Jack Dykinga Works

The works of Jack Dykinga have longed appealed to because this photographer is always able to emphasize the beauty of nature by paying attention to color patterns and space. His pictures show that the choice of lighting, angle, and equipment is extremely important for every photographer.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Jack Dykinga Works specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, this person should be able to find the moment when one can capture colors and shapes in the best ways. In this paper, I would like to discuss two photographs by Jack Dykinga. In particular, I would like to discuss his picture of Mexican Poppies1 and Organ Pipe Cactus2. In my opinion, these works represent the typical characteristics of Dykinga’s style, namely saturation of colors and ability to show the illusory aspects of space. These are the main issues that I would to discuss. There are several things that make these photograph s stand out among others. It should be noted that Jack Dykinga uses a large-format camera that enables to depict almost panoramic landscapes (Fox, 2005, p. 20). First of all, the photographer attracts the viewer’s attention to the foreground of the picture and they can see it in close detail. For instance, one can see his picture of Organ Pipe Cactus. Jack Dykinga lets the viewer see the growing brittlebush and cactuses. However, the silhouette of the Ajo Mountains is almost blurred. This approach to photography was developed by David Muench (Fox, 2005, p. 20). The same technique can be seen in the photograph of Mexican Poppies. This is one of the techniques that this photographer often applies. Nevertheless, there is another aspect that has always appealed to me. Jack Dykinga is able to demonstrate the illusory nature of space and material objects. For instance, in the background of his photograph, the viewers can see a see a mountain chain covered with mist. At first glance , it seems that some of these mountains are not real. Overall, I can say that very few photographers can show nature in such a way. These examples suggest that Jack Dykinga is indeed a prominent photographer who captures unique images of nature.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Additionally, the pictures of this photographer are usually color-saturated. For example, one can look at his picture of Mexican Poppies, especially the presence of deep blue color. In order to render it, a photographer should choose a particular angle and moment. In some cases, such a task can be very difficult. This is one of the reasons why Jack Dykinga’s photographs stand out among others. Overall, I can say that the works of Jack Dykinga are very difficult to imitate. First of all, it is important to choose appropriate lighting that would enable a photographer to render the colors and details of the landscape. When I tried to take a similar picture, I had to spend much time in order to recreate his use of space and palette. I learned that photography requires much preparation. Certainly, I may not want to imitate the works of this photographer, but his use of saturated colors greatly appeals to me. The works of Jack Dykinga show that photographers can rediscover the beauty of nature, but in order to it they should be able to choose the most suitable moment at which one can render rich palette of the landscape and illusory aspects of its forms. Appendixes Picture 1. Mexican poppies by Jack Dykinga Picture 2. Organ Pipe CactusAdvertising We will write a custom essay sample on Jack Dykinga Works specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Reference List Fox, W. (2005). Desert Water. New York: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co. Footnotes 1 Please, refer to the Appendixes, Picture 1 2 Picture 2. This essay on Jack Dykinga Works was written and submitted by user Eliza Hogan to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Ageing Population in Mauritius Essays

The Ageing Population in Mauritius Essays The Ageing Population in Mauritius Essay The Ageing Population in Mauritius Essay Discussions Impact of aging population in Mauritius The first aim of this survey aims to supply a thorough apprehension of the existent impacts of aging population in Mauritius. Since old people retire from their occupations, the incomes they generate are reduced and therefore they have to trust on pensions or insurances. Consequently, the aging population is really frequently faced with income security and poorness. Among the 80 questionnaires that were distributed, there were 18.5 % of the respondents were above 65 old ages. This was a really important figure and was the 2nd larger per centum after the age group of 20-35 old ages. Furthermore, the Mauritius Statistics forecasts that 20 % of the Mauritanian population will be above 65 old ages by 2025. One of the chief impacts of an aging population is that it increases the dependence ratio. There are comparatively more people claiming pension benefits and less people working to pay revenue enhancements. With the ever-growing aging population in Mauritius, it is likely that this will do jobs in the hereafter. Though 14.8 % of the respondents still live with their grand-parents and 12.3 % of them still assist their grand-parents financially, the dependence on the pension benefits do non look to diminish. Another impact is the increased Government disbursement on wellness attention and pensions. In UK, the old age pension is presently ?113.10 per pensionaries per hebdomad ( Population Ageing Statistics, Rutherford ) as compared to Mauritius, where the pension fund is Rs5, 000 per pensionaries per month. Since the per centum of old age is said to increase to up to 25 % by 2025, the Government disbursement will increase even more. Soon, the budget for old age wellness jobs sums to about Rs9.7 billion per twelvemonth and with a promising and important growing in the figure of old people in the hereafter, Mauritius is likely to confront serious budget issues. As such, as demonstrated in table 4.5 in the old chapter, 56.8 % people have that working people should pay a item for the elders’ medical services. This gesture can take a immense load from the Government outgo since people are non prepared to take old age pension financess even if an option, such as edifice places for the ag ed with all their required demands, is given to the old people as shown by the bulk of people who voted ‘No’ to the suggestion. Furthermore, an aging population directs to a deficit of workers in a state. Since the old people retire and live on pension, and there are lesser figure of new-borns to finally work to pay revenue enhancements, the state faces a deficiency of workers. Mauritius is non far behind from a deficit of workers. In this consequence, 48.1 % of the respondents thought that promoting Mauritians to reproduce will work out the job whereas 50.6 % of them thought it would be better to engage immigrants to work here. Furthermore, since Mauritius will be seting a higher per centum of income into pension financess in the hereafter, due to the increasing sum of old people, it could cut down the sum of nest eggs available for more productive investings. Therefore, taking to take down rates of economic growing. Impact of security budget on aging population The 2nd nonsubjective emphasizes on the impact of security budget on aging population. With greater figure of old people, comes greater disbursals in footings of security. As of now, the Government is passing about Rs27.1 billion on societal security entirely in the twelvemonth 2015 and as per our research conducted by the questionnaire, 38.3 % people feel concern about this sum of outgo merely on societal security. 76.5 % of the respondents agreed that the well-off should be cut off from pension installations. This is a considerable thought because the Government is passing manner excessively much money on old people and acquiring nothing-in footings of finance-in return. Though many people ( about 75.3 % of the respondents ) thought that the freshly elected Government was right to increase old age pension from Rs3, 600 to R5, 000 in December 2014, a important per centum ( 61.7 ) agreed that it was simply a political technique to derive ballots. This addition in the pension fund has resulted in an addition of over 50 % in the Government outgo as compared in 2014. Over 186, 000 people benefit from the cosmopolitan pension. The National Monetary Fund ( IMF ) has already sounded the dismay about the aging population of Mauritius that could endanger the national pension fund. The fiscal establishment recommends an pressing reappraisal of the payment of this societal benefit expression. As concluded by aWorking Paperof the IMF entitledPension Reforms in Mauritius ; Fair and Fast Balancing Social Protection and Fiscal Sustainability, Mauritius’ old age pension state of affairs is considered unsustainable in the long term. While now it amounts to 5 % of the Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ) , funding for different pension strategies should make 11 % in 45 old ages. The aging population is seting strong force per unit area on public fundss. The figure of people over 60 old ages will be 50 % in 2050, whereas they represented 13 % of the population in 2013. The consequence of outgos on pension benefits, particularly the non-contributory pension strategy will be exacerbated ( Takoor, Petri, and Martin ) . If major reforms are non undertaken, the pension financess could do a deficit and could finally be liability for the province particularly when 79.0 % of the respondents said they are non ready to further prolong the societal security financially, besides their parts in VAT and NPF. Problems faced because of gender in an aging population Harmonizing to a survey made by the UN administration, adult females make up a significantly larger portion of the older population. This is because adult females tend to populate longer than work forces and therefore rendering them more dependent on wellness attention installations and pensions strategies provided by their state. In 2014, Mundi calculated the ratio of females to males above 65 old ages old to be 66, 643: 45, 145 of the entire population. The aged dependence ratio was calculated to be 12.8 % . Besides, the UN found that older adult females see some of the lowest literacy rates in the universe. Average degrees of illiteracy for adult females aged 65 or over are every bit high as 78 % in Africa and 53 % in Asia, compared to 58 % and 29 % severally for work forces in these parts. This earnestly impacts on the lives of the older adult females, forestalling them from accessing wellness services, procuring incomes, and traveling out of poorness. Furthermore, the fact that women’s life anticipation is greater than men’s means that wellness jobs that increase with age, such as disablement, affect a greater figure of adult females worldwide. It is anticipated that the overall prevalence and badness of disablement among older adult females will go on to increase, in line with the turning aging population and the higher proportion of adult females in the old age groups. For illustration, older adult females are more likely to endure from sightlessness than older work forces, particularly in low-income states where 44 % of instances are caused by cataracts. The greater the figure of older adult females, the greater is the dependence on wellness attention services. Furthermore, despite increased consciousness of maltreatment, favoritism, and force against adult females, concerns over the state of affairs of older adult females have mostly been ignored. Datas on force against adult females over the age of 60 is badly limited and research focussing on maltreatment of older adult females tends to be confined to developed states and based on little sample sizes. Impact of sustainability on the degree of protection of the old age The challenge for the hereafter is â€Å"to guarantee that people everyplace can turn old with security and self-respect and that they can go on to take part in societal life as citizens with full rights† . At the same clip â€Å"the rights of old people should non be incompatible with those of other groups, and mutual intergenerational dealingss should be encouraged.† ( United Nations, World Population Ageing 1950-2050, Population Division ) Social protection of the old age attack has addressed the multiple interlinked planetary challenges of poorness obliteration, environmental sustainability, and economic equity, and gender equality, just distribution of resources, human rights, and inequality. In Mauritius, though approximately 50 % of old people do non take public conveyance, the latter is still free for people above 60 old ages old. However, approximately 21.0 % find that this system should be abolished. Basic income security for people in old age is considered as necessary to avoid poorness among the old age. However, about 49.4 % of Mauritians find that Rs5, 000 is a hazard factor to the life of the seniors. This sum of money is considered to be excessively much and can set the life of the seniors at interest. Decision This chapter has discussed the assorted aims of the research work together with the informations that was obtained and calculated in the old chapter, information analysis. As shown, some informations obtained were in line with the aims of this survey. The following chapter will speak about the proposed recommendations. Recommendations and Decision Introduction In this chapter we will suggest a list of recommendations of how the impacts of aging population can be minimised. We will besides urge ways in which the security budget can be controlled, how gender equality and equity can be ensured, and how to guarantee a sustainability in the aging population of Mauritius. Housing for seniors: Elder friendly lodging Specific steps can be taken to ease the development of retirement lodging by the private sector, in peculiar, changing the length of land rentals to lower land costs, to ease elders’ demands in footings of lodging. Besides, through a reappraisal of the Code on Barrier-Free Accessibility, the Government can see presenting guidelines for the proviso of handiness and safety characteristics in the places for the senior people so that they have a more elder-friendly environment to populate in. in this manner, the seniors will more probably have a healthy life style and therefore decreasing the wellness outgo for the Government. Stretching