Management Papers

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/34

This collection houses research from the Waikato Management School.

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Microfoundations of accountability when transparency is constrained: Moral and relational practices in Tonga's public sector
(Emerald, 2026) Uele, Iki Mafi; Ranasinghe, Dinithi; Akroyd, Chris
Purpose: This study examines how accountability is enacted in everyday financial practice in Tonga's public sector by analysing the microfoundations through which public servants interpret, negotiate, and resolve accountability demands. It addresses an unresolved theoretical puzzle in accountability research: why strong moral responsibility can coexist with constrained procedural transparency. Rather than treating accountability outcomes as the product of institutional design alone, the study investigates how relational ethics, cultural obligations, and moral reasoning simultaneously enable accountability while limiting formal disclosure and contestation. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a qualitative, interpretive research design grounded in talanoa, a Pacific dialogic methodology suited to eliciting morally and relationally embedded practices. Data were generated through in-depth talanoa with public servants across ministries and hierarchical levels in Tonga. Analysis follows a microfoundations perspective, tracing how individual-level moral judgements, emotional regulation, relational obligations, and discretionary practices aggregate into patterned organisational accountability outcomes. Findings: The findings show that accountability in Tonga is enacted as a lived ethical practice rather than a purely procedural one. Moral self-regulation, faith-based responsibility, prudential judgement in budgeting, respect for hierarchy, and relational dialogue sustain strong accountability. At the same time, these same mechanisms constrain procedural transparency by discouraging escalation, formal contestation, and explicit disclosure. Accountability is therefore realised through a double-edged configuration in which moral responsibility is strengthened even as formal transparency becomes ethically, relationally, or politically costly. Originality/value: The study contributes to accounting and accountability scholarship by offering a microfoundational explanation of why transparency deficits persist despite strong ethical commitment. It reframes constrained transparency not as an informational or enforcement failure, but as an outcome of morally embedded accountability practices. By theorising accountability as an emergent configuration of moral, emotional, and relational mechanisms, the paper advances understanding of how accountability is simultaneously enabled and constrained in relational public-sector contexts, with implications for accountability reform in developing and culturally plural settings.
Getting bullied in the nonprofit sector: The dark side of public service motivation and political behavior
(SAGE Publications, 2026-08-31) Plimmer, Geoff; Haider, Alina; Badar, Kamal; Zhou, Ao
Bullying is harmful and prominent in nonprofit organizations (NPOs), yet it remains understudied. This article investigates how public service motivation (PSM), which is trait-like, prosocial and vital to NPOs, may counterintuitively expose NPO workers to being bullied. Notwithstanding PSM’s many benefits, recent studies have identified a dark side of PSM that potentially may attract bullying from coworkers. This survey-based study in the New Zealand nonprofit sector (N = 880) draws on social exchange theory and conservation of resources theory to examine the relationship between PSM and being bullied, the role of political behavior as a mediator, and constructive leadership as a moderator. Findings support all hypothesized relationships, except one. The article concludes with theoretical implications and practical recommendations to address challenges stemming from the dark side of PSM as well as to curb bullying in NPOs.
Mega-whale driven decentralized lending protocols
(Springer, 2026) Sun, Xiaotong; Stasinakis, Charalampos; Sermpinis, Georgios
This study examines systemic risks in decentralized lending protocols stemming from “mega-whales”—large users with transaction volumes exceeding $100 million—who dominate liquidity dynamics. Using high-frequency transaction-level data from major protocols (Aave v2/v3, Compound v2/v3, Morpho Blue, Flux, and SparkLend) spanning August 2024 to August 2025, we identify 550 mega-whales and analyze their impacts across market size, structural risks, and user activity. Key findings reveal the following: (1) The net growth in both mega-whale deposits and borrowing is negatively correlated with the market-size dynamics of lending protocols, while arbitrage-driven behaviors (such as token diversification and platform switching) further fragment the growth of Total Value Locked (TVL); (2) Although whale borrowing serves to temporarily stabilize leverage ratios, deposit activities may adversely impact systemic stability; however, an increase in mega-whale deposits is found to positively stimulate the growth and participation of unique depositors; (3) Utilizing event-window controls around DeFi shocks, we confirm that these effects are strongly associated with mega-whale activities rather than market-wide events. These results point to participation patterns that may be inconsistent with DeFi’s egalitarian ethos, suggesting that economic concentration could influence market dynamics.
