with a view to producing some useful findings that could lead to a better management of diversity in the country.

This study aims to assess the quality characteristics and acceptability of cookies from sweet potato–maize flour blends and to determine nutritional quality, color and palatability traits and to compare the effects with that of wheat cookies, so as to suggest a cost-effective production method to bakers and retailers. This would ensure food security, enhanced health, combat malnutrition problems and improve the production of the crops.

Cookies were prepared by the method reported by Okaka and Isieh (1990), Abayomi et al. (2013), Onabanjo and Ighere (2014) with modification. Flour (200 g) from each sample of different flour blends was used for the experiment. Sugar (80 g) was creamed with margarine (100 g) until light and fluffy constituency was obtained using Kenwood chef with initial minimum speed, and the speed increased stepwise until the mark of 6 on the chef indicator was attained. Whole egg (60 g) was added, then followed by flour (200 g), powdered milk (20 g), baking powder (0.1 g) and salt (1 g) were added and mixed until a stiff paste (batter) was obtained. The batter was rolled on a floured board using a rolling pin to a thickness of 0.2-0.3 cm. The rolled batter was cut into circular shapes with a cutter and arranged on a greased tray and baked at 1500°C for 20 minutes. The cookies were brought out, cooked and packaged in cellophane bag until used for laboratory analysis.

The results revealed that substitution of sweet potato flour with maize flour significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the protein from 6.8-4.4 per cent, moisture from 5.3-5.0 per cent, crude fibre from 3.4-2.5 per cent and fat from 9.8-8.5 per cent of the composite flours and the cookies. The ash and sugar contents were increased from 4.3-5.8 per cent for ash and 2.1-3.9 per cent for sugar with increase in sweet potato flour substitution. The calorific value of the cookies decreased from 457-397 cal/100 g as the percentage of sweet potato flour increased in the maize flour cookies. Sensory evaluation results showed that the colour, texture, taste and overall acceptability changed significantly (p < 0.05) with increase in sweet potato flour substitution. The optimum substitution level was 40 per cent; above this, the product becomes less acceptable to the consumer.

Fabrication and production processing machines that use sweet potato will be a great challenge.

This research is of value to the bakery industry or retailers. The optimum substitution level of sweet potato flour was 40 per cent, and it appears to be a promising measure from the view of practicability. The relative ease of getting sweet potato flour makes it superior to other imported flour like wheat and in reducing cost of importation of wheat to Nigeria.

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are the live wire of construction industry in developing countries. These classes of establishments are most affected by economic contraction and turmoil, thus affecting their performance and survivability. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate and prioritize the survival determinants of construction consulting organization during economic contraction in Nigeria using quantity surveying firms as a focal point.

The study adopted the descriptive-survey design and quantitative data were collected through questionnaire purposely administered to quantity surveying firms in the Southwestern part of Nigeria. The data obtained from 99 quantity surveying firms on survival determinants were analysed using various statistical analysis such as mean score, standard deviation, Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis H test, and so on. Principal component analysis was used to identify the principal components of survival determinants, while the factors were prioritized using fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE).

The result of the analysis reveals eight factors that significantly determines the survival of firms during the period of economic contraction. Furthermore, the eight grouped factors were prioritized accordingly namely firm's innovation and diversification, ownership structure and networking, education level and management skills, and so on.

This study investigated the survival determinants of quantity surveying firms and prioritized it with the opinions of principal partners in quantity surveying establishments. As against obtaining large survey responses from all quantity surveyors in the study area that may not have practical experience of managing firms, the limited responses received provide valid basis to broaden the horizon of professionals and other stakeholders on the key determinants for firms to survive economic turmoil.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing information on prioritized factors that must be considered in an appropriate order by quantity surveying firms to survive economic contraction.

This study uses a meta-analysis approach to analyse the impact of applying corporate green accounting practices as vital sustainable development tools on firm performance. This study aims to examine the moderating effects of country-specific variables and characteristics on the association between corporate green accounting and firm performance.

Three databases were used for a meta-analysis of 68 independent studies involving 19,625 subjects conducted over 25 years from 1996 to 2020.

The results show that corporate green accounting positively affects firm performance, but country-specific variables do not moderate this association. The positive association between corporate green accounting and firm performance was enhanced when it was measured in terms of environmental costs. Subgroup analyses revealed that study characteristics are significant source of heterogeneity in the corporate green accounting indicators-firm performance association.

The findings suggest that firms should strategise to integrate environmental costs into their respective financial accounting frameworks, which would help managers justify the contribution of their firms towards environmental protection.

Accessing accurate and timely information on corporate environmental functioning can assist national policymakers in framing appropriate legislation on environmental protection and sustainable development.

Although meta-analysis has been used previously in accounting research (Guthrie and Murthy, 2009; Alcouffe et al., 2019), to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to use a meta-analytical technique to examine the impact of corporate green accounting on firm performance.