the work force and working hours The engagement rates of adult females and aged people in the work force should be increased to guarantee more part is being brought economically to Mauritius. Harmonizing to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) , 49 % of the people aged between 60 to 64 old ages old in USA are still gainfully employed. There are many ways in which a higher engagement of the ‘young’ seniors ( aged between 60 and 65 ) can be achieved. Among them, the most of import are to rectify the incentive of early retirement, cut down the period of entitlement to unemployment benefits, and extinguish high rupture payment, extended occupation dismissal protection every bit good as senior status rules. Besides, by implementing new child-minding agreements and more originative on the job clip theoretical accounts and rushing up organizational reforms, the engagement of adult females within the work force can be increased. Additionally, the one-year working and/or mean hebdomadal times can besides be increased such that fewer workers have to work for more hours in order to counterbalance for a negative demographic consequence on possible growing. Thus, a higher portion of adult females will be put in the work force and a greater figure of parttime occupations will be switched to full-time places. It will besides necessitate an addition in jointly agreed hebdomadal working times. Migration Immigration can assist to decelerate down the procedure of aging and shrinkage of the population and extenuate its negative economic effects. The younger, more flexible and better qualified the population, the more favorable the result will be. Mauritius should advance migration and set suited migration policies where the policies do non merely halt at placing suited immigrants but besides assist them incorporate good into the society. It is besides really of import for Mauritius to advance harmonious race relations-which is non really hard, sing the fact that we are ourselves a multi-racial state. Better usage of bing resources and acceptance of new engineerings. We can assist people to remain active, healthy and independent by constructing age-friendly metropoliss and â€Å"smart homes† that deploy a scope of monitoring and supportive devices to assist older people manage life more efficaciously. We can re-engineer wellness systems to concentrate on disease bar and early showing, instead than on expensive intercession. With these steps, we will lend to making better quality lives for older people: lives that are besides inclusive and sustainable. Preventing falls schemes Given the magnitude of this public wellness job, policymakers should promote falls bar as a precedence and support policies and plans that aim to cut down hazard factors among older grownup populations. This may be accomplished in multiple ways. For case, increased support may be provided to Area Agencies on aging for broader execution of community-based falls bar plans. Certain falls bar schemes, such as place safety appraisals, could besides be integrated into bing senior outreach services and plans, such as Meals on Wheels. Enhance chances for physical activities among older grownups It is recommended that policymakers enhance the chances for physical activity among the seniors. Particularly, they should implement policies and targeted schemes that support active life for seniors. This involves placing and turn toing the barriers that presently prevent seniors from take parting in physical activities, raging up instruction and outreach attempts, and advancing community-based plans that incorporate strength, endurance, balance, flexibleness preparation plans. Some communities for seniors offer other societal benefits, such as equal interaction and support. This should be put into pattern by all the communities for the aged. Additionally, policymakers should back up a wide continuum of plans, runing from low to high strength degrees, available to people of all abilities, civilizations, and cultural backgrounds. 6.7 Extra benefits for extra old ages worked Some states offer fiscal inducements to workers who keep on working even though they have reached their retirement age. Normally, the inducements are calculated on the footing of part period, for illustration, an extra twenty-four hours, month, one-fourth, or twelvemonth worked after the retirement age. They can come be in the signifier of a individual fillip payment or a per centum addition in the concluding pension. If Mauritius were to follow this system, it will guarantee more people working and therefore more people paying the revenue enhancements. Encourage employers to retain and enroll older workers The Government should promote employers to retain and enroll older workers. One manner in which this can be achieved is for the Government to straight lend to the consts of using older workers ( Gineste, 2012 ) . Reducing unemployment benefits for older people Reducing unemployment benefits and take downing pensions could be an inducement to work longer. If the seniors have lower pensions and decreased unemployment benefits, they will be more acute to work for longer periods of clip so that they achieve a more hearty and comfy life style for the clip when they are non able to work at all. 6.10 Decision This research work has tried to foreground the impacts of the aging population and measure what is being done the Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity, and Reform Institutions to convey about a sustainable development in the aging population of Mauritius. With the lessening in birthrate and mortality rates, life anticipation at birth has increased drastically. And despite this rapid aging population, it can be said that the Government, along with the concerned establishments, are endeavoring to maintain the population an economically productive and healthy one. To reason we have besides tried to explicate some suggestions which can be implemented in order to guarantee that the aging population procedure stays in control and that Mauritius does non endure or at least suffers the minimal impact of such a population.

Ninth world by Jewell Parker Rhodes book question Essay

Ninth world by Jewell Parker Rhodes book question - Essay Example Moreover, despite not related by blood, Mama Ya-Ya had a incredibly strong love with the young Lanesha. However, despite having outstanding similarities, Jewell Parker Rhodes the author of the ninth world has demonstrated considerable level of differences between young Lanesha late mother and Mama Ya-Ya. The essay below will compare and contrasts the relationship between Mama Ya-Ya and the death mother. Similarities Both the death mother and Mama Ya-Ya had a strong affection on Lanesha. The death mother took great care of Lanesha for nine month until her demise in the delivery process. Similar to Mama Ya-Ya, the death mother hoped for a better future to the new born. She had a great plan to ensure the young girl prosper in her life. However, death could not have allowed her to take care of the new born. Lanesha admits that, she could have died at her tender were it not for the good care of Mama Ya-Ya. According to Lanesha, Mama Ya-Ya sliced the bloody membrane that covered her face d uring birth. Moreover, Mama Ya-Ya took good care of the child until her adult age. In some instances, Lanesha asserted that â€Å"I would have died, too, if Mama Ya-Ya had not sliced the bloody membrane from my face† (Rhodes 12). ... Mama Ya-Ya asserted that, the death mother used to narrate to her stories on past phenomena like earthquake and droughts. Just like the death mother, Mama Ya-Ya talked about past occurrences. It is also through Mama Ya-Ya that Lanesha understand the reality that, she was born with skin netting that covered her face. Moreover, Lanesha explains that, in every year’s birthday Mama Ya-Ya told her about the situation that surrounded her birth. According to Mama Ya-Ya â€Å"Lanesha, your eyes were the lightest green, with the tiniest specks of yellow. I knew you would have the sight. † (Rhodes 17) Differences Contrary to the death mother, Mama Ya-Ya was in a position of predicting future incidences. The same spiritual power was as well transferred to Lanesha. Lanesha held the spiritual ability of interacting with the spirits of deaths while Mama Ya-Ya predicted the coming of Hurricane Katrina and its impacts. As stated in the novel, â€Å"Lanesha can see the spirits of the d ead, and Mama Ya-Ya is a midwife, able to predict the future† (Rhodes 67). However, the death mother lacked the spiritual power of predicting future occurrences. The death mother was also not linked to spirits of the deaths. Despite presences all indicators in her delivery, the death mother could not envisage her death. In addition, although Lanesha intended to rely on her mother spirits to predict the future, the spirit of the death mother lacked the ability to forecast the occurrence of Hurricane Katrina. The death mother was composed and had independent minded traits. She lacked direct and strong connection with other people in the society including her relatives and friend. Despite being too friendly and lively to her family, the death mother

In English Employment Law the Issue of Employment Status is Almost Essay

In English Employment Law the Issue of Employment Status is Almost Exclusively one for the Courts to Decide Upon - Essay Example The basic distinction between employee and self employed person is that employee has to serve under the employer with certain terms and conditions whereas the self employed has to work under the contractor for specific job on fixed payment. Another simple way of distinguishing employment from self employment is: a) buying an employee or b) buying a service1. Employment Tribunals Act 1996 provides the formation of employment tribunals. It comprises of judge and two lay members. Most of the times tribunals deal with the employment disputes leaving few exceptions where a judge has to sit alone2. The Tribunal can hear and decide the case if it falls within the ambit of the given acts: a) equal Pay Act 1970 breach of equality clause in contracts of employment b) employment Agencies Act 1973 application by the Secretary of State for a prohibition order c) sex discrimination Act 1975 d) race relations Act 1976 e) Section 230 (3) 19963. Employment Tribunals Regulations 2004 governs the proce dures of employment. The tribunal in question examines the nature of employment with specific reference to the relationship of an employee and the self employed. The decision of the Tribunal is binding on all stake holders. In such cases, if affected employees hire the services of a solicitor he / she have to bears the fee4. The aggrieved party can challenge the decision of lower judiciary in the Court of Appeal or in the Supreme Court as the case may be. The apex court while dealing with the employment cases frequently refers the judgments of House of Lords5. The Supreme Court can: a) affirm or set aside the impugned orders of the subordinate courts b) Order subordinate courts to retrial the case if found that the trial was not fair6. The terms that create confusion in the trials are ‘implied’ and ‘irrelevant’. Employment status is determined on the basis of actual relationship. Court has its own guidelines which prevail in the event of any dispute. One qu estion that arises is that why should the two parties be in dark over this issue for a considerable amount of time. Many workers carry on their duties under the employment status labelled on them by the employers. This goes on for months and even years. There should be a rigid framework that prevents workers from living in ignorance or being completely oblivious to the benefits they can receive from a change in their employment status7. Control Test One of the most important tests to determine the employment status is the Control Test. This test determines the manner in which the work is done8. In the ancient times most of the workers were unskilled. Now there has been a dramatic change in the labour market. Workers are skilled and have in-depth knowledge about their work as compared to their employers. As mentioned earlier, changes in the working styles of corporations and individuals have made the control test less effective in many ways. The problem multiplies when dealing with s killed workers who are not under the direct control of the employer / client, but an integral part of the organization9. Of course there are strengths and weaknesses in control test. Many factors can be considered in the physical control such as presence at work, timely completion of task and the quantity of work given to workers. But with skilled workers who decide their own pace and timing may not be under direct ‘

The Ukrainian Genocide Essay Example for Free