How management control becomes achievement control: “Entrepreneurs of the self” in a social enterprise
(Emerald, 2026) Adhariani, Desi; Akroyd, Chris
This study aims to investigate how a management control system (MCS) package in a social enterprise is enacted in achievement-oriented ways that support employees’ identification as “entrepreneurs of the self.” Design/methodology/approach - An interpretive qualitative case study of Waste4Change (W4C), a waste management enterprise in Indonesia, was carried out drawing on semi-structured interviews and organizational documents, analyzed through Foucault’s biopolitics and Han’s “achievement society.” Findings - MCS in W4C operate in achievement-oriented ways through cultural controls that promote autonomy and self-discipline, supporting employees’ identification as “self-entrepreneurs.” These cultural controls support planning, cybernetic and reward mechanisms so individuals internalize organizational goals as personal aspirations. As a result, control extends beyond coordination and monitoring to align behavior with W4C’s dual aims of financial performance and social impact. Practical implications - The study shows how social enterprises can design achievement-oriented MCS by using cultural controls to connect mission, targets and feedback, while monitoring unintended consequences such as uneven cultural alignment across departments and excessive performance pressure. Originality/value - This paper introduces achievement control systems as a conceptual extension of MCS packages, offering a theoretically grounded explanation of how control operates through autonomy, cultural embedding and internalized achievement norms. It advances understanding of management control in social enterprises by linking accounting, biopolitics and entrepreneurial subjectivity.
Abusive supervision and employee empowerment: The moderating role of resilience and workplace friendship
(Sage, 2021) Arshad, Ayesha; Sun, Peter Yih-Tong; Desmarais, Fabrice
Several studies have explored why employees leave their organization in the face of abusive supervision. However, there is a lack of research on what makes employees continue with employment despite being affected by abusive supervision. This study responds to the calls made to analyze multiple mechanisms that employees use to cope with abusive supervision. It addresses this gap by examining employees’ psychological and social resources that can mitigate the effects of abusive supervision. We specifically consider employee psychological and structural empowerment, as well as resilience and workplace friendship. This is a time-lagged study using a sample of 146 postgraduate students who have a minimum of 2 years of work experience. Utilizing the tenets of conservation of resources theory, we find that damage to psychological empowerment plays a significant role in diminishing the work engagement and creativity of employees, as compared to structural empowerment. We also find that workplace friendship plays a significant role in weakening the damaging effects of abusive supervision on structural empowerment. Future studies should consider other psychological and social mechanisms that can mitigate the effects of abusive supervision. Moreover, organizations should work toward developing a culture of sharing and support between coworkers.
Product type associations with hard-sell and soft-sell vocal styles: A cross cultural exploration
(European Advertising Academy (EAA), 2024) Desmarais, Fabrice; Vignolles, Alexandra; Galan, Jean-Phillippe
This study explores whether consumers’ associate hard sell and soft sell vocal styles with specific products The research, conducted across two countries (France and New Zealand), helps us understand whether these associations are universal or differ according to culture. The study shows that assessments of product-advertising vocal style fittingness are mostly consistent across countries but that cultural idiosyncrasies also need to be considered by advertisers.
