Search results

This study aims to present an effort to construct a measurement instrument to capture Islamic accountability from “accountability for what” aspect. These measurement instruments are developed by considering both social and economic natures in Islamic organisations.

This study defined the concept of Islamic accountability from the perspective of “accountability for what”. It is decomposed into specific items that suit an Islamic social enterprise (ISE). Next, these items are operationalised into scale items and re-composed empirically through factor analysis on data obtained from ISE stakeholders in Malaysia.

This study successfully developed an Islamic accountability measurement instruments from the “accountability for what” perspective for ISE. A total of 25 items are recognised and validated under four accountability dimensions, namely, accountability for input, accountability for output, accountability for procedural and accountability for Islamic principles and values.

Not all measurement instruments are fit for every Islamic organisation type because of the different characteristics of Islamic organisations.

Developed items can be used as part of Islamic accountability index, especially by ISE and other similar organisations to measure their accountability practices. Besides, these developed items can also be adopted for reporting purposes. In the case of Malaysia, respective government agencies, such as the Companies Commission of Malaysia , the Registry of Society, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development as well as the Malaysia Institute of Accountant, should have a look at the developed items to be considered into their respective guidelines or standards.

This study is believed to be a pioneering study in developing measurement instruments of Islamic accountability specific for ISE. It proposes measurement instruments of Islamic accountability that can be re-used for future research and is among the few studies of ISE.

This study aims to analyse how the collective processing of the #MeToo legacy in the form of community discourses and activism conceptualises organisational accountability for sexual misconduct at work and enhances the development of new accountability instruments.

The study draws on social movement theory and the intellectual problematics of accountability, together with the empirical insights from two research engagement projects established and facilitated by the author.

The study reveals multiple dimensions of how post-#MeToo community activism impacted the conceptualisation of organisational accountability for sexual misconduct at work. The movement enhanced discourses prompting a new societal sense of accountability for sexual wrongdoings. This in turn facilitated public demands for accountability that pressured organisations to respond. The accountability crisis created an opportunity for community activists to influence understanding of organisational accountability for sexual misconduct at work and to propose new accountability instruments advancing harassment reporting technology, as well as an enhancing the behavioural consciousness and self-assessment of individuals.

The study addresses a topic of social importance in analysing how community activism arising from a social movement has transformed accountability demands and thus both advanced the conceptualisation of organisational accountability for sexual misconduct at work and established socially desirable practices for it. The study contributes to theory by revealing the emancipatory potential of community activism to influence organisational accountability practices and to propose new instruments at a moment of organisational hesitation and crisis of accountability.

Codes of ethics are important instruments in journalism, as they promote transparency and self-regulation of media, in addition to monitoring the quality of information. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the perceptions that Spanish journalists have of the effectiveness of codes of ethics and to evaluate the different personal and professional variables which condition this vision.

The methodology used in the present study is based on quantitative content analysis using the survey technique. This technique makes it possible to obtain empirical data on various key aspects of the profession that are determining factors in ascertaining Spanish journalists’ views of one of the instruments of accountability that is external to the media: general ethical codes.

The results show that Spanish journalists are largely confident in the effectiveness of ethical codes in their profession. Likewise, it was seen that variables such as age, professional experience or the media with which they work influence the perceptions that professionals have of such instruments.

If understanding journalism as a profession whose mission is to guarantee the citizens their right to information, then it is essential to be familiar with the tools provided by the profession itself to be accountable to the public regarding this professional mission. Hence the importance of instruments of accountability and the perceptions of the professionals themselves regarding their effectiveness.

This research paper comparatively reviews online accountability practices in public, private and nonprofit organizations, using the hospital industry as a case of analysis.

The authors conducted a quantitative content analysis of 240 US hospital websites, sampled from the 2016 American Hospital Association (AHA) database. Online Accountability Practices (OAP) instrument was utilized, and it included five dimensions as follows: accessibility, engagement, performance, governance and mission.

