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The purpose of this paper was twofold. First, to explore the currently performed board roles. Second, to investigate the relationship between board role performance and compliance with international financial reporting standard (IFRS) disclosure requirements among microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Uganda.

This study used a mixed methods research design. The relationship between board role performance and compliance with IFRSs requirements was tested using Partial Least Squares. Confirmatory Factory Analysis and interviews were conducted to establish the performed board roles.

The findings suggest that among the known board roles of strategic, service and control, the control role is mostly performed. Results further suggest that board role performance is a significant predictor of compliance with IFRS disclosure requirements. In terms of control variables, MFI size and membership to the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda were significant. Other control variables (liquidity, leverage and profitability) are not significantly associated with compliance with IFRS disclosure requirements.

Compliance with IFRS disclosure requirements was based on one financial year owing to a lack of data for many years.

The results are important for governing boards regarding improving compliance with IFRS disclosure requirements. The results specifically suggest that MFIs’ boards must focus on performing the control role if compliance with IFRS disclosures requirements is to improve.

This paper is original because it uses perceptions to measure board role performance, unlike previous studies that used proxies such as board size and proportion of non-executive directors to infer board role performance. The study also reveals that it is only the control role that is important in enhancing compliance with IFRS disclosure requirements. Such evidence does not currently exist.

This paper aims to investigate the contribution of attitude, subjective norm and religiosity on the intention to adopt Islamic banking in an emerging economy like Uganda, which is a secular state that is in the early stages of adopting Islamic banking.

This study uses a cross-sectional and correlational research design. Usable questionnaires were received from 258 managers of their own micro businesses. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

Results indicate that attitude and religiosity are significant determinants of the intention to adopt Islamic banking, unlike subjective norm whose predictive power is subsumed in attitude. In the absence of attitude, subjective norm is a significant determinant of intention to adopt Islamic banking. Overall, attitude, subjective norm and religiosity explain 44 per cent of the variance in the intention to adopt Islamic banking in Uganda.

This study is cross-sectional, excluding the monitoring of changes in behavior over time. Further, the study used evidence from owner-managed micro businesses in Uganda. It is possible that these results are only applicable to Uganda’s micro businesses.

Islamic banking is an emerging phenomenon on the African continent, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where most countries are secular states. As such, there are largely no empirical studies exploring the combined contributions of attitude, subjective norm and religiosity on the intention to adopt Islamic banking in an emerging economy after the national adoption of an enabling legal framework. To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first study that carries out this task.

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the association between the dimensions of intellectual capital (IC) and sustainability practices (SP) within the context of manufacturing medium and large (ML) firms in Uganda. The study aims to shed light on whether and how different dimensions of IC contribute to the adoption and implementation of SP by these firms.

This study utilized a cross-sectional and quantitative approach, collecting data through a questionnaire survey from a sample of manufacturing ML firms. The collected data underwent analysis to identify patterns and relationships using the SmartPLS structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.

The findings demonstrated that the three categories of IC (human, structural and relational capital) influence the SP of ML manufacturing enterprises in Uganda. This suggests that IC is a critical component of SP.

Manufacturing enterprises should use their IC to create strategies for sustainable solutions, such as creating new, ecologically and socially responsible products and services and improving current ones to lessen their environmental effect.

This research advances knowledge of SP by revealing if all aspects of IC are significant for the SP of manufacturing enterprises in Uganda.

This paper aims to examine the concept and practice of Islamic banking in the context of a non-Islamic country such as Uganda.

Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit the strategies banks may use to ensure that the Islamic banking system is successful and to ascertain those factors that may hinder its success. Chief executive officers of business associations, heads of committees on Islamic banking and religious leaders were interviewed.

The strategies used by financial institutions in ensuring the adoption of Islamic banking are now known such as “creating awareness of Islamic banking’s mode of operation among existing and potential clients.” The findings also show that factors such as “lack of trust among clients” may hinder the success of Islamic banking.