Understanding medical information and emotional support needs in mental health questions with large language models
(Emerald, 2026) Liu, Chen; Wang, William Yu Chung; Khan, Gohar
Purpose – This study seeks to bridge the gap between users’ multidimensional needs and the single-task capabilities of existing Mental Health Question Answering (MHQA) systems by tackling the underexplored challenge of jointly understanding medical informational needs and emotional support needs within complex consumer mental health inquiries. Design/methodology/approach – Grounded in Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST), the proposed Multi-Needs and Context Recognition (MNCR) framework decomposes mental health question understanding task into four interrelated subtasks: Medical Needs Recognition (MNR), Medical Needs-related Context Extraction (MNCE), Emotional Needs Recognition (ENR) and Emotional Needs-related Context Extraction (ENCE). A new benchmark dataset, MHQ-MedEmo, was constructed through multi-layered semantic annotation of 703 clinical queries sourced from real-world online health consultation platforms. The performances of six base LLMs and two fine-tuned LLMs were evaluated across precision, recall, F1 score and latency metrics. Findings – Dense, fine-tuned models strike the optimal balance between accuracy and latency for end-to-end MNCR tasks; subtask sensitivity varies markedly across different model architectures; fine-tuning consistently enhances overall performance; the joint-prompt strategy consistently improves both effectiveness and efficiency over the separate-prompt strategy and model architecture and scale significantly influence performance on MNCR subtasks. Originality/value – This study introduces MNCR and MHQ-MedEmo, the first framework and benchmark for simultaneously understanding medical informational needs and emotional support needs in mental health questions. Comparative evaluation of eight LLMs reveals distinct model-specific strengths, guiding future architectures that balance accuracy and latency and offering concrete guidance for healthcare organizations seeking to deploy LLM-based MHQA solutions in practice. Keywords Mental health, Rhetorical structure theory, Large language models Paper type Research article
Impact of abusive supervision on employee engagement and job burnout via organisational identification: The moderating role of mindfulness
(SAGE Publications, 2025-05-13) Arshad, Ayesha; Sun, Peter Yih-Tong; Desmarais, Fabrice
This study explores the coping mechanisms of employees facing abusive supervision in two different countries: Pakistan and New Zealand. Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine if the personal resource of employee mindfulness can buffer the destructive effects of abusive supervision on employees’ work engagement and job burnout via organisational identification. Our two separate studies reveal that organisational identification mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and employee work engagement but not job burnout in both countries. However, employee mindfulness only buffers the harmful impact of abusive supervision in the Pakistan sample. Our study reveals new insights into the impact of employees’ personal resources on abusive supervision in two different cultural environments, providing directions for future research and practice.
Indigeneity and indigenous peoples around the world: Expanding the intersections of business and society
(SAGE, 2026) Doshi, Vijayta; Paredo, Ana Maria; Bapuji, Hari; Spiller, Chellie
There is increasing acknowledgment of the distinct position of Indigenous Peoples in today’s world. The United Nations has declared August 9th as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples to promote and protect the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which is crucial for attaining the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Historically, however, Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous knowledges have been largely dismissed and silenced in societies as well as business and management scholarship (Kamble & Kumar, 2025; Karlsson & Kikon, 2017; Peredo & McLean, 2013; Price et al., 2021; Walker et al., 2025; Xaxa, 2018). More broadly, scholars have documented patterns of systemic and institutionalized discrimination against Indigenous Peoples (Bastein et al., 2023; Colbourne et al., 2024; Turkina, 2026). Although the body of business and management literature concerning Indigenous Peoples has grown over the last two decades (Bastein et al., 2023; Cutcher & Dale, 2022; Peredo, 2023; Salmon et al., 2022; Walker et al., 2025), the intersection of business and society remains under-explored in this literature. Furthermore, business and management literature has paid limited attention to the Indigenous Peoples in the Global South,1 many of whom are not recognized as Indigenous Peoples (Doshi, 2026; Kamble & Kumar, 2025). We, therefore, launched this special issue to give further momentum to the growing body of Indigenous research and to expand the research to hitherto understudied contexts and peoples. Our call for papers for this special issue set out a series of questions that signaled the wide-ranging possibilities for research that recognizes the distinctiveness of Indigenous worlds and reimagines the role of business and society in advancing sustainable futures. Specifically, we asked: how organizations, governments, and communities can work toward the SDGs with Indigenous Peoples; how Indigeneity is understood, represented, and mobilized across varied colonial and cultural contexts; how Indigenous Peoples navigate and transform organizations, entrepreneurship, and leadership; how global disparities, intersecting identities, and regional specificities shape Indigenous experiences; and how appropriate, respectful, and innovative methods can deepen the quality of Indigenous scholarship. In this essay, we first discuss the conceptual foundations of Indigeneity by reflecting on the meaning of Indigeneity, focusing on its global framings as well as the misrecognition and misuse of the term Indigenous. Next, we introduce the papers in this special issue. To build robust Indigenous scholarship to further advance the aims of this special issue, we discuss what an Indigenous perspective means for business and management; identify future research opportunities; and provide guidance on writing, reviewing, and editing Indigenous research. We conclude with reflections on our experience in editing this special issue to further underscore that Indigenous values of care, collaboration, and community building are integral to building robust Indigenous scholarship.