There were statistically significant differences in online accountability practices among the three sectors. Nonprofit organizations were leading the way in their overall online accountability practices. They were more likely to score higher on engagement, performance and mission dimensions. We explain this finding through the prism of multiple accountabilities, guided by the stakeholder theory. Private organizations had the lowest scores on every online accountability dimension, except for accessibility. Consistent with previous literature, private organizations were more likely to make information accessible in the online sphere, but not necessarily meaningful or reliable for evaluating organizational performance. Public organizations had the strongest scores within the governance dimension, placing importance on disclosing organizational leadership and sharing information on their governance structures.

This project contributes to theory building on accountability in the online environment. It argues that the distinction between two forms of accountability (functional and holistic) is applicable in the online environment, while accessibility and performance dimensions of online accountability closely align with the functional (hierarchical) form of accountability, and a more holistic approach to accountability includes dimensions like engagement, governance and mission. In addition, this project is the first of its kind to apply the stakeholder theory to accountability practices in three sectors of the economy and how the stakeholder theory provides guidance as a basis of understanding the forms of accountability (functional and holistic) that are most likely aligned with organizations in three sectors of the economy.

The results of this study point to a number of implications for hospital patients, families, hospital administration, healthcare professionals and policymakers. These implications can be broadly divided into two groups as follows: policy implications and management implications. Policy implications pertain to the national dialog and interorganizational deliberations of sector-wide policy to enrich accountability practices; while management implications are concerned with local, intraorganizational discussions among administrators and organizational leaders on formulating specific strategies and tactics.

This research paper contributes to empirical studies on organizational accountability in the online environment. It enriches our understanding of how organizations in different sectors present themselves to the public.

Informed by the critical perspective of dialogic accounting theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the use of evaluation as a means of enhancing accountability to beneficiaries within nonprofit organisations (NPOs). As a stakeholder group frequently marginalised by traditional accounting practices, the participation of beneficiaries within a NPO’s accountability structure is presented as a means of increasing social justice.

The research design used case studies involving two NPOs, examining documents and conducting interviews across three stakeholder groups, within each organisation.

Findings reveal that when viewed on beneficiaries’ terms, accountability to beneficiaries, through participative evaluation, needs to consider the particular timeframe of beneficiary engagement within each organisation. This temporal element positions downwards accountability to beneficiaries within NPOs as multi-modal.

The research poses a limit to statistical generalisability outside of the specific research context. However, the research prioritises theoretical generalisation to social forms and meanings, and as such provides insights for literature.

In acknowledging that beneficiaries have accountability needs dependent upon their timeframe of participation, NPOs can better target their downwards accountability structures. This research also has practical implications in its attempt to action two of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

This paper makes a contribution to the limited research into nonprofit accountability towards beneficiaries. Dialogic accounting theory is enacted to explore how accountability can be practised on beneficiaries’ terms.

Public management work has tended to ignore the application of benchmarking accountability of local government authorities (LGAs) in public procurement. To that effect, the purpose of this paper is to present the applicability of a benchmarking model as an instrument for improving accountability of procuring entities such as LGAs in public procurement practices.

A case study from United States Agency for International Development funded Chemonics International’s Program—Pamoja Twajenga in Tanzania has been used to effectively showcase the efficacy of the benchmarking model in increasing compliance and improve accountability of LGAs as procuring entities. Performance assessment of eight Tanzania LGAs’ internal public procurement practices was conducted using the benchmarking model. Benchmarking Framework of Compliance Standards and Performance Indictors in Public Procurement (FCSPIPP) was developed and applied in conducting a benchmark assessment of the LGAs. The methodology of a benchmark assessment encompassed number scoring of perceived performance of each LGA for each indicator of a compliance standard.

The case study has conceded that the benchmarking model is an instrument which can be applied for improving the accountability of LGAs in public procurement practices. Looking at the scale of LGAs’ purchases, the case study reveals that monitoring compliance may greatly benefit from the methodological approach of benchmarking. The benchmark assessment adopted in this case study offers a collective instrument for LGAs in developing countries to measure, compare and learn to improve in public procurement practices. The model offers public procurement entities, such as LGAs, with an opportunity to learn based on performance and improvement of peers. The FCSPIPP presented in this case study is the main pillar of the benchmark assessment in public procurement.

