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This paper describes an empirical research study on the first year of compliance by a set of “major” UK charities with the Charity SORP that came into force in 1996 and replaced the previous SORP, which had been recommended since 1988. This new Charity SORP, unlike its predecessor is prescriptive and has the authority of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 1995. From a sampling frame of top charities the accounts and financial statements of 125 major charities were selected for analysis (all of which were statutorily required to comply with the new SORP through the regulations). Additionally these top charities were selected as they were all subject to full professional audit, which should mean that the auditors would ensure compliance. Previous studies on charity accounts have recorded variations in accounting treatments. The new Charity SORP is mandatory for charities with an income of more than 250,000 and is designed to provide consistency in accounting by charities and a transparency to their affairs. The research found that there continues to be significant variation in the presentation of charity accounts and questions recent published research that claims significant improvements. The research also found that auditors, including those with charity expertise were failing in either advising or ensuring that charities complied with the SORP.

Despite the increasing recognition that organizations should report on relevant sustainability matters, the importance and value to stakeholders of these reports being independently assured are not well appreciated. The objective of the paper is to underline that such assurance can be (and is) provided by the internal audit function and, in doing so, that function makes a significant contribution to effective corporate governance.

Theoretical in nature, the paper makes reference to a few “real‐world” illustrations. It is review in character and in a relatively systematic manner reviews key internal auditing professional standards‐guidance in conjunction with prior theoretical and empirical research.

The paper reinforces the argument that reporting of sustainability policies, practices and measures, without independent assurance, is of reduced value to stakeholders. The paper provides evidence to show how, despite the potential to do so, internal auditing has not always been promoted globally in this role.

The paper is limited to a theoretical consideration. There is potential for it to be enhanced by further empirical research demonstrating the value of independent internal auditing within sustainability programs and reporting.

The paper is possibly the first to make explicit the linkage between the reporting of sustainability and the assurance of such reports. It should help make boards of organizations in emerging markets more aware of internal audit in relation to sustainability in terms of corporate responsibility and governance.

To describe the Pragathi Bandhu Groups (PBG) Model and portray the performance of PBG farmers encouraged by their financial and decision-making participation in micro financing and labor sharing, as well as to analyze the factors that influenced participation of small farmers in PBG.

The empirical study is confined to the small farmers and laborers of PBG functioning in the coastal districts of Karnataka State in India. The study is conducted in Belthangady and Bantwal Taluks of Dakshina Kannada (DK) Districts-Udupi taluk of Udupi District in the State of Karnataka. Primary data from 100 farmer members, selected at random in each of the Taluks, is collected through personal interview by administering semi-structured interview schedules and open discussion. In addition, the data on the functions and the performance of PBG in the State of Karnataka in India are also collected from the official records of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) and their field-level functionaries through informal discussions. Factor analysis is performed with principal component analysis followed by Varimax rotation to analyze the factors that influenced participation of small farmers in PBG.

Results show that the implementation of PBG Model, through the collective participation of small farmers in micro financing, free labor sharing, financial and decision-making activities underlying the functions of PBG Model, has helped them to achieve robust performance in terms of increased savings mobilization, loan utilization, and value of free labor sharing and acres of land brought under cultivation with the help of irrigation facilities created by them. The factor analysis has derived four factors that influenced the participation of farmers in PBG (agriculture development, financial participation, capacity building, and other benefits) which explain 63.701 of total factor variance.

The findings of this paper can benefit the small farmers and laborers in replicating the PBG Model and its initiatives that address shortages of labor and credit, as well as the high cost of labor, particularly in the unorganized sector in the agrarian economy.

The insights offered are likely to be beneficial to the distressed small farmers, development agencies, and agriculture policy makers to solve the agrarian crisis caused due to shortages of labor and farm credit.

Sourced by local newspaper articles, discusses the impact on Goa of the increasing numbers of tourists. Increasing land prices, increasing levels of consumption, violation of building and land use regulations are all prevalent. Locals feel threatened and degraded by inappropriate behaviour of tourists. There has been an escalation in violence, child sex abuse and prostitution. Drug abuse and drug trafficking has increased. Local people feel exploited and few benefit from the tourist trade. What can be done?