Management control for innovation: a review and research directions
(Emerald, 2026) Akroyd, Chris; Barros, Rúben Silva; Lövstål, Eva; Pan Fagerlin, Wen; Wu, Julia Yonghua
Purpose: Research on management control for innovation has shifted from viewing control as primarily constraining to recognizing that control can also enable innovation. However, common ways of classifying control such as mechanisms, tools or types of use can understate what makes management control in innovation settings distinctive. This paper aims to propose a vocabulary to support richer explanations of how management control both constrains and enables innovation over time. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the management control literature and the papers in this Special Issue, the authors develop a vocabulary that foregrounds six dimensions of management control that become especially salient in innovation contexts. These dimensions are Temporal, Reflexive, Adaptive, Performative, Pluralist and Strategic (TRAPPS). Findings: The TRAPPS vocabulary highlights six dimensions of management control that become especially salient in innovation settings. While innovation unfolds across multiple time horizons and phases (Temporal), it also involves learning about and reconsidering the effects of control (Reflexive) and sometimes requires reconfiguration as innovation paths shift (Adaptive). It is further shaped by sociomaterial arrangements that make some possibilities visible and actionable while pushing others into the background (Performative). It is influenced by multiple stakeholders and competing evaluative criteria (Pluralist) and by priorities and resource commitments that set direction (Strategic). The TRAPPS vocabulary therefore helps to show how different papers in the Special Issue foreground different dimensions and, in turn, reveals openings for future research Originality/value: The TRAPPS vocabulary of six dimensions can be used independently or alongside more general management control frameworks. In doing so, these dimensions highlight questions that may be overlooked when controls are treated as stable tools or mechanisms and provide a vocabulary for understanding management control for innovation.
Consciousness-centered stewardship: An indigenous standpoint
(Springer , 2025) Spiller, Chellie; Nicholson, Amber; Spiller, Rodger
Dominion-driven stewardship, which stages human interventions with an anthropocentric lens, externalises problems. We present consciousness-centered stewardship, seen through the Māori ethic of kaitiakitanga, as the missing connective tissue that looks to fix ourselves. We advocate an approach that appreciates a collective self-intelligence in the world and being a steward with a “conscious mind” as part of a transformative way forward. Sustainable development from this perspective thus includes paying attention to personal growth.
Media, politics and the Asianisation of a polarised immigration debate in New Zealand
(Australia and New Zealand Communication Association, 1998) Munshi, Debashish
The immigration issue in New Zealand was presented by the country's media in the election year of 1996 as a debate on the pros and cons of Asian immigration. In a country where immigration legislation has had a history of institutionalised racism, and where politicians have periodically raised the issue for electoral gain, such racial labelling of the issue can be seen to lay the ground for social and political tension. Using the principles of discourse analysis charted by Fairclough (1995), this paper analyses the text and the context of print media reports on the immigration issue.
