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1 – 10 of over 4000Gayathri Gunatilake, Beverley Lord and Keith Dixon
This paper illustrates the socio-political nature of accountings, referring to the partial privatisation of the monopoly telecommunications organisation in a lower-middle-income…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper illustrates the socio-political nature of accountings, referring to the partial privatisation of the monopoly telecommunications organisation in a lower-middle-income country.
Design/methodology/approach
Actor-network theory and an ANTi-history approach are used to trace circumstances and occurrences. Empirical materials include official documents, print media and retrospective interviews with organisation employees ten years on from the privatisation.
Findings
Proponents of privatisation used retrospectively constructed historical accounts to problematise the natural monopoly of telecommunications and the government organisation administering it. A restructuring programme followed. Proponents addressed controversies pertaining to the programme thus garnering widespread support for complex and controversial changes. Proponents produced and reproduced accounting artefacts as evidence in these processes of history reconstruction, consequent changes and restoring stability to telecommunications in its reconfigured commercial domain. The proponents used selective, controversial accounting evidence to problematise the government organisation's existence, then to mobilise various actors to reduce and close the controversies previously aroused and reinstate stability in a partially privatised telecommunications company. Although no longer having a monopoly this company still dominates. Dissenters did the same but with little success.
Research limitations/implications
The findings demonstrate the importance of tracing the socio-political process of arriving at the dominant outcome about the past. This assists in making sense of present circumstances and re-imagining the future.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates that, during controversial circumstances, taken-for-granted history, as well as what is thought to have not existed in the past, support the dominant network in gaining advantage over their opponents and black-boxing their perspectives of how things should be.
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Dwi Marlina Wijayanti, Yayu Putri Senjani and Wilda Farah
This study aims to explore personal and organizational factors in mitigating fraud intention through machiavellian personality, altruistic personality, religiousity…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore personal and organizational factors in mitigating fraud intention through machiavellian personality, altruistic personality, religiousity, whistleblowing system, and accounting firm size. Companies will suffer greater losses if they cannot prevent fraudulent practices. The fraud hexagon theory is considered effective in detecting the possibility of fraud and the tendency of fraud motivated by personal and organizational factors. Therefore, the researchers examined several factors, including Machiavellian, altruism, religiosity, whistleblowing system and accounting firm size in mitigating fraud intention.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a self-administered survey of accountants in Indonesia. The accountants were selected as the sample because the accounting profession has considerable potential in committing fraud. To avoid common method bias, the authors performed ex ante and ex post on the questionnaire. This research model was tested using structural equation modeling-partial least square.
Findings
The results revealed that personal factors in the form of Machiavellian, altruism and religiosity had a direct impact on decreasing fraud intention. In addition, whistleblowing system and accounting firm size were able to promote the effectiveness of fraud mitigation.
Research limitations/implications
This study uses one profession, namely, accountants, so it requires further research to see the similarity of results in other professions.
Practical implications
The results contribute to managerial decision-making. Companies should include personal tests during employee recruitment because personal factors are the key to determining individual fraud behavior.
Social implications
Combining personal factors and organizational factors can promote the success of the internal control system, so that individuals are encouraged to do ethical things.
Originality/value
This study combines personal and organizational factors in mitigating fraud, so as to know accurately which factors are most capable of mitigating fraud.
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This paper aims to discuss the interplay between strategic management accounting (SMA) and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the interplay between strategic management accounting (SMA) and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This explication occurs within a context that is characterized by organization restructuring and corporate strategy changes within Jordan Customs Organization (JCO).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a qualitative research approach and presents an interpretive case study of the JCO public sector organization. To collect data, it uses methodological triangulation, which includes interviews, historical and statistical analyses, documents and archival records. It is informed by the theoretical lens of configurational theory and strategic typologies to interpret the influences of organizational change configurations on SMA as it relates to the interplay of strategy, structure and restructuring.
Findings
The study findings agree with the related literature that SMA practices have developed management accounting from important operational transactions to gain a more strategic orientation through integrating customers, human resources, processes and financial departments. This paper concludes that specific SMA techniques have been used for strategizing by organizations in the public sector, providing a valuable counterpoint to the private sector adaptation that has dominated SMA research. This study finds that organizational restructuring has also contributed to decentralization and delegation, which has led to the distribution of tasks and specialization in accounting departments. It also concludes that SMA may facilitate or delay organizational change configurations in JCO. SMA can play a significant role in ensuring that the institution learns in response to organizational changes. On the contrary, this paper also concludes that organizational practices led to changes in SMA rules and routines.
