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This paper seeks to provide a multi-theoretical explanation of the living practice of a public entity found in Uganda, an African developing country, which successfully enhanced public accountability.

A qualitative narrative enquiry through storytelling was used to portray the practices of public accountability. The perceptions of various individuals were obtained using in-depth interviews, from which a coherent story structured under the themes of context, actions, results and lessons was obtained.

Findings show that public entities that put in place oversight mechanisms and management structures, involve stakeholders and create an ethical work climate enhance public accountability. The results further show that the integration of theories (agency, stewardship, stakeholder and ethical work climate) promotes public accountability.

In terms of limitations and areas for future research, the study has been conducted on a single city authority to explain public accountability. Perhaps there is a need to conduct similar studies with other city authorities or a combination of organizations. The study has used a qualitative methodology through narrative enquiry to explain public accountability. Future studies can use a quantitative methodology, more so to test the proposed conceptual model of public accountability. Despite the study limitations, the results of this study remain relevant.

This study uses the positive story of a public entity from a developing country that successfully practiced public accountability. Consequently, from a practical perspective, the findings of this study can be used as a benchmark for promoting effective public accountability practices, especially in developing countries across the globe, where public accountability has proven to be a challenge. Furthermore, governments in developing countries can also use the study findings to strengthen public accountability policies in their respective countries.

The study suggests that enhancement in public accountability practice requires an approach that brings together a multiplicity of factors. The study affords public accountability practitioners an opportunity to replicate the successful accountability practices from the story. When public accountability is enhanced, service delivery in terms of social services by the public organizations is likely to improve, leading to better quality of life in the communities served.

The study is novel in its use of a positive story that depicts an entity from a developing country that successfully enhanced public accountability. To explain this phenomenon, the study uses a multi-theoretical approach, unlike prior studies.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influenced employee engagement in the context of remote work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and compare them with antecedents of employee engagement in traditional workplaces.

This study adopted an integrative literature review design of 27 empirical and conceptual peer-reviewed journal articles from a host of academic databases. Data were analyzed via a matrix and mapped onto individual and organizational antecedents of employee engagement.

This study identified 18 antecedents of remote work, which were categorized into individual antecedents, for example, mindfulness and digital literacy, as well as organizational antecedents, for example, job autonomy and supportive leadership. These findings were compared with antecedents of employee engagement in traditional workplaces to generate new knowledge about the impact of remote work on employee engagement as a result of the large shift to remote work in 2020.

This study synthesizes the most recent literature on antecedents of employee engagement in remote work settings as the result of the pandemic and contrasts these new approaches with previously identified antecedents of employee engagement in traditional workplaces.

The purpose of this study is to present an in-depth examination of stakeholder engagement processes in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from the perspective of NGO managers to enhance accountability and the effectiveness with which aid services are delivered. Specifically, demand-side (downward) accountability and the implications of an accountability system that is predominantly supply-side (upward) focused are explored.

This study draws on evidence gathered from 25 in-depth interviews with representatives of leading NGOs in Nigeria to explore and uncover the nature of stakeholder engagement and accountability processes in their respective organisations. This study shows prospects for entrenching organisational reform that balances power and influence that benefits the less economically powerful demand side of the stakeholders. A relevant aspect of stakeholder theory was used to frame the analysis.

The study reveals an overlay of a blanket engagement system and a seeming reluctance of NGOs to disclose critical information to the demand-side stakeholders (DSS), and suggests ways to meet sustainability demands and address the militating concerns. A perceived lack of understanding and prospects or outcomes of demand-side accountability are central to this; however, engagement outcomes that account for impact rather than output are explored and reported. The findings suggest that proper accountability involves adequate stakeholder engagement which is a prerequisite and paramount for sustainability.

This study primarily delineates NGO managers’ views on NGO engagement and accountability dynamics. Future research may explore the perspectives of downward stakeholders themselves. The study highlights the concern for NGOs to maintain a defined stakeholder engagement process that resists external forces that may impact on their operations and derail their mission, resulting in duplication of services.