The purpose of this paper is to describe how tailoring financial incentives for healthy behaviors to employees’ goals, values, and aspirations might improve the efficacy of incentives.

The authors integrate insights from self-determination theory (SDT) with principles from behavioral economics in the design of financial incentives by linking how incentives could help meet an employee’s life goals, values, or aspirations.

Tailored financial incentives could be more effective than standard incentives in promoting autonomous motivation necessary to initiate healthy behaviors and sustain them after incentives are removed.

Previous efforts to improve the design of financial incentives have tested different incentive designs that vary the size, schedule, timing, and target of incentives. The strategy for tailoring incentives builds on strong evidence that difficult behavior changes are more successful when integrated with important life goals and values. The authors outline necessary research to examine the effectiveness of this approach among at-risk employees.

Instead of offering simple financial rewards for engaging in healthy behaviors, existing programs could leverage incentives to promote employees’ autonomous motivation for sustained health improvements.

Effective application of these concepts could lead to programs more effective at improving health, potentially at lower cost.

The approach for the first time integrates key insights from SDT, behavioral economics, and tailoring to turn an extrinsic reward for behavior change into an internalized, self-sustaining motivator for long-term engagement in risk-reducing behaviors.

In light of the recent changes in the internal audit (IA) landscape, the role of auditors has undergone a significant transformation. This paper aims to investigate the effects of applying Lean Six Sigma (LSS) techniques on the effectiveness and efficiency of IA.

The study used a quantitative approach, surveying Iranian internal auditors with a sample size of 384 participants. Data analysis involved confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

The analyses demonstrate a significant association between LSS application and IA effectiveness and efficiency. In addition, an exploratory analysis indicates that the application of LSS techniques by less experienced internal auditors had a reverse effect on IA function quality as a component of IA competency. However, IA motivation factors, including education and position, did not mediate the impact of LSS on IA effectiveness and efficiency.

This study was conducted with Iranian internal auditors, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other countries. However, the primary academic implication of this research lies in its novel perspective on emphasizing the concept of continuous improvement in IA through the use of LSS techniques. By focusing on the need for internal auditors to add value to the business in new ways, this research contributes to the literature on IA quality.

This study has significant implications for the effective management of IA departments. By promoting the application of LSS techniques in IA, lean auditing is enhanced, and IA can create value by improving the quality of its functions. Moreover, IA regulators can benefit from this study as it emphasizes providing guidance and training on LSS techniques to enhance IA skills.

This research is pioneering in applying LSS methodology to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of internal auditing. It also considers the integration of lean thinking into current audit practices, making it unique and valuable in internal auditing research.

Problems and issues surrounding the use of discrepancy in identifying learning disability are reviewed. Since 1976, discrepancy has been the primary criterion for defining learning disability in practice. In a psychometric and statistical sense, however, issues about the best means for calculating a discrepancy remain unresolved. Another problem involves divergent findings about how systematically and rigorously the discrepancy criterion has been applied in practice. The problems and issues have resulted in questions about the status of learning disability as an independent category of special education. It is possible, however, to demonstrate that learning disability can be reliably differentiated from other conditions and that discrepancy is a major factor in demonstrating the differences. Consequently, it is concluded that discrepancy is a legitimate theoretical concept and should be considered as a necessary criterion for the identification of learning disability.

Dynamic capabilities yield positive effects to firm-specific advantage formation. Paradoxically, the body of literature on capability diffusion is scarce. The purpose of this study is to focus, thus, on this dearth of literature with an emphasis on exploring the transferability function.

An integrative review of literature on the dynamic capabilities view covers the organizational context determining capability sharing, supported by strategic communication and business networking theories for the fashioning of global capabilities’ administration model (GCAM).

Individual motivations and formal modelling of capabilities’ transference have been overlooked in previous research. Largely with a top-down orientation, the current paradigm of their diffusion is profoundly shaped by the organizational structure and its global governance practices.

The GCAM’s architecture, based on transnational administration and hybrid transferability, opens horizons for multinational companies to develop their own capability management systems and is at the same time a new scholarly avenue in the field.

This study explores an untapped research gap and the formal modelling of a GCAM, while reconciling some of the weaknesses of academic research and industry practices.