The major limitation of this case study is that it relies only on the findings and lessons learnt from the benchmarking of eight LGAs in Tanzania. Presumably, it would be useful to would have been more useful if more countries from developing economies were included in the case study; it could have increased the plausibility of the applicability of the model at the local government levels.

Implicitly, public procurement and regulatory authorities in developing countries need to learn, improve its role and develop capacity in the application of benchmarking for enforcing compliance in public procurement practices. Since the approach is based on listening from the procuring entities, the model provides the procurement Authority to work on policy challenges affecting the procuring entities to comply with what the procurement process requires. Deliberate efforts are needed to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to put in place policies and reforms that pave the way for the use of process benchmarking in public procurement at the LGAs level.

Since benchmarking encourages active participation of the user department and community in the procurement process, presupposes curbing corruption red flags and improved value for money contracts for improved social services. The methodological approach of monitoring procuring entities, using process benchmarking, provides public procurement and regulatory agencies and LGAs a collegial, participative and self-discovering on what constitutes compliance. This may enhance the sense of answerability of procurement officers to citizens.

This study confirms the efficacy of the benchmarking model as an alternative and complementary instrument to traditional compliance audit in public procurement. The application of an FCSPIPP means that benchmarking results may be used to improve public procurement practices.

Accounting literature is definite about the content and presentation of traditional financial statements, but the basic information to be provided in the narrative reports of public sector entities remains unsettled. This paper aims to investigate the needs and expectations of stakeholders (primary users and preparers) regarding the content and presentation of narrative reports in the public sector of Nigeria.

The research used a qualitative approach that draws on stakeholder and contingency theories to collect primary data through in-depth individual interviews using semi-structured questionnaires. Data were analysed by a thematic method using the NVivo 11 Pro software package.

The study reveals that financial statements constitute the statutory financial reports of public sector entities in Nigeria as narrative reporting is undeveloped, both as a concept and in practice. Stakeholders believe that narrative reporting is required to enhance the accountability usefulness of the annual financial reports published by the government and public agencies. Data analysis further reveals that public perception about the management of government financial resources influences the information needs of stakeholders regarding financial reporting. In addition, stakeholders consider the approved budget as the cornerstone of public financial reporting. Accordingly, users and other stakeholders expect public sector narrative reports to provide budget-based performance information that relates the accounting data presented in the financial statements to the key budgetary provisions, in both financial outlays and service delivery achievements. Stakeholders also expect narrative reports to be presented in plain language and provide information about the impact of financial decisions and actions on the basic socioeconomic variables that signpost citizens’ well-being, such as education, health care, employment and security.

The study suggests that the inclusion of narrative information in the statutory financial reports of public entities in Nigeria is imperative and should engage the attention of policymakers and relevant regulatory authorities. In addition, a more elaborate systematic investigation of the information needs of stakeholders in Nigeria should be undertaken by relevant units of government.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first documented research on narrative reporting and the information needs of a broad range of stakeholders in the public sector of Nigeria. The paper identifies the approved budget as the focal point of governmental financial reporting, and a clear linkage between budget provisions, accounting results and service delivery achievements as the basic content of a narrative report in developing countries.

Performance management (PM) has been developed to a central part of health care reforms. However, ideas of performance are traditionally contested in the health care sector and split up between a professional and a bureaucratic understanding of effective service delivery. With the rise of New Public Management, an additional layer of PM instruments has been put on the already existing structures. As a result, different PM regimes can be distinguished, which vary in the way they define performance, blame underperformance and design accountability instruments to ensure appropriate behaviour. The paper investigates the institutional design of PM schemes of three different cases – Denmark, Germany and England – which are representative for different PM regimes.

In line with contemporary trends in the developing world, countries in South Asia are under pressure from both political and civil societies and the international donor community to recast their administrative systems. New tools and practices in public governance have been advanced to remedy structural deficiencies, procedural flaws, managerial incompetence, and weak accountability in the public sector. International organizations emphasize the need to improve the relationship between governance and socio-economic outcome; and accountability, transparency, probity, predictability, and participation are acknowledged as essential ingredients for effectively managing development. This article focuses on two South Asian countries (Pakistan and Bangladesh) and examines the various measures adopted by their governments to reshape governance and public management in recent times.