The study shows the implications of donors’ influence on accountability practices which can be improved by re-structuring supply-side stakeholders to significantly include DSS accountability requirements in the key performance indicators of NGOs in developing countries. The authors present a nuanced perspective to aid delivery and access that ensures improved services and more effective, impactful and sustainable aid which is of practical relevance to NGOs and their accountability mechanism.

This study deepens the understanding of the dynamics of stakeholder engagement and accountability processes and shows that the most effective way to deploy aid funds to meet sustainability goals is to draw on the experiences and local knowledge of the DSS. This would require an effective and results-driven dialogue among all the stakeholders involved. The proposed engagement and management framework contribute to theory and practice by fostering multi-stakeholder cooperation, DSS accountability and the advancement of sustainable development

The primary objective of this paper is to explore how space organizations can incorporate children and imagination in their accountability-based accounting and decision-making processes.

This study centers on stakeholder engagement with children, specifically examining the drawing competition associated with the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) space exploration mission. We employ a multidimensional research design consisting of both an interpretive approach to the 2,748 space-related drawings submitted by children across Europe to the CHEOPS drawing competition in 2015 and a content analysis of 46 media releases published by ESA and the University of Bern, the key partners of the CHEOPS mission.

Our analysis of the children’s drawings and the CHEOPS media releases indicates that the related organizations account for some of the children’s visions and imaginations, but shortcomings exist in addressing the ethical and space environmental concerns related to space exploration. We explore implications for the space accounting agenda by applying the critical dialogic accountability framework proposed by Dillard and Vinnari (2019), which allows for a discussion on an outline for action by incorporating intergenerational equity (Thomson et al., 2018) and moral imagination (Werhane, 1999).

This study offers a novel exploration of a largely overlooked yet crucial stakeholder group: children. By focusing on their unique perspectives and imaginative capabilities, the paper brings forth the voices of those who will inherit the future of space exploration. Employing children’s drawings as a medium of symbolic communication, this research study offers fresh insights into their perceptions, particularly relevant to space accounting. This innovative approach not only enriches the literature on stakeholder engagement and accountability but also provides space organizations with valuable guidance on fostering inclusivity and ensuring that the interests of future generations are considered in decision-making processes.

This study aims to explore to what extent stakeholder engagement affects the sustainability reporting (SR) process and if it succeeds in facilitating the encounter between demand and supply of accountability, as well as the main challenges of this practice, by focusing on a crucial and under-investigated public sector area, the judicial system.

The study adopts an action research (AR) approach. Specifically, it focuses on a specific phase (i.e. stakeholder engagement) of the broader project that was carried on from 2019 in an Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office. Data were collected from multiple sources, i.e. written notes and reports gathered during meetings, the survey administered to stakeholders and the published sustainability reports.

Stakeholder engagement may be a valuable and effective tool for improving the level of accountability, as it increases the responsiveness of SR to the informative needs of stakeholders. However, the study also highlights some critical points that must be addressed to exploit this fully. Among these is the need to act upstream of the process by working on an accounting system that goes beyond the economic dynamics and can effectively answer the accountability demand.

The study contributes to theoretical and empirical knowledge by exploring a topic and a public sphere still limited investigated, i.e. the stakeholder engagement in sustainability in the judicial sector. The AR approach also presents some originality points, as it is low widespread in management and accounting literature.

Recent developments in the EU’s anti-corruption strategy have brought the EU closer to meeting the UNCAC’s objectives, i.e. the Proposal for a Directive on combating corruption (2023) and the Proposal for a Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation (2022). This paper aims to discuss these developments from the perspective of the UNCAC, to identify missing elements in the EU’s asset recovery mechanisms.

Critical approach towards EU anti-corruption policy (discussing the problems and solutions). Review of EU developments in asset recovery law.

There is a political will on the part of the EU to fight corruption through the rules enshrined in the UNCAC. However, improving EU law by introducing a new type of confiscation of unexplained wealth and criminalising illicit enrichment, without establishing convergent rules for the return of corrupt assets from EU territory to the countries of origin, cannot be seen as sufficient action to achieve the UNCAC’s objectives. In modelling mechanisms of the return of assets, the EU should search for solutions to overcome the difficulties resulting from the ordre public clause remaining a significant factor conditioning mutual legal assistance.