Te ahunga atu ki ngā ōhanga oranga Māori: Towards Māori economies of wellbeing - Ngā whānau i te pokapū o te oranga
(University of Waikato in partnership with Nga Pae o te Maramtanga, 2025) Spiller, Chellie; Rout, Matthew; Haar, Jarrod M.; Mika, Jason; Reid, John; Niu, Xiaoliang
Nau mai ki tēnei kohinga o ngā whakaaro me ngā tikanga e pā ana ki te oranga ohaoha Māori. Ko tō mātou kaupapa matua ko te whānau; e hiahia ana mātou ki te whakaatu i ngā huarahi ki te ora pai mō te whānau i roto i ngā horopaki ohaoha. Ko te ao Māori tō mātou tūāpapa. E whakakao ana tēnei pukapuka i te huhua o ngā reo me ngā tirohanga nō te ao Māori, me ētahi atu wheako e hāngai ana. Kua kotahi mātou ki raro i te taumarumaru o te kaupapa tūturu kotahi: arā, te oranga pai mō ngā whānau. Ko te tūmanako ka tautoko, ka whakaohooho anō hoki tēnei pukapuka i ngā tāngata kia hōhonu atu tā rātou hono ki tēnei kaupapa whaitake, kia whai māramatanga whaihua hoki rātou. Welcome to this collection of thoughts and practices related to Māori economic life. Our primary focus is the whānau; we want to show ways to live well for the whānau in economic contexts. Our foundation is te ao Māori. This book brings together many voices and perspectives from the Māori world and other relevant experiences. We are united in one true purpose: the good livelihood of whānau. We hope this book will support and inspire people to connect more deeply with this critical topic and gain valuable insights.
The southern initiative: How indigenous values inspire social innovation and impact
(Cambridge University Press, 2025) Niu, Xiaoliang; Mika, Jason ; Spiller, Chellie; Haar, Jarrod M. ; Rout, Matthew ; Reid, John; Karamaina, Tāne
Indigenous values are increasingly recognised in helping organisations contribute to wellbeing within and beyond the workplace. Adopting the theoretical lens of Māori economies of wellbeing, this case study examines how The Southern Initiative (TSI), a unit within Auckland Council, incorporates Māori values to co-create place-based solutions and foster whānau (family) wellbeing. Through kōrero (conversations) with three people, a wānanga (collaborative discussion) with TSI members, and analysis of organisational literature, we identified how TSI's organising approach synthesises social innovation and bureaucracy. We found that indigeneity-embedded intrapreneurship, distributed leadership, and whānau-centred design support TSI's innovations. Mana (prestige) emerged as a primary organising principle, sustaining TSI's approach to achieving systemic change. By bridging Indigenous paradigms and conventional managerial practice, this case study demonstrates how Māori values can transform public sector management, elevate social justice, and encourage community resilience. These findings highlight culturally grounded frameworks for delivering social impact and shaping equitable outcomes.
Open banking and digital financial inclusion: Early evidence
(Elsevier BV, 2026) Ryan, Michael; Mukherjee, Abhishek
Using a large panel of countries, we study whether open-banking adoption expands digital financial inclusion. Applying difference-in-differences methods, we find that open banking increases the share of adults making or receiving a digital payment, with the largest effect among less-educated adults. We find, however, no statistically significant effect of open banking on the number of mobile/internet banking transactions per 1000 adults. One interpretation of our results is that open banking benefits may accrue through non-bank channels to those who previously did not use digital means of payment.
Vicarious learning in SME internationalization: A systematic review and thematic synthesis
(Cambridge University Press, 2026) Perera, Shanika Rangani; Sinha, Paresha N.; Gilbert-Saad, Antoine; Gajanayaka, Channa
Vicarious learning helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) acquire foreign market knowledge by observing and interpreting other firms’ actions and outcomes in international markets. We searched Scopus, ProQuest, and EBSCOhost (2000–2025) and retained 27 studies (2007–2025). The synthesis organizes prior studies into four analytically derived categories that summarize how vicarious learning is conceptualized and operationalized in SME internationalization research: (T1) peer performance benchmarking, (T2) imitation and leader-following, (T3) institutional mimetic pressures, and (T4) network-, cluster-, and advisor-enabled vicarious learning. Across themes, a subset of studies suggests that absorptive capacity may condition whether external experience is recognized, assimilated, and exploited, although direct tests remain uneven and in some cases the contingency is inferred rather than explicitly tested. We translate these insights into an organizing framework and a future agenda on boundary conditions, measurement, and multi-level designs, positioning the review as mechanism clarification that imposes conceptual order on a fragmented literature, rather than as field-level consolidation.