The research findings are useful for informing the deliberations of regulators, the business community and financial institutions. The results are applicable only to those countries in the preparation stages of adopting Islamic banking services for the first time, but they could be generalized to any new product launch in any country.

This paper may help Ugandan financial institutions to design strategies that will accelerate the adoption and, ultimately, the diffusion of Islamic banking in Uganda.

This study aims to (1) examine the contribution of internal audit quality, punitive measures to accountability in statutory corporations in developing countries such as Uganda and (2) test whether internal audit quality mediates the relationship between punitive measures and accountability in Uganda's statutory corporations.

This study is cross-sectional and correlational. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey conducted for 82 statutory corporations. The study's unit of analysis was a statutory corporation. Chief Internal Auditors and Chief Finance Officers were the study's unit of inquiry. Data were analyzed through correlation coefficients and linear regression using Statistical Package for Social Sciences.

The results suggest that internal audit quality and punitive measures independently predict accountability. However, punitive measures do not predict accountability in the presence of internal audit quality. Results further indicate that internal audit quality mediates the relationship between punitive measures and accountability in Uganda's statutory corporations.

This study confirms internal audit quality (a preventive measure) as a significant predictor of accountability in statutory corporations relative to punitive measures. To achieve accountability, more emphasis thus needs to be put on preventive mechanisms than on punitive mechanisms. This study also enhances our understanding of the relationship between punitive measures, internal audit quality and accountability. In this study, we arrive at new evidence on the mediating role of internal audit quality in the relationship between punitive measures and accountability in Uganda's statutory corporations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among firm characteristics, innovation, financial resilience and survival of financial institutions in Uganda.

This paper employs a cross-sectional research design, and responses from 143 officers of 40 financial institutions are analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The authors used ordinary least squares regression in testing the hypotheses.

The authors find that firm characteristics of size, age, innovation and financial resilience have a predictive force on survival of public interest firms such as financial institutions.

The implication drawn here is that a combination of firm characteristics, firm innovation and financial resilience explains a significant contribution in the survival chances of financial institutions. However, as much as firm characteristics and financial resilience are significant, innovation explains more of the variances in financial institutions’ going concern appropriateness.

This paper adds to the limited financial institutions literature and provides the first empirical evidence of the efficacy of innovation and financial resilience on financial institutions survival. The auditing profession could consider more seriously the innovation activities and financial resilience of financial institutions in their test for the going concern assumption of such firms.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the relationship between tax fairness, isomorphic forces, strategic responses and tax compliance in Ugandan small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

This is a correlational and cross-sectional study using two respondent types, the demand (represented by the tax collecting body respondents) and supply (represented by SME respondents) sides of tax compliance, to examine perceived tax compliance in Uganda’s SMEs.

Tax fairness, isomorphic forces and strategic responses have a predictive force on tax compliance. Significant mediation effects of tax fairness and also strategic responses are found. The two respondent types perceive the study variables differently – providing an understanding of why the tax compliance puzzle has remained a burgeoning concern. For example, the tax-collecting body respondents perceived more tax fairness than SME respondents, suggesting that perceived tax fairness depends on whose “lenses” you look through.

Rather than focussing only on the importance of the rational analytical deliberation of tax fairness by taxpayers in influencing their tax compliance, the current paper shows that in addition, isomorphic forces and strategic responses establish the basis for understanding taxpayers’ compliance.

The methodology that enlists two respondent types, i.e. the supply side of tax compliance and the demand side of tax compliance, probably offers a unique way of deriving better results than previous studies.

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of financial management practices and competitive advantage on loan performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs).

In this cross-sectional study, the authors surveyed 70 MFIs in Kampala, Uganda. The authors applied principal component analysis to reduce the number of factors and identify the important elements that capture financial management practices, competitive advantage and loan performance of MFIs. The authors put forward and tested three hypotheses relating to the significance of the relationship between these three variables of MFIs using the statistical software package, SPSS and also apply the normal theory approach developed by Sobel (1982) and Baron and Kenny (1986) in testing the mediation by competitive advantage.

