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Tax professionals in public accounting firms must meet professional standards in working with their clients, but may also face pressure from both their clients and firms when making ethical decisions. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of client factors on tax professionals’ ethical decision-making. Furthermore, we also investigate how client service climate and different ethical climate types affect these ethical decisions. Based on an experimental design with 149 practicing tax professionals, results indicate that tax professionals are not swayed by client importance or social interaction with the client when making ethical decisions. However, tax professionals are more likely to engage in ethical behavior when their own accounting firm monitors and tracks the quality of client service, whereas unethical behavior is more common when public accounting firms emphasize using personal ethical beliefs in decision-making. The results of the study suggest the importance of strong policies and procedures to promote ethical decision-making in firms.

This paper aims to report on the findings of a study into staff perceptions of service climate in New Zealand English language centres (ELCs) offering ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses.

A 71‐item questionnaire based on a Likert scale was used to survey non‐management teaching and administrative staff about their perceptions of the climate quality in their institutions.

The paper finds that staff in New Zealand ELCs demonstrated a positive perception of the service climate quality in their institutions. Service orientation was viewed as the most positive aspect of ELC service climate. Management aspects were not so positively perceived. The least positively‐perceived aspect of the service climate was resourcing. Significant differences in climate perceptions were identified among staff sub‐groups, and between staff in different ELC types.

The limitations of convenience samples are acknowledged. Further research is advocated into management and administrative aspects of ELCs operating in the private sector, as well as into the operation of other educational institutions in a commercial environment.

The paper shows that ELCs are doing well in terms of “soft” service management areas, e.g. service orientation and client focus, but need to pay more attention to the “hard” areas such as resourcing and basic management competencies.

ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) administration and management is a highly under‐researched area. This is one of the few pieces of empirical research in this sector, and thus represents a unique contribution to the literature. The findings will be of interest to anyone working and/or researching in the area of ELC/ESOL management, or in the area of private education provision.

Using a modified version of the service profit chain, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of service climate (SC) by exploring predictors of SC (i.e. service training (ST), managerial practices (MP), physical design (PD), and job design ( JD), job satisfaction ( JS), and employee empowerment) on service quality (SQ), client satisfaction (CS) with service, and client empowerment (CE). The larger proposition being that certain structural variables, through their impact on SC have the potential to positively influence outcomes in health care.

Registered nurses (N=180) from emergency departments across one province in Canada provided information about internal SQ (i.e. ST, MP, PD, and JD), JS, feelings of empowerment, and SC. Furthermore, these nurses provided information on external SQ, CS with service, and CE by responding to questions from the vantage point of the client. The data were analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences; structural equation modelling (SEM) was implemented using LISREL.

SEM analyses showed that JS and empowerment only partially mediated the relationship between MP, PD, and JD and SC. In addition, SQ, CS with service, and CE were fully mediated by SC.

A limitation of this study is that the researcher used only employee (nurses) data rather than employee and client data simultaneously in the research model. Future research should be done on the service profit chain theory to incorporate both viewpoints. In addition, research could be carried out in other service occupations and organizations to test the invariance of the research model.

The results should lead health care managers to consider the importance of emphasizing internal SQ features that facilitate SC in health care.

This contribution of this research is apply the service profit chain framework in exploring the role of SC in health care. In addition, emphasize the importance of the PD of emergency department to creating a climate for service in health care.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the recovery environment of a sub-acute residential mental health service. Such services are increasingly filling a gap in the continuum of care for people with recurrent mental illness and have a major role supporting the processes of recovery.

A cross-sectional design was used with clients and staff completing the recovery enhancing environment measure. Nine clients who had entered the service from the community (step-up), 18 who had transferred from an inpatient unit (step-down) and ten staff completed the measure.

