James Guthrie

Purpose: This paper aims to examine how management control systems and performance measurement systems, driven by neoliberal governance, have reshaped the valuation of teaching in Australian universities. This study investigates the asymmetrical development of research and teaching evaluation and critiques the capacity of audit logics to structure academic labour. Design/methodology/approach: Guided by Foucauldian governmentality and the concept of accountingisation, this study uses a longitudinal historical-institutional methodology. This study analyses enterprise bargaining agreements and institutional artefacts from five Australian public universities over four decades, mapping the pre- and post-Excellence in Research for Australia policy landscapes. Findings: The analysis reveals a persistent evaluative asymmetry: research is governed by centralised, high-stakes national audit regimes, whereas teaching is managed through fragmented, low-cost proxies such as student evaluations of teaching and Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching indicators. Consequently, teaching is progressively codified into auditable labour through strict workload caps and task enumeration, incentivising defensive pedagogy and fabricating “calculable academics” while marginalising pedagogical complexity. Research limitations/implications: While limited to formal institutional documents rather than lived experiences, the findings of this study underscore the urgent need for discipline-sensitive, multi-source evaluation frameworks. Future qualitative research should explore how academics navigate and negotiate these calculative regimes in practice. Originality/value: This study provides the first multi-institutional, accounting-informed longitudinal analysis of Australian teaching governance. This paper offers critical theoretical insights into how calculative infrastructures entrench evaluative asymmetry, providing a foundation for reimagining academic performance metrics in the post- Excellence in Research for Australia environment.

Purpose: In this paper, we analyse contributions to the book Global Warning: Debating Developments in New Public Financial Management, published by Olson et al. (1998). We also critique and overview the six papers in this Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management (JPBAFM) Symposium on Global Warning: Debating International Developments in New Public Financial Management after 25 Years. We briefly outline the themes, contexts, methods and impacts discussed in each paper. Additionally, we identify the research that has already been established in the field and point to worthwhile future research areas.Design/methodology/approach: This is a literature review of previous articles on the global warming project and research papers published in this JPBAFM Symposium.Findings: Research interest in new public financial management (NPFM) has grown over the past 25 years, consistent with the rise of neoliberalism and new public management (NPM). Over this period, practices in NPM and NPFM have emerged as dominant forces in the public sectors of many countries. The rise of this paradigm is consistent with shifts in the public sector towards neoliberal philosophies and technologies. Moreover, case studies on the impacts of NPFM have not dwindled over the past 3 decades. Instead, they have evolved into exposés of the more strident accounting, auditing and accountability practices, as well as unintended consequences associated with NPFM and the significant negative implications for the public sector, public services and civil society.Research limitations/implications: The six articles in the symposium fill the gap in addressing questions of – for what? For whom? And where? – by exploring the multiple topics, actors and contexts involved in accounting, auditing and accountability practices in the public sector.Originality/value: This paper also identifies the need to increase trust, transparency and stakeholder dialogue to overcome contemporary and future warnings associated with sustainability, digitalisation and hybridisation issues that could have significant negative implications for the public sector, public services and civil society.

New Public Management (NPM) and New Public Financial Management (NPFM) have significantly influenced the transformation of several nation-states’ public sectors. This study examines the development of NPFM scholarship over the past 25 years, focusing on 3 foundational works that have substantially shaped this field (i.e. Olson et al., 1998, 2001; Guthrie et al., 1999). The study identifies key research themes within these foundational works and provides insights into the field’s emerging warnings and research directions. Our structured literature review collected 325 research articles from 1999 to 2024 from the Scopus database. These articles were chosen for their references to three key foundational works and were systematically analysed based on predefined NPFM themes. This was further enhanced by a traditional literature review of selected articles within each NPFM category, offering an analysis of NPFM scholarship and identifying potential future research paths. In examining the focus of the sampled articles among the five NPFM themes, we found that the majority have centred on the themes of financial reporting and performance measurement systems. Less attention has been given to auditing and budgetary themes. Various studies examined multiple NPFM themes simultaneously. We also provided valuable insights into both the challenges and opportunities for future scholarship. The study presents an extensive analysis of 25 years of NPFM research related to three foundational works, highlighting the interconnectedness of various developments. It identifies opportunities for advancing NPFM scholarship by suggesting further integration of interdisciplinary approaches to deal with emerging warnings. This study offers valuable insights into the development of NPFM scholarship, highlighting the need for further research that broadens the geographical scope, incorporates a more diverse range of disciplinary approaches, and addresses emerging warnings related to hybridisation, sustainability and digital transformation.

Purpose: This paper undertakes a structured literature review to analyse the literature on performance management and measurement (PMM) in universities over the last four decades. Over that time, PMM has emerged as an influential force in universities that impacts their operations and redefines their identity.Design/methodology/approach: A structured literature review approach was used to analyse a sample of articles on PMM research from a broad range of disciplines over four decades. This was undertaken to understand the impacts of PMM practices on universities, highlight changes over time and point to avenues for future research.Findings: The analysis highlights the fact that research on PMM in universities has grown significantly over the 40 years studied. We provide an overview of published articles over four decades regarding content, themes, theories, methods and impacts. We provide an empirical basis for discussing past, present and future university PMM research. The future research avenues offer multiple provocations for scholars and policymakers, for instance, PMM implementation strategies and relationships with various government programs and external evaluation and the role of different actors, particularly academics, in shaping PMM systems.Originality/value: Unlike a traditional literature review, the structured literature review method can develop insights into how the field has changed over time and highlight possible future research. The sample for this literature review differs from previous reviews in covering a broad range of disciplines, including accounting.