Research limitations/implications
A general criticism of case-study methods is that they lack rigor and provide little basis for generalization. First, case studies tend to be specific and individual, posing significant issues regarding generalization. Therefore, several comparative case studies involving various organizations should be conducted to ascertain if these practices have become more commonplace, especially in the public sector. Second, considering the nature of a government entity and the sensitivity of the information that required confidentiality, certain strategizing imperatives could not be directly examined, such as meetings between top management to make important decisions of strategic significance. This paper has important implications because it highlights the shortcomings of a supercilious singular relationship between strategic choices and the design of SMA practices.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the growing literature by focusing on the relationship between SMA and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This paper is informed by the configuration theory perspective commonly used in accounting research. The empirical evidence in this study is provided in an SMA field, where empirical research is needed to be comparable with traditional accounting practices.
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Md Rezaul Karim, Mohammed Moin Uddin Reza and Samia Afrin Shetu
This study aims to explore COVID-19-related accounting disclosures using sociological disclosure analysis (SDA) within the context of the developing economy of Bangladesh.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore COVID-19-related accounting disclosures using sociological disclosure analysis (SDA) within the context of the developing economy of Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
COVID-19-related accounting disclosures from listed banks’ annual reports have been examined using three levels of SDA: textual, contextual and sociological interpretations. Data were gathered from the banks’ 2019 and 2020 annual reports. The study uses the legitimacy theory as its theoretical framework.
Findings
The research reveals a substantial shift in corporate disclosures due to COVID-19, marked by a significant increase from 2019 to 2020. Despite regulatory and professional directives for COVID-19-specific disclosures, notable non-compliance is evident in subsequent events, going concern, fair value, financial instruments and more. Instead of assessing the implications of COVID-19 and making disclosures, companies used positive, vague and subjective wording to legitimize non-disclosure.
Practical implications
The study’s insights can inform regulators and policymakers in crafting effective guidelines for future crisis-related reporting like COVID-19. The research adds to the literature by methodologically using SDA to explore pandemic-specific disclosures, uncovering the interplay between disclosures, legitimacy and stakeholder engagement.
Originality/value
This study represents a pioneering effort in investigating COVID-19-specific disclosures. Moreover, it uses the SDA methodology along with the legitimacy theory to analyze accounting disclosures associated with COVID-19.
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Arash Arianpoor, Elham Yazdanmehr and Majid Elahi Shirvan
To measure the dynamic features of compassion as an emotional and behavioral construct, the present research used a univariate latent growth modeling (LGM) approach within the…
Abstract
Purpose
To measure the dynamic features of compassion as an emotional and behavioral construct, the present research used a univariate latent growth modeling (LGM) approach within the structural equation modeling (SEM) framework. The aim was to trace the dynamic development of compassion longitudinally in accounting and business students during a three-credit English course at university.
Design/methodology/approach
The suggested method ensures the measurement invariance over time, deals with the first order latent variable, traces its growth and takes into account the measurement errors. This longitudinal analytical method was used to explore the initial state and the growth of compassion in four points of time during a language course. The data were collected from 60 adult accounting and business students in four time phases using Sprecher and Fehr's Compassionate Love Scale and were analyzed in Mplus 8.4 with univariate LGM.
Findings
The model fit was accepted and the invariance of the latent factor was confirmed over time. The negative covariance between intercept and slope (second-order latent variables) suggested that lower initial scores in L2 learners' compassion show a faster increase in compassion over time as the mean of slope is larger than that of the intercept. L2 learners who started off at a higher level of compassion showed a slower change in compassion over time. This can be at least partly explained by the teacher's motivating role or learners' compassion but needs to be further explored in complementary qualitative phases for deeper insights.
Originality/value
In the present research, awareness was raised of the developmental nature of compassion as an emotional and behavioral construct essential to the accounting and business profession. The great strength of this research lies in the dynamic approach to the compassion construct and the LGM used to capture the temporal growth of compassion and how it evolved through the L2 course.