Wāhine Māori entrepreneurs and business growth: The power of social and cultural capital
(Australian & New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM), 2024) MacDonald, Tui; Mika, Jason; Jackson, Brad
This paper examines how social and cultural capital support wāhine Māori entrepreneurs as founders to grow their businesses. The findings are based on the first of three rounds of interviews with 10 wāhine Māori entrepreneurs in Aotearoa New Zealand who have or are undergoing business growth. The results extend on previous Indigenous entrepreneurship research showing the benefits of social and cultural capital. This research highlights how wāhine Māori entrepreneurs can pursue business growth while maintaining their community and cultural identity. This topic has been selected as part of a broader doctoral study examining wāhine Māori entrepreneurs and business growth, which focuses on the cultural, social, and economic enablers and challenges.
Whakatautika: Generating balance in the business and activity of fishing at Moana New Zealand - A case study on Indigenising the blue economy in Aotearoa
(Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge, 2024) Mika, Jason; MacDonald, Tui
This report sets out the results of a case study on Moana New Zealand, an iwi (tribal) owned fishing company formed out of the Treaty of Waitangi fisheries settlement and a whānau (family) owned inshore fishing enterprise known as The Rawlinson Group (TRG). The research is part of an Indigenising the blue economy project funded by Ngā Moana Whakauka Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge. This case study draws on the knowledge and experience of Moana New Zealand and TRG to understand relationships between iwi and whānau scale enterprises in the Māori marine economy (MME). TRG is a Māori-owned family inshore fishing business which has been operating for 30 years. As first-generation fishers, the Rawlinson whānau have prioritised both strategic and family decisions that have established their business and assured their role in Aotearoa New Zealand’s commercial fishing industry. The case study sought to learn how Māori marine-based enterprises apply mātauranga Māori to achieve multidimensional wellbeing, human potential, and relational balance with Tangaroa.
The reputational contagion effects of ransomware attacks
(Elsevier, 2022) Corbet, Shaen; Goodell, John W.
Little research examines investor attention outcomes spreading between firms through partial ownership, without additional business or industry linkages, including the spread of investor attention reactions to firms that are competitors to those firms having ownership stakes in impacted firms. We take advantage of the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, evidencing reputational contagion from firms impacted directly by reputation events to firms that are competitors of the firms that have significant ownership with the impacted firm, but otherwise no other industrial overlaps. Our results suggest investor attention events have greater breadth of impact than previously realized.
Eco-centric success: Stakeholder approaches to sustainable performance via green improvisation behavior and environmental orientation in the hotel industry
(Wiley, 2024) Murtaza, Syed Hussain; Khan, Adnan; Mustafa, Syed Muhammad
This study delves into the relationship between green improvisational behavior (GIB), environmental orientation (EO), a green creative climate (GCC), and how they influence the environmental (EP) and social performance (SP) in the hotel industry. Through the perspective of stakeholder theory, the study examines how these factors work together to cultivate an atmosphere. The data was carefully collected through surveys at Pearl Continental Hotels & Resorts branches, a known chain of luxury hotels in Pakistan. Using Structural Equation Modeling for analysis, the study reveals insights for the hospitality industry in promoting a culture that encourages innovative and sustainable practices through environmentally friendly actions. By understanding what drives the development of an environment, hotels can create an organizational culture that supports eco-friendly initiatives. Additionally, this research contributes to existing knowledge by investigating the role of focus in effectively implementing and utilizing practices that promote a green creative climate for improved environmental and social performance within the hotel industry. The results provide implications for practices within hotels and offer theoretical perspectives on the factors driving sustainability efforts in this sector.

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