Clients and staff rated the organisational climate of the service positively, with the role of caring staff being identified as particularly valuable. Clients and staff had similar positive views on the importance of recovery-based elements and rated the service as performing well in these areas. Step-up clients identified performance gaps in the areas of self-management, general health, personal strengths, and personal relationships. Step-down clients identified a range of gaps, including meeting basic needs, empowerment, and fundamental recovery processes.

An assessment of the perceptions of clients and staff can allow services to identify differences in the attitudes of each group and ascertain areas in which the service can be improved to better meet the needs of individual clients. This may include being responsive to the setting from which clients have entered the service.

This is the first study that has examined the recovery environment of a residential mental health service and how it meets the recovery needs of both step-up and step-down admissions.

This study aims to extend service climate research from its existing focus on routine service for external clients into a knowledge-intensive, internal (KII) service setting. This extension was important because internal knowledge workers may operate from a monopolistic perspective and not view themselves as service providers because of the technical/professional nature of their work.

Two surveys were distributed in participating organizations. One survey, completed by employees in information technology (IT) service units, contains measures of service climate, climate antecedents and technical competence. The second survey, filled out by members of their corporate customer units, taps their evaluations of service quality.

Service climate in IT service units significantly predicted service evaluations by their respective customer units. Importantly, service climate was more predictive than IT service employees’ technical competency. Role ambiguity, empowerment and work facilitation were also found to be significant service climate antecedents.

These results provided strong empirical evidence supporting an extension of the existing service climate research to KII service settings. To the extent that front-line service employees rely on internal support to deliver quality service to external customers, managers should work to enhance the service climate in internal support units, which ultimately improves external service quality.

This is the first study that establishes the robustness of the service climate construct in KII service settings. It makes service climate a useful managerial tool for improving both internal and external service quality.

Being resilient is often equated with the capability to return to a state of normalcy after individuals and organisations face unprecedented challenges. This chapter questions the notion of ‘normalcy’ in complex and ongoing turbulence as experienced variously in diverse cultural and sectoral contexts. In theorising organisational resilience and associated transformation, it draws on insights provided by a microfinance institution (MFI) operating in the Philippines. The chapter details its efforts to transform business in light of experience gained in frequent and overlapping emergency conditions (including COVID-19) to create a new level of resilience in its clients and itself. For clients, the goal is often to self-manage loss associated with socio-economic development and for the organisation, to stabilise and cordon the investment needed to support clients survive and move on from the relatively constant adverse impacts of disasters. Published accounts of such experience and insights provided by board members and the President illustrate the nature of transformational resiliency strategies planned, including changes to the business model around provision of micro-insurance services and strategic adaptation of digital services aligned with the organisation's mission. A model of ‘practical resiliency in emergency conditions’ details the culture of resiliency adopted, demonstrating how stakeholders gain confidence and opportunity to practice resilient behaviours in emergency contexts. It highlights the significance of cultural consistency across purpose, values and capability to create an adequate level of trust and certainty across stakeholders to support transformational resiliency behaviours in shifting and dynamic ecosystems.

The chapter studies the functioning of the so-called “voluntary” carbon offset market, a market in which moral controversies take place. The analysis dwells on the theoretical framework that enables us to study the functioning of a contested market through particular devices. The chapter seeks to contribute to the literature on moral struggles within markets by focusing the attention on one specific device: relational work, including several dimensions like meeting between seller and buyer, establishing contracts and maintaining the relationship with clients in the long run. By studying relational work, the authors highlight how this basic market activity is a crucial device that makes it possible for a contested market to continue to exist.

This research examined relationships between levels of job‐related managerial feedback, developmental climate, cultural values, job satisfaction and quality of service and products provided to clients. Data were collected from 999 managers and professional field staff employed by a large professional services firm using anonymous questionnaires. LISREL analysis indicated considerable support for a proposed research model. Levels of both partner and manager feedback had direct effects on perceived quality of services and products provided by the firm through both developmental climate and cultural values. Presence of a developmental climate had direct effects on cultural values, job satisfaction and quality of products and services.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.