Robust financial management practices are associated with better loan performance of MFIs. Results also reveal a significant positive relationship between the competitive advantage of the MFIs and their loan performance. Furthermore, a significant positive relationship between competitive advantage and loan performance is found. Moreover results also show a full mediation effect of competitive advantage on the association of financial management practices and loan performance, implying that the association of financial management practices of the MFIs on their loan performance is entirely through their competitive advantage.

Although there is plenty of literature on loan performance, financial management practices and competitive advantage, there is scarce literature on their effective conceptualization. This together with the imprecise definition of competitive advantage may have affected conceptualization of the authors study. Thus, in this study, the authors do not claim highly refined measurement concepts. Moreover, many of the extant studies for instance have measured loan performance quantitatively, yet process factors which are inherently qualitative in nature can better explain variances in loan performance concept. More research is therefore needed to better refine qualitative concepts used in this study.

Efforts by the MFIs management to improve loan performance must be matched with adoption of financial management practices that provide MFIs with sustained competitive advantage over their rivals.

In order to explain loan performance of MFIs, and drawing from social economics, management and accounting strands, this study shows that assessing the role of competitive advantage in the relationship between financial management practices and loan performance is imperative. Also, many of the extant studies have measured loan performance quantitatively, yet process factors or antecedents which are inherently qualitative in nature can better explain variances in loan performance concept. Thus this study calls for the refinement of loan performance concept and accounting for endogeneity.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the relationship between corporate governance, ethical culture, Internal Controls over Financial Reporting (ICFR) and compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by microfinance institutions (MFIs).

This is a cross-sectional survey based on a sample of 85 MFIs in Uganda. Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares (PLS) analysis technique. An unweighed IFRS compliance index to capture the level of compliance with IFRS was constructed. Yet to capture corporate governance, ethical culture and ICFR variables, the perceptions of top management of MFIs have been taken into consideration.

Corporate governance, ethical culture and ICFR, each makes a significant contribution to compliance with IFRS. Also both corporate governance and ethical culture are significantly associated with ICFR. However, compliance with IFRS by MFIs is better enhanced by corporate governance and ethical culture through ICFR.

Results support the idea that in terms of agency and virtue ethics theories, the board should support ICFR to minimize egocentric managers and other employees and also inculcate an ethical culture to achieve better compliance with IFRS because corporate governance and ethical culture are associated with sound ICFR which in turn lead to compliance with IFRS.

Boards of MFIs should encourage investments that improve ICFR. At the same time, regulators should ensure that boards are composed of members with financial expertise, with no conflict of interest and introduce mechanisms that encourage boards to perform their roles.

The study contributes towards a methodological position by showing that the behavioural perspective of corporate governance can be an alternative to the boards’ structural variables in investigating compliance with IFRS. A direct association of ethical culture and compliance with IFRS and an indirect association through ICFR can be envisaged.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the contribution of internal audit function and audit committee effectiveness on accountability in statutory corporations (SCs).

This study is cross sectional and correlational. Data have been collected through a questionnaire survey of 52 SCs in Uganda through their Chief Internal Auditors and Chief Finance Officers. Data have been analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences.

The internal audit function significantly contributes to accountability of SCs in Uganda and audit committee effectiveness is not where effective internal audit is present in such organisations. However, audit committee effectiveness significantly contributes to accountability when an internal audit function is not present.

The use of hierarchical regression is prone to problems associated with sampling error. However, the likelihood of these problems is mitigated by the interface with data.

Whereas hitherto both internal audit function and audit committee effectiveness had been viewed as explanations of accountability, this study only confirms the internal audit function as a significant predictor of SCs’ accountability relative to audit committee effectiveness.