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The paper uses a procedure called data envelopment analysis (DEA) to compare internal against external (outsource) efficiency in the delivery of finance function activities. The approach allows a direct comparison between the in‐house efficiency of UK small, medium and large companies in managing their accounting activities both with UK outsource contractors and also against the rather larger and more numerous contractors observed in Italy. The paper finds that, through comparative advantages, outsourcing presents a more efficient solution for the management of very small firm accounting than internal provision. Furthermore, there is evidence that substantial scale benefits continue to be available to outsource contractors, while inefficiency on internal provision is mainly technical. The paper concludes that outsourcing provision is likely to offer worthwhile savings to small firms, allowing them to shed competitive weaknesses and operate at efficient or best practice levels. At the same time, by converting an internal fixed cost, fixed capacity activity into a flexible, variable cost activity, SMEs have the potential to transform a previously unmanageable activity into an efficient or best practice activity that can grow or contract with the business.

The phrase evokes a picture of a well‐main‐tained home sheathed in a new coat of white paint, and glistening like a gem in a verdant setting of lawn, shrubbery and foliage … The exterior finish harmonises with nature and pleases the eye, but the colourtone is in sharp contrast with the surroundings.

The purpose of this study is to analyze citizen engagement and to explain the underlying mechanism that makes well-intended people to act as disinformation amplifiers in the online space. The study offers new insights to be used by knowledge management for improving society’s potential to downsize the impact of disinformation that puts both knowledge system and social trust (ST) under high pressure.

The study proposes an integrative research model to explain how ST and conspiracy mentality (CM) are influencing citizen engagement in public life through different forms of action that is specific to offline or online spaces. The research model and its nine hypotheses are tested based on a survey for data collection and partial least squares method for data analysis.

The study finds that both online and offline actions are mediating the positive effect of ST on citizen engagement. Yet, CM has a high impact on online actions, and it exerts a significant indirect influence on citizen engagement in this manner.

Revealing the mediator role of online actions in the relationship between CM and civic engagement, the paper brings novel insights on disinformation spreading. The study explains how citizen engagement can sometimes be turned against social well-being because those prone to belief in conspiracies are the perfect targets of deceivers seeking for disinformation amplifiers in the online environment.

This research considers the way banks have altered their strategies as regulatory change (i.e. deregulation) and information technology (IT) innovations created more opportunities for service delivery and extended the range of potential competitors and forms of competition. These external changes provided new diversification and growth opportunities but also modified prior expectations about the way managers defined and controlled their bank’s core capabilities in pursuing current and potential business. The main research instrument used was a one hour, semi‐structured interview; and in total 55 managers of commercial banks, investment banks, management consulting firms and regulators from Mexico, Spain and the UK participated. Qualitative and quantitative analysis established that the great majority of banks responded to changes in growth opportunities through diversification moves but with no clear link to core capabilities. IT management played a secondary role in the design of bank strategy but at the same time, IT applications were perceived as an important force to modify competition in bank markets by supporting radical re‐engineering of service delivery in ways that undermined previous advantages of scale and scope.

Discusses the treatment of outsourcing in company accounts. In particular, it considers the application of several accounting standards that may be relevant to the presentation of outsourcing agreements in the financial statements. The way in which these principles are implemented in the relevant financial statements, with respect to outsourcing between 1991 and 1997, is the main focus of the paper. In practice, accountants, in the majority of the cases, consider outsourcing contracts as immaterial contracts and, generally, they do not include any note of the outsourcing contracts in the financial statements. This implies that accountants (auditors) consider each outsourcing contract as an individual contract without taking into consideration its aggregate effects. Finally, the degree to which FRS 12 raises issues with respect to the outsourcing agreements is considered in this paper and their presentation in accounts is considered.

ALTHOUGH you are reading a professional journal, you may be interested in the impressions of a semi‐outsider, one who has teetered on the edge of the maelstrom of modern librarianship without actually having fallen in—yet. The experience may even be salutary; who knows?

We explore how K-8 student scholars experience culturally relevant texts provided during Freedom Schools summer camps, discuss ways Freedom Schools can be a vehicle for youth to become advocates for social change, and consider opportunities created by Freedom Schools for community engagement and partnerships. Mixed methods were used to investigate the experiences of 38 scholars at two different Freedom Schools sites (one rural and one mid-sized urban) in the southeastern U.S. The majority of scholars identified as African American and lived in low-income households. Primary data sources included scholar surveys and reading assessments, camp observations, and interviews with scholars, as well as our own personal reflections as the Research Director (Alysia Roehrig) and Co-Executive Directors (Kristal M. Clemons and Keely Norris) for the sites. We triangulated descriptive statistics from surveys with qualitative data, primarily from interviews, which we analyzed using open coding and axial coding to develop themes (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The majority of scholars, who participated in the 2016 North Florida Freedom Schools, reported being able to identify with specific characters and situations in the books included in the culturally relevant reading summer program, and they expressed positive thoughts and feelings about the books. Most scholars (74%) maintained or gained in instructional reading levels and did not experience summer learning loss. Children’s confidence that they could act prosocially also increased significantly during the summer camps, which children characterized as different from regular school. Freedom Schools can offer a valuable forum for diverse community members to learn about one another, focus on their strengths, and become agents for social change. We provide suggestions for how other communities can implement the Freedom Schools model.

This study investigated the impact of conspiracy beliefs on fear of Covid-19 and health protective behavior of university students in Pakistan.

A cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire was conducted at three universities in Punjab (e.g. two public sectors and one private sector) with permission from concerned authorities for data collection. A total of 374 responses were received that were analyzed by applying both descriptive and inferential statistics.

The results indicated the prevalence of conspiracy beliefs and fear of Covid-19 among university students of two public sector universities and one private sector university. Furthermore, the conspiracy beliefs of university students predicted their fear of Covid-19. However, conspiracy beliefs did not predict the health protective behavior of university students.

These results had serious implications for public health in Pakistan demonstrating the critical need for health education and promotion as individual preparedness along with system preparedness is essential to combat Covid-19 pandemic and infodemic. These results are useful for policymakers, healthcare professionals, university administration and library staff for making evidence-based decisions toward health education and promotion related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is hoped that the present study would make an invaluable contribution to existing research on promotional health in general and the role of conspiracy beliefs in putting public health at risk in particular as limited studies have been published so far.

The theme of this issue of Managerial Finance is managing corporate tax. Accompanying contributions address capital budgeting, financing, dividends, and financial reporting.