The Ukrainian Genocide Essay â€Å"Holodomor† means fake famine or slow killing by starvation in Ukrainian. Joseph Stalin, the premier of the Soviet Union, created an artificial famine to destroy the will of the Ukrainian people that sought independence from his rule. This famine lasted for three years killing an estimated seven to ten million people. Ukraine was known as the breadbasket of Europe before this happened. This was one of the worst cases of mass killing ever recorded. It also is one of the worst cases of food, or lack of it, being used as a weapon. Some people to this day ignore the fact that this artificial famine even existed. Ukraine had been under the domination of the Imperial Czars of Russia for two hundred years. Finally freedom had arrived in March of 1917. Some optimistic Ukrainians declared Ukraine to be an independent nation and began to re-establish Kiev, the nation’s capital. However, they did not stay free for long. Vladimir Lenin, the first leader of the Soviet Union, wanted to reclaim Ukraine. Four years of chaos and fighting followed. By the end of 1921 the Soviets were able to crush the Ukrainian people and win the war. Half of Ukraine was then divided up between Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. The rest of Ukraine was kept by the Soviet Union. The Soviets began shipping grain out of Ukraine to satisfy hungry Russians. While the Soviets banqueted, Ukrainians suffered. Then a drought occurred resulting in widespread hunger and popular resentment towards Vladimir Lenin and the Soviets. To lessen this animosity, Lenin lessened his grip on the Ukrainian people and even encouraged a free-market. People started to relax and renewed their interests in independence, folk art, music, and literature. The Soviets began slowly losing control of Ukraine because of this revival. However, when Lenin died Stalin, one of the most cold-blooded humans to ever hold this much power, took over. Stalin thought the gradual loss of Ukraine was completely unacceptable. To crush the free spirited revival he started using the same ruthless methods used on the Soviet Union. In the beginning of 1929 over five thousand Ukrainian scholars, scientists, cultural and religious leaders were arrested with false accusations of planning an armed revolt against the Soviets. Everyone that was arrested was either shot or deported to prison camps where they would be tortured with out a trial. Stalin also disapproved of Ukraine’s system of land management. He began seizing all privately owned farms in a country where eighty percent of its people are farmers. There was a class of farmers called â€Å"kulaks† by the communists. Kulaks were wealthy farmers who made a profit by themselves. Stalin believed that all farms should be collective farms run by the government. Stalin started forcing people to join these collective farms or else they would be classified as Kulaks and put into jails, which began appearing in most Ukrainian villages. By the summer of 1932 eighty percent of Ukraine’s population started working in collective farms. They were afraid of seeing their own children die of starvation so they gave in. He thought that any revolt in the future would be led by the Kulaks so he began destroying them as a class. Kulaks were declared â€Å"enemies of the people† and were left beaten in the streets with out any possessions of their own. The Red army stole all of the kulaks possessions. It was against the law to help Kulaks or their families in any way. Millions of people were put onto railroad boxcars and were shipped to prison camps in the wilderness of Siberia. One-third of the people sent to these camps died because of the horrible conditions. Back in Ukraine things were getting worse and worse each day. Stalin sent out henchman Lazar Kaganovitch to destroy all Ukrainian resistance. He made quota shooting 10,000 innocent Ukrainians weekly. Eighty percent of all intellectuals were executed. Stalin began stealing food that was made from the Ukrainian’s own hands. All farms were raided for any possible food, blankets, cattle, and fuel. The secret police looked for â€Å"hidden grain† under men and women’s clothing. Even the smallest amounts of grain were confiscated. They blocked all railroads and streets so nothing could get in or out of Ukraine. Ukrainians began to quickly die of starvation, cold, and sickness. During the winter of 1932-1933 the famine hit full force. Soon people were eating shoes, belts, tree bark, pets, and some even ate infant children and dead bodies to stay alive. Many begged neighbors for potato skins and other scraps, but they found their neighbors equally starved. There were unbelievably emaciated bodies in the street. I remember all this I was swollen from hunger; my brother was even in the worst condition He was dying; his swollen body was leaking fluid. I was sitting beside him, he was gritting his teeth and kept asking for a cucumber Then he died His dead body had been wrapped in a blanket, the color of this blanket is still in my memory. This is the testimony of Hanna Nelasa, born in Luhansk region. She was one of the few people brave enough to give her testimony about the famine. In Russia it has been made illegal to commemorate this event. To this day people do not know the exact amount of people that died during this tragic time. At the famine’s height 25,000 people were dying per day. They estimate the number of people that died to be around seven to ten million. In the end the Soviet collective farms never succeeded. The livestock were poorly cared for on these farms and the conditions were very unhealthy. Inexperienced young communists ran all the farms. They became jokes throughout Ukraine about how uneducated they were on simple things like farming and cleaning. An American Journalist wrote this horrifying description of what he saw: â€Å"About twenty miles south of Kiev (Kyiv), I came upon a village that was practically extinct by starvation. There had been fifteen houses in this village and a population of forty-odd persons. Every dog and cat had been eaten. The horses and oxen had all been appropriated by the Bolsheviks to stock the collective farms. In one hut they were cooking a mess that defied analysis. There were bones, pigweed, skin, and what looked like a boot top in this pot. The way the remaining half dozen inhabitants eagerly watched this slimy mess showed the state of their hunger. † On a personal note, my grandfather lived through this time. He was once walking and thought he saw a log and went to go sit on it, but it was a frozen body. They were living at the edge of the woods so his father buried potatoes and grain two hundred feet deep in the back of the woods. The Secret Police came to their house and took bayonets poking them into the soil looking for any food they had. Adults and children constantly came begging to their house for scraps of food and they gave it to them. This is why I chose this as my topic because my grandparents told me hundreds of stories about growing up during these times.

Perceptions of Catholic School Teachers

Perceptions of Catholic School Teachers PART ONE: RESEARCH DESIGN A title for your study A mixed methods study of student perceptions of the qualities of highly effective traditional Catholic secondary school teachers. A description of the research context/background/problem leading to your study (three to five sentences approximately) It is a well-established and researched fact that individually and collectively, teachers play a pivotal role in facilitating student success (Duncan, Gurria, Leeuwen, 2011; Hattie, 2009; Reddy, Fabiano, Jimerson, 2013). Moreover, there is much evidence to suggest that the level of teacher quality is linked with the level of student performance (Darling-Hammond Youngs, 2002; Goe Stickler, 2008; Hattie, 2003; Leigh, 2010). Although recent research on teacher quality has identified general traits (Canter, 2014; Coles, Owens, Serrano, Slavec, Evans, 2015; Cooper, Hirn, Scott, 2015; Spilt, Hughes, Wu, Kwok, 2012), Jimerson Haddock (2015) advocate further research regarding teacher effectiveness (p488). Consequently, this study proposes looking into teacher effectiveness within the sphere of traditional Catholicism, an area which is gradually burgeoning (Society of Saint Pius X, 2016; Wikipedia, 2017a) and hitherto unexplored. Additionally, as Sutcliffe (2011) suggests, it is impo rtant to examine high school students perceptions of teacher quality (p24). Describe your study aims The aim of this mixed methods exploratory sequential study is to explore and examine student perceptions of traditional Catholic secondary school teacher effectiveness in order to identify and eventually come up with a list of ten top characteristics for this group. Findings will be used to inform future teacher education programmes which have a specific emphasis on training Traditional Catholic teachers. The nature of the exploratory sequential study is such that it will be divided into two stages (Onwuegbuzie Collins, 2007). The aim of the first stage of the study is to collect qualitative data from select samples of students in order to then identify general themes/characteristics using an inductive approach to data analysis (Schulz, 2012). The aim of the second stage of this study is to further identify a top ten list of characteristics via a quantitative survey which will ask students to choose from a list of key characteristics and then ask them to rank the top ten. The result s would then be published. What are your qualitative research question (s)? What elements set a highly effective traditional Catholic secondary school teacher apart from others? What characteristics do they have? What teaching methods do they use? What qualities/virtues do they possess? What behaviours do they exhibit? What spiritual qualities do they have? How do highly effective Catholic secondary school teachers promote learning and engagement? What are your quantitative research question (s)? Of all the characteristics identified, which are considered the most appealing? What are your mixed methods research question (s)? Which characteristics of highly effective traditional catholic teachers are considered most appealing and to what extent? Describe the qualitative data that you will collect and how you will analyse it. What methods will you use? Discuss some of the key aspects of the data that you wish to collect (e.g. Interview question, what you will look for in observations etc.). How many participants and how will you chose them (sampling) (approximately 300 words). I intend taking a focus group approach to the collection of qualitative data. Focus groups allow participants to interact with one another, share and compare and often generate new insights beyond what individual interviews can do (Carey, 2016; Pedersen et al., 2016). Furthermore, given the fact that participants will be secondary age students, I thought they would feel more comfortable with each other rather than in an individual interview alone with an adult. At the same time focus group interviews give the researcher an opportunity to hear the language of the participants and explore the topic in more depth (Pedersen et al., 2016). In regard to the number of participants I intend using what Onwuegbuzie Collins (2007) call cluster sampling. That is select focus groups consisting of 10 students from each of 10 different traditional Catholic schools so that qualitative data is collected from a total of 100 participants. It was thought advisable to select clusters of senior age students, that is, students in their last year of school only, for two reasons. Firstly, older students have years of experience behind them and are able to reflect on those experiences, and secondly, older students are more mature. In regard to key aspects of the data, it is hoped that semi-structured questions such as reflecting on your own personal learning experiences, what examples of effective catholic teaching have you seen? and what makes a traditional catholic teacher great? would elicit responses from the students which the researcher could then explore in more depth. Data would be collected via a voice recorder then from the recording a conversation analysis would be undertaken. This involves constructing a transcript of the interviews and then analysing the data using an inductive approach, that is finding themes/characteristics and recurring themes/characteristics which have emerged from the data (Schulz, 2012; Wikipedia, 2017b). These popular themes could then be used to develop a quantitative instrument for the next stage of the research project. A few factors would also need to be considered during data collection and analysis. For example, the schools, parents and students would have to give informed and voluntary consent and anonymity and confidentiality with regard to names of teachers and students, including the names of the schools would have to be respected (Tolich Davidson, 1999). Describe the quantitative data that you will collect and how you will analyse it. What methods will you use? Discuss some of the key variables that you will collect data on. How many participants and how will you chose them (sampling) (approximately 300 words). I intend collecting quantitative data from a survey which would be sent to the same students who had participated in the first stage of this research project, that is to say, those senior age secondary school students who had participated in the focus groups. The survey would consist of a list of variables, that is, the results of the qualitative conversation analysis and the key characteristics of highly effective catholic school teachers. To cite an example, one such variable might be the proposition that highly effective catholic secondary school teachers prepare well for their lessons. Others might be that highly effective catholic secondary school teachers have positive attitudes or that they are masters in their subject areas or that they include a spiritual dimension in their teaching. I consider it advisable to add one other variable and that is school location so the researcher can identify how many surveys from each school were returned. Other nominal demographic data such as gender, age etc. were considered unnecessary for this particular research project because the focus of the project is on a list of top ten characteristics of effective catholic secondary school teachers and not on gender or age differences. In regard to the administration of the survey itself, students would be invited to read the list of variables and choose a top ten. Students would be asked to rank the characteristic they felt most defined an effective catholic secondary school teacher as number one and so on and so forth until they reach number ten. Results would be entered into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and the top ten key characteristics would be determined by working out which characteristics had the 10 lowest total scores. Drawing on the work of Creswell Plano Clark (2011), draw a diagram of your mixed methods study.    PART TWO: CRITICAL REVIEW Using Onwuegbuzie and Poths meta themes, conduct a critical review of the following mixed methods article (500-750 words): Wyant, J.D., Jones, E.M. Bulgar, S.M. (2015). A mixed methods analysis of a single-course strategy to integrate technology into PETE. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 34, 131-151. A critical review has been conducted on Wyant, Jones, Bulgers (2015) above mentioned article using Onwuegbuzie and Poths (2016) meta-themes. Unless otherwise noted, all references are citations from this article. META-THEME #1 WARRANTEDNESS Many terms were introduced and defined however I assess that there were too many. In the introduction alone readers were introduced to the terms PETE, NASPE, ISTE, CBAM, Stages of Adoption, External Barriers, First-Order Barriers and TPACK. Whole articles have been devoted to explaining TPACK! Additionally, what are occupational socialization researchers? The reference list was comprehensive however there were quite a few errors. For example throug technology instead of through technology; the use of capitals in some of the titles Teachers Use of Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools: 2009 (NCES 2010-040), US States missing Eugene: instead of Eugene, OR, the words Author Retrieved instead of just Retrieved and many recent journal articles were missing DOI numbers. In regard to the latter, was this the fault of the authors or were they simply unable to be found? Citations were inconsistent within the article, for example, three authors were consolidated to (Hall et al., 1979) and (Rochanasmita et al., 2009) while others with four were written out in full (Allan, Erickson, Brookhouse Johnson, 2010) and (Russell, Bebell, ODwyer OConnor, 2003). META-THEME #2 JUSTIFICATION The article appears to be underdeveloped. Although the authors used the TPACK model as a theoretical framework to explain the first theme, nowhere in the article do the authors explain this. They refer readers to the TPACK model in the introduction but that is all. The same could be said for First-Order Barriers which is used as a framework for the second theme. The authors advance qualitative/quantitative research/mixed methods research. They used a mixed methods design and quantitative and qualitative data collection procedures consisting of closed-ended survey instruments and weekly journal entries and end of course semi-structured interviews. The purpose of the study was cleared stated in the purpose statement paragraph The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a domain-specific technology course META-THEME #3 WRITING QUALITY Although the authors made good use of headings and sub-headings some sections seemed out of order. For example Research Design followed Methods when it really should be the other way around, participants were mentioned twice and the introduction seemed too long. Furthermore the authors did not follow the structure recommended by Onwuegbuzie and Poth (2016) who advocate the following framework literature review, theoretical framework, rationale, purpose statement, research questions, hypothesis, and educational significance. The authors used a number of appropriate transitional words such as Accordingly, More specifically, For example, Typically, Further etc. However, the abstract repeats the purpose statement. META-THEME #4 TRANSPARENCY Information relating to sample size was mentioned specifically and clearly. Readers were directed to the fact that participants included 12 pre-service teachers and were recruited from a sample of 34 (male=24, female=10). However, information regarding the two participant sampling techniques could have been made clearer. For example, the authors could have clearly stated that the first participant sampling technique used wasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, the second participant sampling technique wasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.etc. All tables and figures were referred to, for example, see Figure 1, see Figure 2, see Table 1 etc. However, in my opinion they were not explained sufficiently. To cite just one example on this point, Figure 1 was a visual model of the mixed methods design, however, the authors only referred readers to this visual diagram under Data Collection Procedures and Analysis and not under Research Design where it seems more appropriate to put it. Furthermore, readers were referred to the model as a timeline a timeline was created à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. (see Figure 1), yet the caption clearly indicated that it was a Visual Model of Mixed Methods Research Design. Directions for future research were provided in the final concluding paragraph What this study further highlights is the need for scholars to devote greater attention to the research and dissemination of technology-related projects. META-THEME #5 INTEGRATION Figure 1, which consisted of a visual model of the mixed methods research design, was clear and visually appealing. However as said above, it should have been referred to and explained in detail under the heading Research Design. Measures were taken to ensure validity/legitimation. For example, the use of experienced social science researchers (plural) to review and legitimize research procedures, and interview transcriptions and journal entries were also distributed to participants to confirm the data accurately captured their feelings. META-THEME #6 PHILOSOPHICAL LENS The authors refer to research philosophies such as occupational socialization and constructivist-based learning, however, both could have been presented in a better way. For example, in regard to the former, the authors refer the readers to occupational socialization researchers, yet they do not clearly define this it but simply refer readers to it at the very end of the paragraph As with occupational socialization, research on learningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Shouldnt philosophies be clearly defined first so readers understand? REFERENCES Canter, L. (2014). Classroom management for academics success. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. Carey, M. A. (2016). Focus groups-what is the same, what is new, what is next? Qualitative Health Research, 26(6), 731-733. doi.org/10.1177/1049732316636848 Coles, E. K., Owens, J. S., Serrano, V. J., Slavec, J., Evans, S. W. (2015). From consultation to student outcomes: The role of teacher knowledge, skills, and beliefs in increasing integrity in classroom management strategies. School Mental Health, 7(1), 34-48. doi.org/10.1007/s12310-015-9143-2 Cooper, J. T., Hirn, R. G., Scott, T. M. (2015). Teacher as change agent: Considering instructional practice to prevent student failure. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 59(1), 1-4. doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2014.919135 Creswell, J. W., Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications. Darling-Hammond, L., Youngs, P. (2002). Defining highly qualified teachers: What does scientifically-based research actually tell us? Educational Researcher, 31(9), 13-25. doi.org/10.3102/0013189X031009013 Duncan, A., Gurria, A., Leeuwen, F. (2011). Uncommon wisdom on teaching. Retrieved from www.huffingpost.com/arne-duncan/uncommon-wisdom-on-teachi_b_836541.html Goe, L., Stickler, L. M. (2008). Teacher quality and student achievement: Making the most of recent research. National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED520769.pdf Hattie, J. (2003). Teachers make a difference: What is the research evidence? Presented at the Paper presented at the Australian Council for Educational Research Annual Conference on Building Teacher Quality, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved from http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003context=research_conference_2003 Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London, England: Routledge. Jimerson, S. R., Haddock, A. D. (2015). Understanding the importance of teachers in facilitating student success: Contemporary science, practice, and policy. School Psychology Quarterly, 30(4), 488-493. doi.org/10.1037/spq0000134 Leigh, A. (2010). Estimating teacher effectiveness from two-year changes in students test scores. Economics of Education Review, 29(3), 480-488. doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2009.10.010 Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Collins, K. M. . (2007). A typology of mixed methods sampling designs in social science research. The Qualitative Report, 12(2), 281-316. Pedersen, B., Delmar, C., Falkmer, U., Grà ¸nkjaer, M. (2016). Bridging the gap between interviewer and interviewee: Developing an interview guide for individual interviews by means of a focus group. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 30(3), 631-638. doi.org/10.1111/scs.12280 Reddy, L. A., Fabiano, G. A., Jimerson, S. R. (2013). Assessment of general education teachers Tier 1 classroom practices: Contemporary science, practice, and policy. School Psychology Quarterly, 28(4), 273-276. doi.org/10.1037/spq0000047 Schulz, J. (2012). Analysing your Interviews [Southampton Education School] [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59GsjhPolPs Society of Saint Pius X. (2016). General statistics about the SSPX. Retrieved from http://sspx.org/en/general-statistics-about-sspx Spilt, J. L., Hughes, J. N., Wu, J.-Y., Kwok, O.-M. (2012). Dynamics of teacher-student relationships: Stability and change across elementary school and the influence on childrens academic success: Teacher-student relationship trajectories. Child Development, 83(4), 1180-1195. doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01761.x Sutcliffe, C., P. (2011). Secondary students perceptions of teacher quality. Electronic Theses Dissertations. 391. Retrieved from www.digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/391 Tolich, M., Davidson, C. (1999). Starting fieldwork: An introduction to qualitative research in New Zealand. Auckland, N.Z: New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Wikipedia. (2017a). Conversation analysis. In Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversation_analysis Wikipedia. (2017b). Traditionalist Catholic. In Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditionalist_Catholic Wyant, J. D., Jones, E. M., Bulger, S. M. (2015). A mixed methods analysis of a single-course strategy to integrate technology into PETE. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 34(1), 131-151. doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2013-0114

Budgeting Practices and Performance in Small Healthcare Businesses

Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–55 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Management Accounting Research journal homepage: www. elsevier. com/locate/mar Budgeting practices and performance in small healthcare businesses Robyn King a , Peter M. Clarkson a,b,? , Sandra Wallace c a b c UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia Faculty of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada V5A 1S6 Department of Accounting and BIS, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c tWe present evidence linking primary healthcare business characteristics, budgeting practices, and business performance. Based on a sample of 144 responses from a survey of members of the Australian Association of Practice Managers (AAPM), we ? nd that factors identi? ed by contingency-based research are useful for predicting a business’s budgeting practices. Speci? cally, we ? nd the adoption of w ritten budgets to be related to size and structure, and for businesses using written budgets, the extent of use is related to business structure, strategy and perceived environmental uncertainty.Finally, we ? nd evidence of a relationship between budgeting practice and performance. Here, we initially ? nd a business’s performance to be positively associated with the use of written budgets. More re? ned tests of the â€Å"? t† between business contingency factors and extent of operating budget use then provide evidence of a positive association between the extent of â€Å"? t† and performance. Crown Copyright  © 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Budgeting SME Healthcare businesses . Introduction This study investigates the relationship between contextual factors identi? ed from contingency-based research, the adoption and extent of use of budgets, and business performance within the Australian primary healthcare setting. 1 We focus on budgets because they are considered to be one of the main management control systems This study is based largely on Robyn King’s Honours thesis completed in the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland.The authors would like to thank the editor and the two anonymous referees, as well as workshop participants at Monash and Swinburne Universities, the 2007 AFAANZ Annual Conference, and especially Aldonio Ferreira, Axel Schultz, Shannon Anderson and Julie Walker for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. ? Corresponding author at: UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia. Tel. : +61 7 3346 8015; fax: +61 7 3365 6788. E-mail address: P. [email  protected] uq. edu. au (P. M. Clarkson). Primary healthcare is the initial care of a patient as an outpatient excluding diagnostic testing; tertiary healthcare is that provided in a hospital setting. (MCS) in organisations, have been found to be the earliest MCS that a business ad opts, and continue to receive signi? cant attention in the research literature and in teaching material (e. g. , Davila and Foster, 2005, 2007; Sandino, 2007). We select the Australian primary healthcare sector as our experimental setting both because of its importance socially and economically, and because it is likely to be comprised of businesses that vary broadly in their budgeting practices.Contingency-based research proposes that there is no single MCS suitable for all businesses. Instead, the suitability of a particular MCS is argued to be contingent upon characteristics of a business including its size, strategy, structure, and also management’s perceptions of the uncertainty of the environment within which the business operates. We begin by examining the relationship between a business’s budgeting practices and these four contextual factors. In so doing, we view the development of a budgeting practice as consisting of two stages, the initial decision regarding adoption and the subsequent decision regarding extent of use.Here, the term ‘adoption’ re? ects the decision by a business to use a formal process to project its future 1044-5005/$ – see front matter. Crown Copyright  © 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10. 1016/j. mar. 2009. 11. 