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Thusitha Dissanayake and Steven Dellaportas
This study examines accounting reform in the Sri Lankan public sector using an actor–network perspective. The study is particularly concerned with the role of the Institute of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines accounting reform in the Sri Lankan public sector using an actor–network perspective. The study is particularly concerned with the role of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Sri Lanka (ICASL) in building networks of organisational actors in the diffusion of Sri Lankan Public Sector Accounting Standards (SLPSAS).
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data draws on interviews with key actors to understand the role of ICASL in the diffusion of SLPSAS. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of ICASL and senior public sector officers. The data were analysed based on the four stages underlying the translation process: problematisation, interessement, enrolment and mobilisation.
Findings
The data suggest that ICASL became a lead player in the diffusion of public sector accounting standards because of its superior technical capability. ICASL cultivated a way of thinking about accrual accounting by executing relational influence generated through professional knowledge, and connections with the government and public sector accountants.
Research limitations/implications
Findings should be interpreted with caution; data are limited by the subjective interpretation of data. By concentrating on the role of ICASL, the role and influence of other key actors may be overlooked.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on how innovations transform accounting practice through the lens of the ICASL. The result builds on evidence explaining why provincial governments and public sector governments were hesitant to adopt SLPSAS despite central government directives.
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Loai Ali Zeenalabden Ali Alsaid and Charles Anyeng Ambilichu
This study aims to explore the potential dynamics between performance measurement at the organisational level and emerging urban development projects at the macro-institutional…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the potential dynamics between performance measurement at the organisational level and emerging urban development projects at the macro-institutional field level of sustainability governance and accountability.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a theoretical triangulation between three theories, namely contingency theory, institutional theory and social cognitive theory, this study investigates not only the macro-micro dynamics, but also the (recursive) micro-macro dynamics between performance measurement and urban development. Using an Egyptian public sector urban development organisation and its sustainable energy project as an empirical example, interviews, documents and observations were collected.
Findings
The dynamics emerged between field urban development projects and the (unintended) organisational implementation of the performance measurement system, the sustainability key performance indicators (KPIs) reporting system. Contributing to previous literature, these dynamics have been institutionalised through (three) interrelated levels: the (macro-field) urban development contingencies and pressures for sustainability KPIs reporting, the (organisational) institutionalisation of the urban development performance measurement system and then the (micro-organisational) cognitive role of sustainability KPIs reports in (re)making political urban development decisions.
Research limitations/implications
This study faced some limitations that paved the way for future research axes. For political and security reasons, difficulties were encountered in conducting interviews with government actors in the sustainable energy project under study. Also, due to the practical separation of the environmental sustainability system from the sustainability KPIs reporting system in this case study, environmental sustainability is outside the scope.
Practical implications
Sustainability reports may influence public sector decision-making processes in a specific urban development context. These KPIs reports may also increase public sector management opportunities for urban auditing, transparency, accountability and sustainability governance. These KPIs may also guide public sector management to lower prices in poor villages to increase smart energy consumption and improve community health.
Social implications
Sustainability reports may increase decision-makers' understanding of consumer behaviours and societal changes. This may help in making appropriate political decisions to improve their welfare and regular smart energy consumption. Not only urban citizens, but this social advantage may also extend to urban development employees through employees' promotion, training and access to government-funded academic and professional scholarships.
Originality/value
This study is an attempt to develop current public sector performance measurement analyses in the emerging urban development field using a triadic analytical approach. This study also fed the literature with an extended case study that clarified the (multi-level) and (two-way) dynamics between performance measurement and urban development.
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Abbas Ali Daryaei, Afshin Balani and Yasin Fattahi
The literature on the influence of audit committees (AC) and cosmetic accounting (CA) is scarce. AC plays a unique and vital role in boosting earnings reliability in countries…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature on the influence of audit committees (AC) and cosmetic accounting (CA) is scarce. AC plays a unique and vital role in boosting earnings reliability in countries with weaker application of accounting standards or weaker legal protection for investors. AC, therefore, are considered to be one of the essential tools available to directors in supervising management decisions regarding financial reporting. This paper aims to examine the influence of AC characteristics (ACC) on CA and how this relationship is moderated by the audit fee.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used probit regression to analyze 1,218 firm-year observations of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2020.