Modern slavery breaches the fundamental human right of freedom, and eliminating it will require exceptional cooperation between people. Further, the complexity and opacity of global supply chains make modern slavery a real risk for companies that engage in large-scale international production and distribution. Specific sectors like electronics, hospitality and retail are at the most risk. Many Australian companies are implicated in modern slavery, and in response, the Australian Government has acted to address modern slavery in Australian and global supply chains through legislative means. We review these developments nationally and internationally, including Australia's Modern Slavery Act 2018, along with evidence that since the Act was implemented, reporting from companies has been uneven, with many not even meeting minimum disclosure expectations. However, this should be unsurprising due to widespread opposition by large companies in the lead-up to passing the Act. Moreover, a national effort can only have a limited impact. Researchers at Macquarie and Adelaide Universities explore how adopting a social system perspective might strengthen the interrelationships between governments, companies, civil society, and academia and how that perspective might shed new light on developments in theory and practice that could help to eliminate modern slavery. We firmly endorse this perspective, which is underpinned by a cooperative approach to building social systems that work to eliminate modern slavery.

Purpose: This study explores the reactions of different categories of actors within a university setting (academics, administrative staff, governance members, and students) to implementing performance management system (PMS) changes. The paper aims to understand how these actors dealt with PMS change by discursively reconstructing their roles and positions at institutional and individual levels.Design/methodology/approach: The authors use Foucault's (1972/1989) conceptualisation of regimes of truths to analyse the case of an Italian university. Interviews with individual actors took place in the period 2012–2020. The data were contextualised with other data from publicly available reports, internal documents, and archival material.Findings: The paper identifies the challenges actors face dealing with contrasting discourses and draws attention to the paradoxical changes triggering resistance. However, the findings show that when circumstances allow a generative resistance, dissent can be progressively replaced with a commitment on the part of actors, achieving alignment with organisational strategy.Originality/value: The study challenges the commonly held view of resistance as a dysfunctional force that impedes change. It emphasises the importance of focusing on actors to make resistance a generative force shaping change towards more negotiated and agreed positions. This has implications for academics and practitioners seeking to implement PMSs.

This dissertation consists of two parts. Part I is an analytical survey of a composition entitled Etudes pour piano - premier livre, (1985) by Gyorgy Ligeti. Part II is an original composition entitled The Song of Glory, An Original Opera in One Act. Etudes pour piano - premier livre, by Gyorgy Ligeti is a collection of six pieces for piano. The etudes won the 1986 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award--the largest cash award for composition. The etudes feature continuous motion and cross-accentuation which creates polyrhythmic effects. The purpose of part I is to survey the compositional techniques and materials used in the music. The survey will illustrate the interrelationships among the pieces by comparing the elements and procedures of composition. The analysis is descriptive in nature dealing objectively with the elements of melody, harmony, rhythm, form, and counterpoint. The structures employed in the etudes are often of such a nature as to elude the terminology and concepts of a singular common practice period. Therefore, the methods of analysis incorporate a diversity of heuristic procedures. The analysis is not intended to present an exhaustive investigation of the music, but an overview of the compositional techniques. The Song of Glory, An Original Opera in One Act, is scored for chamber orchestra and soloists. The libretto, written by the composer, depicts the pathos of Scott's South Polar Party of 1912. The instrumentation calls for woodwinds, horn, trombone, one percussionist, and strings. The vocal requirements are two tenors, two baritones, and one bass. The instrumentation reflects a concern for economy. It is calculated to be effective, offering timbral variety and strength, yet economical enough for typical university new-music performance resources. The action takes place in three scenes separated by orchestral interludes. In scene I, the scenario is established as the characters reflect on their situation. In scene II, the ghost of a former sojourner who died earlier in the expedition appears to all but the captain. One character dies after leaving the tent to meet the specter. In scene III, the captain continues journal entries while the remaining characters perish.

COVID‐19‐related public health measures have severely impacted the Australian higher education system (AHES). This paper examines the resilience of the AHES, particularly its past reliance on onshore international students to generate revenue that cross‐subsidises operational and research expenses. By our measure, ten universities are at risk of financial default. With a different approach on the part of the Government and university leadership, surplus monies could have contributed to building a more resilient AHES. Our findings correct widely held misconceptions about the state of the AHES and aim to provide valuable learnings to individual universities and the sector more broadly.

This paper reviews literature that links stakeholders and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to develop insights into how such research is developing, critique the research, and outline future research opportunities, not least in accounting and finance. Using a structured literature review (SLR) approach, we find such research is expanding in investigating diverse stakeholders and in analytic approaches, research methods and disciplines. With a shareholder focus, accounting and finance publications still largely ignore non‐shareholder stakeholders in researching M&A. The literature is dominated by a unidirectional analysis that primarily considers the effect M&A has on stakeholders, falls short in investigating inter‐ and intra‐stakeholder relationships and in eliciting the complex web of relationships between an M&A process and stakeholders.