002 R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–55 41 ?nancial performance (Davila and Foster, 2005). Alternatively, the term ‘extent of use’ refers to both the number of different types of budgets the business uses and the frequency of their use. In our analysis, we develop arguments for, and investigate, these two stages separately.We then turn to consider the relationship between a business’s budgeting practice and its performance. The relative â€Å"? t† of the business’s MCS with its contingency factors is argued to impact on performance, with performance increasing with the degree of â€Å"? t† (Chenhall, 2003). Thus, ceterus paribus, businesses using a practice which does not â€Å"? t†, whether by â€Å"over-budgeting† or â€Å"under-budgeting†, are expected to experience weaker performance. We argue that not all of our sample businesses are likely to exhibit â€Å"best budgeting practice† because of the dif? ulties associated with identifying and implementing best practice, and the discontinuous nature of upgrades (Luft, 1997). We examine the relation between â€Å"? t† and performance using the method proposed by Ittner and Larcker (2001) and classi? ed as a Cartesian/Contingency approach (Gerdin and Greve, 2004). Degree of â€Å"? t† is measured as the difference between the extent of budget use and that predicted by the business’s contingency factors. This approach assumes that at any point, not all businesses will in fact have implemented their optimal practice.To conduct our investigation, a written survey of 988 members of the Australian Association of Practice Managers (AAPM) was undertaken. In brief, we ? nd that larger, more decentralised healthcare businesses are more likely to adopt written budgets. Further, for the subset of businesses that use written budgets, we ? nd that the extent of budget use is positively associated with structure (decentralisation) and strategy (cost leadership), and negatively associated with perceived environmental uncertainty (dynamism). Finally, we document a relationship between choice of budgeting practice and performance.Here, we initially ? nd performance to be positively associated with the use of written budgets. More re? ned tests then provide evidence of a positive association between the degree of â€Å"? t† and performance. Our study makes several contributions. First, we present evidence that contingency factors do indeed provide insights into both the adoption of budgets and the extent of their use for our sample of small Australian prim ary healthcare businesses. Interestingly, the results suggest that size and structure capture the business’s initial decision to adopt a formal budgeting practice.However, once a business has adopted a formal practice, strategy, structure, and perceived environmental uncertainty appear to be the primary determinants underlying the subsequent decision regarding the extent of budget use. We also present evidence that the â€Å"? t† of our sample business’s budgeting practices is associated with performance. To our knowledge, there has been relatively little empirical evidence on this relationship documented in the literature to date. Second, contingency-based research has predominantly been conducted in the large business sector.We extend this work by examining a small business setting. We argue that our setting has the advantage of allowing for an examination not only of the extent of budget use but also of the initial decision to adopt a budgeting practice. In c on- junction, it also provides an opportunity to examine more closely the different underlying theoretical constructs of size that the two most commonly used proxies, gross fees and full-time equivalent employees, may be capturing. Finally, from a practical perspective the healthcare sector is under continuing pressure to increase its ef? iency. This study contributes by examining the contexts in which the use of budgets is associated with enhanced performance in primary healthcare. The results should be of bene? t to both practitioners and those who advise practitioners on MCS design. The remainder of this paper is structured as follows: Section 2 presents background material; Section 3 describes our experimental setting; Section 4 presents the hypotheses, Section 5 the method and Section 6 the results; and Section 7 provides a summary and conclusions. 2. Background MCS have been de? ed as all devices and systems that businesses use â€Å"to ensure that the behaviours and decision s of their employees are consistent with the organisation’s objectives and strategies† (Malmi and Brown, 2008). We focus on a business’s decision regarding its budgeting practices. Budgets are considered an MCS because they can in? uence the behaviours and decisions of employees by translating a business’s objectives into plans for action, communicating the objectives, and providing a benchmark against which to assess performance.We view budgets as both an important and appropriate focus given that they are considered to be one of the main MCS in organisations, have been found to be the earliest system adopted in startup businesses, and continue to receive signi? cant attention in the research literature and in teaching material (Davila and Foster, 2005, 2007; Sandino, 2007). Within the MCS literature, the term ‘budgeting’ is used to refer to a broad range of topics (see Chapman et al. (2007) for a review). In this study, we de? e a budget as a forward looking set of numbers which projects the future ? nancial performance of a business, and which is useful for evaluating the ? nancial viability of the business’s chosen strategy or deciding whether changes to the overall plan are required (Davila and Foster, 2005). Budgets have been identi? ed as playing a number of roles which include making goals explicit, coding learning, facilitating co-ordination, promoting accountability, facilitating control, and contracting with external parties (Davila et al. 2009). Bene? ts of budgeting include increasing ef? ciency through planning and co-ordination, supporting both control and learning through the comparison of actual results with plans, and more globally â€Å"the ability to weave together all the disparate threads of an organisation into a comprehensive plan that serves many purposes† (Hansen and Otley, 2003). Given these various roles and potential bene? ts, one might expect all businesses to adopt a formal bu dgeting practice.In fact, this view appears to underlie much of the empirical MCS research predominantly conducted in a large business setting, as it is often assumed that large businesses will already have formal MCS that can be readily examined (Chenhall, 2003). Here, the focus has typically 42 R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–55 been on the adoption and performance implications of speci? c MCS â€Å"innovations† like activity based costing (ABC) (Ittner et al. , 2002). However, it is argued in the MCS literature that a rational adoption decision should require an evaluation of the associated costs as well as the bene? s (Davila and Foster, 2005). Costs of a formal MCS include the easily measured out of pocket costs associated with implementing and operating the system (Hansen and Otley, 2003; Hansen and Van der Stede, 2004). Other costs that are not so easily measured are the possibility that budgets create rigidity thereby limiting co-op eration and creative response, over-emphasise short-term cost control and top down authority, encourage gaming, and de-motivate employees (Hansen and Otley, 2003; Hansen and Van der Stede, 2004). Further, arguably the bene? s and costs associated with adopting a formal budgeting practice will not be the same for every business but will depend on business-speci? c contextual factors. Thus, ex ante, it is not clear that adoption of a formal budgeting practice is necessarily a rational outcome for all businesses. Our study distinguishes itself from the majority of the MCS literature by focusing on the small business setting, speci? cally the primary healthcare business sector. Within this sector, we argue that it is likely that for some businesses, the costs of budgeting will outweigh the perceived bene? s whereas the converse will likely be true for others. Thus, we argue that this setting provides the opportunity to gain insights into both the decision regarding the adoption of budge ts as well as the subsequent decision regarding the extent of their use. We investigate the contextual factors that delineate the costs and bene? ts associated with budgeting from a contingency framework perspective. Our initial focus is on the contextual factors that differentiate adopters from non-adopters.We then consider those factors that drive the decision regarding the extent of budget use and conclude with an investigation into the relationship between the ? t of a business’s budgeting practice with its contextual factors and its performance. In adopting a contingency framework perspective, we acknowledge that research referring to contingency theory has been subject to the criticism that contingency is a general idea rather than a theory as â€Å"there is no a priori intuition of its own as to what the pertinent factors are and as to their likely consequences† (Spekle, 2001).In this study, we do not consider contingency as a theory but rather as a framework fo r investigating identi? ed factors for which we have a priori intuition based on other organisational, economic and sociological theories. A further criticism of the contingency-based literature is its simplistic nature of investigating one contextual factor or MCS at a time (Fisher, 1995). In the face of this criticism, some studies have begun investigating multiple contextual variables simultaneously (Hansen and Van der Stede, 2004; Cadez and Guilding, 2008). We also consider multiple contextual factors, speci? cally those identi? ed in Chenhall’s (2003) review of the MCS literature since 1980. This review con? rms environment, technology,3 structure and size as â€Å"the descriptors of the fundamental generic elements of context†. Strategy is also included as it emerged in the 1980s as an important factor that in? uences the design of MCS (Lang? eld-Smith, 1997). Finally, contingency-based research has its roots in sociology. The underlying premise of sociology is t hat humans are boundedly rational and satis? cing (March and Simon, 1958).Bounded rationality can impede decision-making as not all possible alternatives are known with certainty at a given point in time. One identi? ed role of MCS is to assist managers in decision-making (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967). However, the decision on the optimal MCS is itself restricted by bounded rationality, as well as the personal incentives of the manager. Thus, while conceptually organisations may be expected to use the optimal MCS, this is not always possible. Businesses facing the same contextual factors may therefore choose different MCS, with the differences re? cted in their performance. In our study, we investigate the effect of a mismatch between the contextual variables and the extent of use of budgets on performance. 3. Experimental setting We adopt the Australian primary healthcare sector as our experimental setting for two reasons. First, we view it as an inherently interesting research setti ng in its own right, given its importance both socially and economically. Second, we believe it to be an ideal setting within which to conduct an investigation into budgeting because as argued below, it is a sector within which there are likely both signi? ant incentives and disincentives to budget. Thus, this setting provides the advantages of the controls that arise from working within a single industry while at the same time, one within which variation in budget use can reasonably be expected. 4 In detail, the Australian primary healthcare sector plays a uniquely important role in terms of both the services it provides and its place in the economy. In terms of services, it represents the gateway through which patients most typically enter the health system. Initial contact with For a sample of 57 organisational units, all with budgeting practices in place, Hansen and Van der Stede (2004) undertook an exploratory study focusing on four contextual factors (strategy, structure, envi ronment, and size) as possible antecedents to identi? ed reasons to budget. Alternatively, for a sample of large businesses, mostly manufacturing from Slovenia, Cadez and Guilding (2008) ? nd that superior performance results from an appropriate match between the contingent factors strategy, size, and market orientation, and strategic management accounting applications. We initially considered technology as an additional contextual variable but decided against its inclusion given our choice of experimental setting. Recent advances in medical technology have impacted on diagnostic specialties such as pathology and radiology (specialties not included in our study) to a much greater degree than primary healthcare. With the exception of three opthalmologists, the only specialists included in the survey were those that provide outpatient services from private rooms and like GP’s, still largely rely on their skill and basic instruments such as the stethoscope.From an administrative and medical records perspective, the use of technology is widespread, with computers being used in 89. 8% of all GP practices and 94. 5% of all specialist practices in 2002 (ABS, 2002). 4 In this regard, Merchant (1981) suggested that a desirable extension of budgeting studies guided by contingency frameworks would be to collect data from samples chosen to magnify the variation on the dimensions of interest while controlling for the many possible interacting factors which obscure or distort the ? ndings. R. King et al. Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–55 43 the health system is through a general medical practitioner (GP). For specialised care, patients are then referred to specialist medical practitioners. GPs and specialists provide this primary care from private consulting rooms and refer on to other providers for diagnostic tests. 5 Economically, the sector contributed 1. 71% of GDP in 2007 (AIHW, 2008). 6 Faced with rising costs, doctor shortages and increasin g waiting times, primary healthcare businesses are increasingly under pressure to become more ef? ient (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005). Here, budgeting has been identi? ed as a management accounting tool that enhances ? nancial performance and improves ef? ciency (Davila and Foster, 2007). Further, the majority of the existing management accounting research has been focussed on in-hospital care so little is known about MCS in the outpatient setting (Abernethy et al. , 2007), with the exception of a recent U. S. -based study of the relation between performance-based compensation and ownership of primary healthcare businesses (Ittner et al. 2007). Taken together, these facts reinforce our view that the primary healthcare sector within Australia is an important and potentially fruitful setting for the conduct of MCS research generally, and research into budgeting practices more narrowly. More directly to the current investigation, we seek an experimental setting with variation in budget use, including the presence of both adopters and non-adopters. We believe that a number of factors conspire to make the primary healthcare sector a reasonable choice, ex ante.First, the small business sector has been argued to have lower levels of formal planning and control (Chenhall and Lang? eld-Smith, 1998). As such, it might also be expected to include non-adopters. 