Findings
The results show that AC financial accounting expertise, AC independence, female AC membership and AC tenure were negatively related to CA. The negative relationship is highly pronounced when a firm incurs higher audit fees, and audit fees moderate the relationship between ACC and CA. Results for the robustness checks show that only AC independence was significant, and the results of other characteristics were not significant.
Research limitations/implications
This research was conducted in an Iranian setting where the formation of ACs is on the verge of regulation; therefore, the data used for the study only contains the seven-year period of ACs’ statutory activity. In addition, a lack of consensus on the precise measures of an AC’s effectiveness could be considered as a restrictive factor.
Originality/value
The findings provide an initial insight into the effect AC on CA and moderating effect of audit fee on the relationship between ACC and CA.
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Belaynesh Teklay and Belete Jember Bobe
In this study, the authors investigate how institutions influence the adoption and implementation of a quality management practice (QMP) that was originally developed for Western…
Abstract
Purpose
In this study, the authors investigate how institutions influence the adoption and implementation of a quality management practice (QMP) that was originally developed for Western developed countries but is being used in sub-Saharan African firms. The authors’ aim is to contribute to the literature on how local and broader institutions in sub-Saharan African firms impact the adoption of QMP (specifically ISO 9001:2015) and how the firm's situated rationalities shape the associated change in management accounting practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied the extended Burns and Scapens framework and employed a case study research approach. The authors collected empirical data through semi-structured interviews and secondary sources and used direct content analysis to analyse the data.
Findings
The authors’ findings suggest that although personal values and commitments to modernising the business are the main drivers of change, the continued dominance of traditional accounting logic restricts the necessary change in management accounting to support effective QMP implementation.
Practical implications
This study emphasises the importance of aligning institutional logics to fully realise the benefits of new strategies and identifies technical competencies, access to information and communication technology, and clarity about the role of management accounting in modernising management practices as critical success factors.
Originality/value
This study is original in that it provides insights into the impact of contextual factors in less developed countries on institutionalising QMP and management accounting change, demonstrating the importance of aligning management accounting change with proposed organisational strategies to fully realise their benefits.
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Nisansala Wijekoon, Umesh Sharma and Grant Samkin
This paper aims to examine the perceptions of owners and accountants of small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs) on the users and their financial information needs of SME financial…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the perceptions of owners and accountants of small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs) on the users and their financial information needs of SME financial reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
Postal questionnaire surveys with owners and accountants of SMEs were used to identify users and their financial information needs. In total, 1,498 questionnaires were sent to SME owners and accountants. A total of 358 questionnaires were returned, generating 323 useable questionnaires. The management branch of stakeholder theory is used for the study which asserts that company management is expected to meet the expectations of those stakeholders who are more powerful than others.
Findings
The users of Sri Lanka SME financial information were limited to owners, banks and Department of Inland Revenue. Users and financial information needs of owners varied in relation to the size of the SME. Financial information are useful for making capital investment and planning decisions for owners regardless of the size of the SME. By sharing information with outside parties, disclosures can diminish information asymmetries between the firms and its stakeholders. The top three reasons for which owners use SME financial information are for planning purposes, estimating income tax liabilities, and taking marketing and pricing decisions.
Research limitations/implications
Since the study focuses only on the views of owner-managers and accountants of SMEs, the holistic understanding of uses of SME financial information by other user groups cannot be achieved.
Practical implications
The results of this study provide international and local standard setters with an indication of future direction for SME financial reporting.
Social implications
This paper extends existing knowledge on users and their financial information needs of SMEs in developing countries. Consequently, the findings of this paper make a valuable contribution to the work of practitioners such as local and international standards-setters and regulators who may be considering developing/revising financial reporting framework for SMEs either worldwide or in developing countries.
Originality/value
Although SME financial reporting has attracted enormous attention in the recent accounting literature, academic research into SME financial reporting is scant. This paper extends existing knowledge on users and their financial information needs of SMEs in developing countries. The general purpose financial reporting model and the accounting standard IFRS for SMEs in particular would not be applicable to Sri Lankan SMEs unless it modifies to reflect the financial information needs of users of Sri Lankan SME financial information.
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