7 In Australia, primary healthcare is largely provided by private businesses owned by the doctors working in the business as sole traders, in partnership, or through a company. Management of these businesses has traditionally been by the owner, although there now appears to be a trend towards the delegation of management to practice managers. 8These primary healthcare businesses typically have fewer than 50 employees and would thereby most often be classi? ed as small businesses according to the OECD de? nition (Holmes and Kelly, 1989). 9 Second, prior research also ? nds that rapid growth small-to-medium enterprises (SME) provide more extensive future-oriented ? nancial reporting than matched non-growth concerns (McMahon, 2001). Arguably, small primary healthcare businesses are less likely to be rapidly growing as there is currently an undersupply of primary healthcare workers due to an ageing workforce and restrictions on training places. 0 These limited organic growth prospects further our expectations of ? nding non-adopters. Third, ? rms within the service sector typically do not need to account for stock, thereby eliminating one driving force behind the use of sophisticated MCS. Finally, research on small and family business supports the view that necessary management skills are required before planning can be initiated (Gibb and Scott, 1985). Since there is a lower likelihood that primary healthcare owners, the majority of whom are doctors, have formal training in MCS, non-adoption is even more likely relative to other service sectors.Conversely, there are also economic incent ives to adopt budgets. As noted, primary healthcare businesses are under increasing pressure to become more ef? cient. The National Health Performance Committee has adopted a framework speci? cally designed for measuring healthcare system performance, with one of the identi? ed components being ef? ciency. In response, a number of institutions and private management consultants now offer education on managing primary healthcare practices that includes training on budgeting. 1 In conjunction, there is the added incentive to undertake these education programs in that continuing education is a requirement of the accreditation process for GP practices. Further, only accredited practices can access Practice Incentive Payments (PIP) from the Federal Government which can represent signi? cant additional revenue. 12 5 There is currently no Medicare funding for diagnostic services provided within the primary healthcare setting and so, these businesses do not invest in the associated technolo gy. The specialist practices included in the study were the private rooms of orthopaedic surgeons, opthalmologists, ermatologists, gynaecologists, and gastroenterologists. These specialists conduct initial consultation and post operative follow up from their private rooms but perform procedures in hospitals or day surgeries for which they have visitation rights, using equipment supplied by the hospital/day surgery where a fee is charged directly to the patient for its use. 6 Overall, the healthcare industry contributed 8. 98% of GDP in 2006–2007, with 19% of recurrent health expenditure on medical services provided by GP’s and specialists. In 2006–2007, Medicare paid $4029. million for GP services, representing an average 4. 93 items per capita (AIHW, 2008). 7 In contrast, international studies of formal budget use have focused on large businesses, ? nding the vast majority use annual ? xed budgets (Horngren et al. , 2006). Australian evidence is consistent, wit h 97% of large businesses found to use budgets (Chenhall and Lang? eld-Smith, 1998). 8 The exact extent to which management is being delegated to practice managers is uncertain given a lack of studies into the prevalence or role of practice managers (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005). There were 9600 private GP practices operating in Australia at the end of June 2002. Of these, 68. 5% were single practitioner practices employing 2. 9 persons on average, and only 100 employed more than 10 practitioners. At the same time, there were 9864 private specialist practices, 89. 7% of which were solo specialist practices employing an average 3. 2 persons and only 19. 2% had greater than 10 practitioners (ABS, 2002). 10 There has been a recognised unfavourable long-term trend since 1999 towards an increasing percentage of primary care practitioners aged 55 years or over.In conjunction, the World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts a global workforce shortage of 4. 25 million health workers over the next decade (Cresswell, 2007). 11 The 2008–2009 Federal Government Budget proposal includes administered Program 5. 3—‘Primary Care Policy, Innovation and Research’ which among other things, â€Å"funds initiatives to improve service delivery and help GPs access current best business practice. † As a part of their response, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the AAPM have made available speci? cally tailored business education programs for healthcare managers. 2 The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) standards for general practice include: â€Å"Our administrative staff can describe (and there is evidence of) training undertaken in the past 3 years that is relevant to their role in our practice. † The practice manager is speci? cally mentioned in the standard, as is the term practice management training. In order to access Practice Incentive Payments, GP practices must have complied with the RACGP st andards. In 2007, 80% of GP practices were accredited (AIHW, 2008).By way of context, an accredited practice with 44 R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–55 However, notwithstanding, for some businesses, given their lack of size and sophistication, these incentives are unlikely to outweigh the costs of budgeting which include the initial investment in software, skills, and the added labour hours. 4. Hypothesis development 4. 1. Overview This study investigates the relationship between factors identi? ed from contingency-based research, the adoption and extent of use of budgets, and business performance. The speci? contextual factors we consider are size, structure, strategy, and perceived environmental uncertainty (Chenhall, 2003). We argue, based on how each identi? ed factor is expected to impact both a business’s needs for and thereby the bene? ts it derives from budgeting, and also its ability to meet the costs of a budgeting practice, that the four contingency factors play different roles relative to the two stages of the budgeting decision. Speci? cally, we predict that a business’s adoption decision primarily related to its size and to a lesser extent, its structure (decentralisation).For businesses that make the threshold adoption decision, we predict that those that are more decentralised, employ a cost leadership strategy, and for which management perceives a lower level of environmental uncertainty will use budgets to a greater extent. Quite clearly, however, the roles played by the various factors ultimately remain an empirical question and as such, we give consideration to each when we empirically model the two stages of the budgeting decision. Finally, we predict that the match between the contextual factors and extent of budget use will be re? ected in business performance. These predictions are formalised below. . 2. Determinants of budgeting practice 4. 2. 1. Size The construct of size has frequentl y been viewed as re? ecting two dimensions, complexity and availability of resources, with both argued to be increasing with size (Fredrickson and Mitchell, 1984; Mintzberg, 1994). While small, single-business organisations can often be controlled with largely informal mechanisms such as direct supervision and oral communications, larger organisations require more formal controls as the increased complexity associated with a larger number of employees creates problems in social control, communication, and co-ordination (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967).Here, Davila (2005) argues, following Levitt and March (1988), that to regain ef? ciency in managing the organisation, co-ordination and control mechanisms are formalised with the objective of coding and documenting organisational learning and reducing the demand that routine activities impose on the management team’s time. Further, in terms of a business’s ability to invest in a formal budgeting practice, it is widely accepte d that larger businesses are better positioned given their greater resources, ? nancial and otherwise.Larger businesses not only have the resources required to acquire software and skills but they can also more ef? ciently achieve these administrative tasks through economies of scale and the greater technical specialisation of their employees (Merchant, 1981). Chenhall (2003) ? nds that size has been considered as a contextual variable in only a few MCS studies as most examine relatively large businesses. Such a ? nding ? ts well with Banbury and Nahapiet’s (1979) argument that there should only be a relationship between resource availability and the introduction of formal systems in organisations of relatively small size.Consistent with these types of arguments, small business studies reveal size as in? uencing the acquisition and preparation of accounting information including budgets (Holmes and Nicholls, 1989; McMahon, 2001). Further, evidence from longitudinal studies of startup businesses suggests that size in? uences the decision to adopt operating budgets, with larger ? rms adopting the budgets sooner (Davila and Foster, 2005, 2007). They ? nd that when the business is small, control and co-ordination happens through frequent informal interactions but that the ef? iency of an informal system requiring direct contact with employees rapidly decreases with increasing size, thereby making it more ef? cient to use a formal control system. In the primary healthcare setting, we view the ? xed costs associated with the adoption of a budgeting practice to be signi? cant and thus, following the arguments of Davila and Foster (2005), propose size as a determining contingency factor underlying the adoption decision. In this sector, businesses are required to comply with substantive â€Å"red tape† that places onerous demands on their resources (Productivity Commission, 2003).As such, it is likely that only larger businesses have both the need for and the resources to devote to budgeting. Smaller practices are unlikely to be able divert resources away from their primary revenue generating clinical activities. Thus, we predict a positive relationship between business size and use of budgets. However, we also argue consistent with Banbury and Nahapiet (1979) that once a business has reached a critical size and uses a budget, size is unlikely to play a signi? cant further role in the determination of budgeting practice. Thus, our ? st hypothesis, expressed in the alternative, is: H1 . The adoption of written budgets by primary healthcare businesses is positively associated with business size. 4. 2. 2. Structure The structure of a business relates to â€Å"the formal speci? cation of roles for organisational members or tasks for groups to ensure that the activities of the organisation are carried out† (Chenhall, 2003). While two components, differentiation and integration, have been identi? ed in the literature, we focus only on differentiation because of the small size of our sample businesses. Differentiation is de? ed as the extent to which managers act as quasi-owners and is achieved through decentralisation of authority (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967). A centralised busi- 4 FTE urban GPs would receive $60,000 per annum from PIP (Medicare, 2009). R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–55 45 ness structure is characterised by decision-making that is restricted to owners and upper management whereas a decentralised business delegates decision-making to lower levels of management and operational staff. Given the closer links between the ownership and control of the business, ecision-making in centralised businesses should require relatively fewer MCS. Herein, existing evidence reveals centralised businesses as having relatively few administrative controls and less sophisticated budgets while decentralised businesses have more formal controls (Bruns and Waterhouse, 1975; Merchan t, 1981). We thus argue that structure has the potential to play a role in a business’s initial decision to adopt a budgeting practice, although we view its role as secondary to size since it is unlikely that the business’s ability to meet the ? ed costs associated with a budget practice will be directly related to its structure. Further, we argue that for small healthcare businesses that have reached the threshold size and use budgets, structure also has the potential to play a role in its subsequent decision as to the extent of use. As the business becomes more differentiated, decentralisation increases and thereby so does the need for formal MCS (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967; Merchant, 1981). Our second hypothesis, expressed in two parts and in the alternative, is then:13 H2a .The adoption of written budget by primary healthcare businesses is positively associated with business structure (decentralisation). H2b . The extent of written budget use by primary healthcare b usinesses which opt to use written budgets is positively associated with business structure (decentralisation). 4. 2. 3. Strategy Business strategy, de? ned as how a business chooses to compete within its particular industry (Lang? eld-Smith, 1997), has been the focus of much of the research on MCS as opposed to corporate or operational strategy (Chenhall, 2003).While there are a number of different typologies of business strategy, we use Porter’s typology which focuses on cost leadership and product differentiation strategies. Porter’s cost leaders are characterised by competitive prices, consistent quality, ease of purchase, and a relatively restricted product selection. In contrast, differentiators offer the market something perceived as unique. Different types of MCS will be suited to different strategies due to their differing information and feedback requirements. Cost leadership strategies are argued to require speci? operating goals and budgets to facilitate co st containment at an operational level (Chenhall and Morris, 1995). Alternatively, product differentiator strategies would require more outward focussed, broadscope, MCS to collect infor- mation on competitors for planning purposes (Simons, 1987). Since primary healthcare businesses have constraints on the total number of services they can provide such as opening hours and the number of medical practitioners, a cost leadership strategy should require that tighter cost controls be in place in order to maintain overall pro? ability. In contrast, a product differentiator strategy operating with higher margins under the same constraints should require fewer controls. While we do not expect strategy to be determinative of the threshold decision to use budgets as it is unlikely to either affect the business’s ability to meet the initial ? xed costs or contribute suf? ciently to the business’s primary need for a budgeting practice, based on the arguments above we do expect it to impact on the desire to invest in marginal costs associated with a greater extent of budget use.Thus, formally, our third hypothesis, expressed in the alternative, is: H3 . For small healthcare businesses, which opt to use written budgets, those following a cost leadership strategy will use budgets to a greater extent than those following a product differentiation strategy. 4. 2. 4. Perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) PEU is de? ned as a situation where managers perceive elements of the environment to be uncertain, with uncertainty distinguished from risk â€Å"as uncertainty de? nes situations in which probabilities are not attached† (Chenhall, 2003).In a general sense, PEU is seen to be an important contextual factor in the design of MCS because increased PEU makes managerial planning and control more dif? cult (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967). PEU is, however, a general term and a number of researchers have provided more speci? c classi? cations of the environment (Wa terhouse and Tiessen, 1978; Ouchi, 1979). In this study, we focus on the two most commonly researched elements of PEU, the dynamic nature of the environment (dynamism) and the level of competition (hostility).Contingency-based research in large business has found that greater dynamism is associated with a need for more externally focussed, broad scope and timely information (Chenhall and Morris, 1995). Planning becomes more dif? cult in more dynamic conditions as probabilities cannot as easily be attached to future events and controls such as static budgets may quickly become outdated. Thus, greater informal communication is required for effective decision-making and formal controls are less bene? cial or desirable (Chapman, 1997). Alternatively, large business research focussed n hostility has found that businesses facing greater competition rely on more formal controls and emphasise budgets (Khandwalla, 1972). Thus, in addition to con? rming PEU as an important contextual factor, these ? ndings also reveal the importance of specifying the dimension of interest (Chenhall, 2003). Consistent with the research on dynamism in large business but in contrast with that on hostility, Matthews and Scott (1995) ? nd for small businesses, the sophistication of planning decreases with both increased dynamism and increased hostility.They argue from an economic perspective that for small businesses, the more uncertain 13 While it could be argued that it would be impractical for a small business consisting of a single medical practitioner and few administrative staff to have a decentralised structure, given the heavy demands of clinical work on the medical practitioner’s time, decentralisation is possible to the extent that operational and ? nancial decision-making is delegated to employees. This was con? rmed in discussions in the pilot study. 46 R. King et al. Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–55 the environment the less likely the manager is to ex pend scarce resources on budgets with an unproven effect on performance. The rational manager trying to meet the fundamental goal of making a pro? t will weigh up the bene? ts against the costs associated with budgeting. Based on these arguments and ? ndings, we propose that as with strategy, neither dimension of PEU is likely to impact the manager’s threshold decision to adopt a budget as it does not directly impact on the ability to meet the costs.However, for businesses that have already identi? ed the need and ability to budget, both dynamism and hostility will impact on the decision to incur the added marginal costs of increased budget use. Consistent with Matthews and Scott (1995) and the large organisation literature, given the relatively small nature of our sample businesses and the likely resource constraints that they face, we predict a negative association between the PEU dimension of dynamism and the extent of use. 14 However, contrary to the large rganisation lit erature but consistent with Matthews and Scott (1995), we also predict a negative association between the PEU dimension of hostility and the extent of use. Our fourth hypothesis, expressed in the alternative, is then: H4 . The extent of written budget use by primary healthcare businesses which opt to use written budgets is negatively associated with the PEU elements of dynamism and hostility. 4. 3. Performance and budgets Budgets have been recommended for planning, monitoring, and controlling business activities, with each thought to assist businesses to achieve pro? ability (Horngren et al. , 2006). However, the effect of budgets on pro? tability has not as yet been clearly demonstrated in the literature (McMahon, 2001). There is evidence of a positive association between the use of budgets and performance as proxied by growth in small and medium enterprises (Gorton, 1999). Even without extensive empirical evidence, planning and the use of appropriate budgets are promoted by academ ics, educators and accounting practitioners as a means of enhancing ? ancial performance (Hansen and Otley, 2003; Gorton, 1999). Thus, we might expect that primary healthcare businesses using budgets experience better performance than those that do not. More carefully, according to ‘contingency-based’ research, a state of equilibrium in the relationship between the contingency factors and the type of MCS is best described by â€Å"? t† (Covaleski et al. , 2003). â€Å"Fit† occurs when the organisation designs its practices in such a way that it has a positive impact on performance relative to alternative practices.Thus, there will be no universally effective ‘extent of budget use’, as each combination of contingency factors will â€Å"? t† with different practices. The positive impact on performance of attaining â€Å"? t† is due to the ef? ciencies that result from using the most suitable MCS. When there is a lesser â€Å"? tâ €  between the extent of budget use and the contingency factors, performance will be â€Å"impaired†. Further, mis? t will be associated with lower performance irrespective of whether it arises from â€Å"over-budgeting† or â€Å"under-budgeting†. Thus, our ? th hypothesis, stated in the alternate form, is: H5 . A business’s performance is positively associated with the degree of ? t between the extent of budget use and its contingency factors. The inef? ciencies arise because the need for a budgeting practice is incongruent with the adopted practice. If the business over-commits to budgeting, it is likely to have expended scarce human and ? nancial resources without enjoying commensurate bene? ts. Conversely, if it under-commits, its performance will likely suffer because of control and/or co-ordination problems.To illustrate, consider the various contextual factors identi? ed above. First, regarding size, a relatively small business that uses an exte nsive budgeting practice will have unnecessarily expended resources implementing and operating the practice when in fact informal communication is practical and likely preferred. Conversely, a relatively large business without a formal budgeting practice will likely ? nd both communication and co-ordination problematic given the complexity associated with a larger number of employees.In a similar fashion, a relatively centralised business with an extensive budgeting practice has likely expended resources on a level of control that is greater than required to encourage employees to make decisions that are in keeping with the organisational objectives. In terms of strategy, a cost leadership strategy requires more speci? c controls than a differentiation strategy. Thus, the adopted business strategy will likely be less effective if an incompatible budgeting practice is implemented to support the strategy. Finally, high levels of PEU make it much more dif? ult to plan with certainty, t hereby reducing the need for and advantages of budgeting. Finally, notwithstanding equilibrium-type arguments, we believe that there will be variation in the degree of â€Å"? t† in our setting given the dif? culties that primary healthcare businesses likely face in identifying and implementing their best budgeting practices. Given their size and medical focus, it is likely that many of our sample businesses approach budgeting from a relatively unsophisticated perspective and/or view it as a lower priority. This makes the process of identifying a practice that â€Å"? s† relatively slow and involves ‘trial and error’ type of learning. Here, Luft (1997) argues that while static equilibrium theories â€Å"can predict the techniques the ? rm should end up with† they cannot predict â€Å"how long it will take to complete the process or what the path to the solution will be. † Thus, it is likely that there will be a lag between the need for and th e use of a particular budgeting practice. Milgrom and Roberts (1992) also argue that organisations are dynamically learning and moving towards an optimal level of management accounting practice. The problem of implementing a budget practice that â€Å"? s† is further complicated by the fact that implementation of new budget practices is likely to 14 The variation in PEU of managers from different industries has typically been the focus of previous research. In this study, industry is a constant but arguably PEU is still of interest, as it has also been found to vary among the managers of businesses within the same industry (Boyd et al. , 1993). R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–55 47 occur in a â€Å"lumpy† fashion because when increasing the extent to which they use budgets, businesses are forced to do so in larger rather than smaller increments.As Luft (1997) argues, â€Å"changes in information systems are often sharply discontinuo us†. 5. Method 5. 1. Sample frame and description For this study, a cross-sectional research design is used and the quantitative measurement tool is a mail questionnaire. Recognised problems associated with the implementation of survey-based studies include the initial dif? culty of identifying and accessing appropriate respondents, and then of achieving acceptable response rates (Dillman, 2000). In light of this, since budgets are considered to be a traditional management tool and there is an identi? d trend towards delegating management responsibilities to practice managers, practice managers were chosen as the target subjects for the survey (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005). The further problems of contacting practice managers via a cost effective means and encouraging participation were addressed by approaching the Australian Association of Practice Managers (AAPM) for support. The AAPM is the only recognised professional body for practice managers in Australia and c onsists of managers of dental, medical, and allied health businesses.Currently, there are 1200 members of the AAPM from medical practices, representing approximately 6% of the small private medical businesses operating in Australia. Membership in the AAPM is voluntary subject to an annual subscription fee. There are a number of bene? ts associated with membership including discounts for management education courses and national conferences. Thus, it is likely that members of the AAPM are interested in staying informed about current management trends, wish to become part of a professional network, and have the means to pay the membership fee.While no demographic data currently exist for practice managers who join the AAPM and those who do not, member businesses appear slightly skewed towards larger practices relative to the population of GP businesses. For 2005–2006, 83% of GP businesses had between one and ? ve GPs, with the remaining 17% having six or more (PHCRIS, 2008). In comparison, for our sample practices, 66. 4% had between one and ? ve GP’s and the remaining 33. 6%, six or more. However, notwithstanding this potential bias, the advantages of accessing the AAPM practice manager mailing list and having the AAPM recommend participation are considered to dominate.The questionnaire was initially developed from the existing literature and then pilot tested on a sample of 20 members of the AAPM and ? ve academic researchers. Based on this testing, a number of changes were made to wording and layout to enhance understandability in this setting. The ? nal questionnaire consisted of 35 questions presented in 10 sections and was estimated to require between 20 and 30 min to complete. Questions relating to each of the relevant constructs discussed in Section 4 were presented in dedicated and clearly labelled sections.The ? nal questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 1000 of the medical practice members of the AAPM. Of the 1000 surveys distribut ed, 12 were returned unopened. From the remaining 988 questionnaires, 144 complete and usable responses were received, representing a 14. 6% response rate which is comparable with those achieved in other studies of small businesses (Dennis, 2003). 15 Requested demographic data reveal 112 of the practices to be GP practices and 32 to be specialist practices, and that they employed between 2 and 42 full-time equivalents (FTE).Further, 98. 6% indicate that they use computers in some capacity. The average age of the practices is 23. 94 years, and for the 114 organisations that responded to the question, their average gross fees were $1,553,919, ranging from $206,816 to $11,000,000. 5. 2. Budgeting practice 5. 2. 1. Empirical model The ? rst stage of this study seeks insights both into the factors underlying a business’s decision to adopt a budgeting practice and into its subsequent decision as to the extent of budget use.To do so, it appeals to contingencybased research to identi fy four contextual factors (size (SIZE), structure (STRUC), strategy (STRAT), and perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU)) argued to drive the decisions, although in different combinations. Given this framework, we employ the following common empirical model to formally examine each of these two decisions: BUDGi = + 1 lnSIZEi 0 + 2 STRUCi + 3 STRATi + 4 PEUi + 5 TYPEi +? (1) where the various measures are described below. For the decision to adopt, based on H1 and H2a , 1 and 2 are predicted to be positive.For the decision as to the extent of use, based on H2b , H3 , and H4 , 2 and 3 are predicted to be positive and 4 negative. Practice type (TYPE) has been included in the model to control for potential structural differences (Hair et al. , 2006). Speci? cally, identi? ed differences in the pricing (higher) and supply (lower) of services by specialist versus general practices suggest that the market for specialist services may be relatively more heterogeneous (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005). We measure TYPE as a dichotomous variable, set equal to 1 for general practices and 0 for specialist practices. . 2. 2. Dependent variable measurement To examine the decision to adopt, we measure BUDG as a dichotomous variable set equal to 1 if the business indicates, in response to an explicit ‘yes/no’ question, that it 15 The mailing was restricted to 1000 questionnaires due to ? nancial constraints. Standard techniques to discourage non-response were employed including a personalised cover letter from the AAPM, promised con? dentiality, brevity of questions, the inclusion of a reply-paid envelope, a follow-up e-mail reminder, and a promise to make results available to participants (Dillman, 2000).Testing for non-response bias, undertaken by comparing 15 responses received in the ? rst month to the ? nal 15 responses received, revealed no statistically signi? cant differences. 48 R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–5 5 uses a written budget and 0 otherwise. We base this analysis on all 144 respondents and run Eq. (1) as a logistic regression. For this and all subsequent analysis, reported p-values are one-tailed since we have predictions relating to each of the contingency factors. To examine the extent of budget use, we restrict our tests to the 65 respondents using written budgets.Here, the survey questionnaire asked respondents to indicate on a 5-point Likert scale how systematically their business used operating budgets of various durations (annual, halfyearly, quarterly, monthly, and/or weekly), as well as cash ? ow, ? exible, rolling, long-term, or other budgets. These questions capture both the types of budgets used and the extent of their use, and are an adaptation of the alternative measurement approaches used in Chenhall and Lang? eldSmith (1998) and Jankala (2005). 16 The Cronbach’s alpha is 93. 8%. Panel A of Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for the responses relating t o the usage of each type f budget. To construct the ‘extent of budget use’ measure, we apply exploratory common factor analysis with orthogonal rotation to the responses. Two uncorrelated factors with eigenvalues of 3. 845 and 1. 234 are extracted, explaining 64. 14% of the total variance. The factor loadings are presented in the ? nal two columns of Panel A of Table 1. The ? rst factor aligns with operating budgets and the second with other types of budgets. As such, we consider two sub-categories (‘operating budgets’ and ‘other budgets’) and measure BUDG for each as the average summated budget usage score across the relevant budgets in the subcategory. 7 Here, Eq. (1) is run using OLS. Given a consistent lack of signi? cance, we do not report or discuss results based on our analyses of the ‘other budgets’ measure. 5. 2. 3. Contingency factor measurement Following the majority of contingency-based MCS studies, we measure size (SIZ E) as the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees (Chenhall, 2003). Respondents were asked to identify the number of FTE employees as administrative/reception staff, practice manager, nursing/allied health, medical, and other. Table 2 reveals that the mean (median) number of FTE employees for our sample businesses is 11. 31 (10. 500). For sensitivity purposes, we alternatively consider gross fees as a measure of size. Data on gross fees were provided by 114 of the businesses, with a mean (median) value of $1,553,919 ($1,322,359). For the remaining three contingency factors, the measures are based on responses across 7-point Likert scales to dedicated questions in the questionnaire survey. Panel B of Table 1 presents the questions and descriptive statistics for the responses. For STRUC and PEU which involve multiple questions, exploratory common factor analysis is then applied o develop the empirical measures. The factor loadings are presented in the ? nal two columns of Panel B. 18 In detail, the measure of structure (STRUC) is based on responses to six questionnaire items asking the extent to which decision-making authority has been delegated within the business and at which level operating decisions are made. The six items, originally developed by Gordon and Narayanan (1984), have been subjected to considerable scrutiny and empirical testing for reliability and validity in previous research (Chenhall, 2003). The Cronbach alpha is 82. 7%.Application of exploratory common factor analysis to the response scores leads to the extraction of only one factor with an eigenvalue of 3. 261, explaining 53. 81% of the variance. Thus, STRUC is measured as the average summated scores across the six items. Organisational strategy (STRAT) is based on Porter’s classi? cation scheme (Porter, 1980) and measured by the response to a single question drawn from Govindarajan (1988). This question asks the respondents to indicate their belief as to the best description of the business’s strategic emphasis, ranging from product differentiation to cost leadership.This was found in the pilot testing to be the only question from previous research applicable to our setting, Finally, we initially measure perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) based on the responses to nine questions developed by Gordon and Narayanan (1984) to capture the intensity of competition, the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the external environment, and the potential elements of change in the environment. Based on the correlations among the responses, only ? ve items were eventually used with a Cronbach alpha of 64. %, as the responses to four items had correlations of less than the 30% level recommended for inclusion in factor analysis (Hair et al. , 2006). 19 Consistent with previous research (Gordon and Narayanan, 1984), application of exploratory common factor analysis with orthogonal rotation led to the extraction of two factors with eigenvalues of 2. 327 and 1. 122 explaining 67. 70% of the total variance. Following the literature, we label these factors as ‘PEU hostility’ (PEUhost ) and ‘PEU dynamism’ (PEUdyn ).PEUhost loads on the two questions relating to the competitiveness of the business environment whereas PEUdyn loads on the three questions relating to the predictability of the external environment. We include both in our empirical model, measuring each as the average summated response scores across the relevant questions. 16 Jankala (2005) prefers this measure of systematic use as a more reliable and precise measure of a business’s commitment to the use of budgets, rather than the more subjective scales used by, for example, Chenhall and Lang? eld-Smith (1998) that measure bene? t derived. 7 The yearly operating budgets did not load on either factor as a large majority of the businesses indicated that they used yearly operating budgets on a systematic basis. 18 The reported factor loadings, eig envalues, and percentage variation explained are based on the full sample of 144 respondents. When the exploratory common factor analysis is repeated based only on the 65 respondent businesses using budgets, all measures are qualitatively identical. 19 The four items removed were competition for manpower, new services marketed, ability to predict preferences for customers, and change in legal, political, and economic environment.Their removal is perhaps not surprising that as there was little variation in the responses received with the sample small businesses drawn from the same industry. R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–55 Table 1 Descriptive statistics and factor loadings for survey questionnaire responses. Question Descriptive statistics Mean Panel A: Budgeting BUDG 1 Which of the following budgets are prepared and how consistently? (5-point scale: 1 = not used, 2 = seldom, 3 = at times, 4 = often, 5 = systematically) a. Operating budget, yearl y b. Operating budget, half-yearly c.Operating budget, quarterly d. Operating budget, monthly e. Operating budget, weekly f. Cash ? ow budget g. Flexible budget h. Rolling budget i. Long-term budget Med SD Factor loadings #1 #2 49 2. 690 2. 064 2. 064 2. 092 1. 578 2. 079 1. 701 1. 704 1. 795 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1. 899 1. 663 1. 659 1. 662 1. 315 1. 626 1. 317 1. 400 1. 473 0. 746 0. 614 0. 533 0. 668 0. 472 0. 149 0. 317 0. 168 0. 255 0. 322 0. 034 0. 346 0. 508 0. 823 0. 606 0. 715 Panel B: Contingency factors Structure (STRUC) STRUC 1 To what extent has authority been delegated to the manager or employee for each of the following decisions? Please indicate actual rather than stated authority) (7-point scale: 1 = no delegation, 7 = total delegation) a. Initiate ideas for new services b. Hiring and ? ring of personnel c. Selection of large investments d. Budget allocations e. Pricing decisions STRUC 2 Most operation decisions are made at what level? (7-point scale: 1 = owner level, 7 = manager level) 4. 999 5. 250 3. 173 3. 980 4. 311 4. 349 5 6 3 5 5 4 1. 517 1. 923 1. 963 2. 123 1. 900 1. 870 0. 531 0. 610 0. 732 0. 803 0. 761 0. 581 – – – – – – How would you best describe your practice’s strategic emphasis? 7-point scale: 1 = product differentiation; 7 = cost leadership) Perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) PEU 1 How stable/dynamic is the external environment (economic and technological) facing your practice? (7-point scale: 1 = very stable, 7 = very dynamic) a. Economic environment b. Technological environment PEU 2 How would you classify the market activities of your competitors (i. e. , other healthcare practices) in the past 3 years? (7-point scale: 1 = becoming more predictable, 7 = becoming less predictable) How intense is each of the following in your industry, the healthcare profession? 7-point scale: 1 = negligible, 7 = intense) a. Bidding for purchases b. Price competition Strategy (STRAT) STRAT 1 2. 983 3 1. 127 n/a n/a 4. 134 4. 761 3. 691 4 5 4 1. 603 1. 596 1. 122 0. 968 0. 755 0. 369 0. 176 0. 185 0. 118 PEU 3 2. 446 3. 553 2 4 1. 352 1. 502 0. 147 0. 168 0. 676 0. 625 Panel C: Performance (PERF) PERF 1 Which best describes your response to the following statements over the past 3-year period? Compared to key competitors, my practice: (7-point scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) a. Is more competitive b. Has more patients c. Is growing faster d. Is more pro? table e.Is more innovative f. Has more doctors 5. 082 5. 353 5. 105 5. 210 5. 320 4. 094 5 6 5 5 6 4 1. 607 1. 619 1. 644 1. 593 1. 643 2. 204 0. 660 0. 711 0. 849 0. 667 0. 592 0. 502 – – – – – For Panel A, the exploratory factor analysis was conducted based on the 65 businesses that produce written budgets. For Panels B and C, the exploratory common factor analysis was based on the full sample of 144 respondents. Items deemed to load on the identi? ed factor appea r in bold. 50 R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40–55 Table 2 Descriptive statistics for ‘contingency-based’ model variables.Measure ‘Operating budgets’ Mean Median Standard deviation Min > max Size (SIZE) Mean Median Standard deviation Min > max Structure (STRUCT) Mean Median Standard deviation Min > max Strategy (STRAT) Mean Median Standard deviation Min > max PEUhost Mean Median Standard deviation Min > max PEUdyn Mean Median Standard deviation Min > max Performance (PERF) Mean Median Standard deviation Min > max Full sample (n = 144) 1. 948 1. 000 1. 376 1>5 11. 531 10. 500 6. 583 2 > 42 4. 344 4. 333 1. 381 1>7 1. 990 2. 000 1. 122 1>7 2. 987 3. 000 1. 199 1>6 4. 201 4. 333 1. 179 1 > 6. 6 4. 027 4. 083 1. 248 1>7 Written budget (n = 65) 3. 085 3. 000 1. 50 1>5 12. 893 12. 000 6. 367 3. 5 > 31 4. 862 5. 000 1. 212 1. 67 > 6. 83 1. 860 2. 000 1. 014 1>6 3. 231 3. 000 1. 183 1>6 4. 241 4. 333 1. 129 1 > 6. 67 4. 228 4. 333 1. 302 1>7 No written budget (n = 79) n/a p-Value – 10. 410 9. 250 6. 586 2 > 42 3. 918 3. 833 1. 372 1>7 2. 090 2. 000 1. 200 1>7 2. 785 2. 500 1. 181 1 > 5. 5 4. 169 4. 333 1. 224 1 > 6. 67 3. 861 3. 833 1. 184 1 > 6. 5 0. 024 0) or â€Å"under-budgets† (? < 0), the impact of ‘lack of ? t’ on ? nancial performance should be the same. Formally, the model we employ, illustrated using |? |, has the following form: PERFi = 0 we also requested objective measures of pro? ability from our sample businesses (Govindarajan and Gupta, 1985). Unfortunately, less than one-third of our sample provided the data. Thus, the use of objective measures for robustness purposes is also impractical. 6. Results and analysis 6. 1. Preliminaries Descriptive statistics for measures used in tests of our hypotheses are presented in Table 2, both for the overall sample of 144 respondents and for the sample partitioned on the basis of whether a written budget is adopted, along with te sts for differences in mean values between partitions. As revealed, there is considerable cross-sectional variation in each measure.Further, there appear to be several signi? cant differences between respondents adopting written budgets and those not. Speci? cally, businesses using budgets have more FTE employees (SIZE, p = 0. 024), are more decentralised (STRUC, p < 0. 001), face a more hostile enviro