This paper discusses the possible input of the EU, as a non-State Party to the UNCAC, to advance implementing the UNCAC solutions on asset recovery by establishing convergent rules for the return of corrupt assets from EU territory to countries of origin.

Public listing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) stimulates unremitting transformations into their corporate governance (CG) practices. These transformations in CG are likely to impact the financial performance (FP). The current study examines how individual corporate CG mechanisms and their mutual interactions (configurational approach) stimulate the FP of listed SMEs. The study selects promoters’ ownership (PO), the board (B-INX) and information disclosures (DISC) as individual CG mechanisms. In addition, market competition (COMP) is considered a form of external governance/regulation.

The study uses five years of panel data (2018–2022) of 80 SMEs listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) SME listing platform in India. Panel data fixed effects and cluster robust standard errors estimated. In addition to the impact of individual CG mechanisms, their mutual interactions (configurational approach) are tested using moderated hierarchical regression and confirmed by slope tests.

The results signify the ineffectiveness of individual CG mechanisms when acting in silos. However, their mutual interactions drive the FP. A hierarchy of results is obtained. PO is the dominant form of internal CG, negatively influencing the relevance of B-INX and DISC. B-INX tends to adhere to good governance by positively moderating the impact of DISC on FP. Lastly, COMP acts as external governance that dominates the ownership effects. Findings reveal that the interactions among individual CG mechanisms are essential to the FP of listed SMEs. Such interactions adjust the agency theory dynamics of CG in these firms.

The study takes a holistic approach to investigate the agency theory dynamics via the mutual interactions among multiple CG forms. It highlights how the presence of a dominant form of CG can adjust the financial effect of others, thereby adjusting agency theory dynamics.

These results hold practical significance for SMEs in multiple ways. SMEs should embrace configurational approach to comprehend their agency dynamics. The configurational approach of CG mechanisms is the way forward for SMEs, which are known to be financially constrained. In other words, the fact that the resiliency of SMEs is very often questioned calls for the configurational approach, where different CG mechanisms coexist to drive FP.

The study is by far the first of its kind to investigate the CG of listed SMEs against the backdrop of the configurational approach. The findings will benefit industry practitioners, academics and regulatory bodies to visualize the governance practices through the lenses of configurational approach.

This study aims to examine why tax reforms fail and explores how tax collection can be improved within a developing country context.

Data comprise 28 semi-structured interviews with taxpayers, tax experts and tax authority personnel based in Pakistan. The results are analysed using a combined lens of taxpayer trust and tax agencies’ capabilities.

Tax reforms failed to build taxpayers’ trust and tax agencies’ capabilities. Building trust is challenging and demands extensive ongoing engagement with taxpayers while yielding gradual permanent results. This requires enhancing confidence in government; educating taxpayers; removing complexities; introducing transparency and accountability in tax agencies’ operations and the tax system; promoting procedural and distributive justice; and reversing perceptions of corruption through reconciliation and stakeholder inclusivity. Developing tax agencies’ capabilities requires upgrading outdated technologies, systems and processes; implementing governance and organisational reforms; introducing an oversight board; and recruiting and training skilled professionals.

The findings can assist policymakers and tax collection authorities in understanding why tax reforms fail and identifying potential solutions.

This study contributes to the emerging literature by exploring tax administration failures in developing countries. It contributes to the literature by engaging stakeholders to understand why reforms fail and potential solutions to stimulate tax revenues.

The UK government has taken the lead in accelerating the capacity of higher education to engage with sustainability accounting and adopting a novel systematic approach toward a collective implementation of and contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN SDG 16 “Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions” promotes the (re)building of effective and accountable institutions. In line with the institutional logics metatheory, we provide empirical evidence on how the alignment between social mechanisms alongside the reputation of higher education institutions (HEIs) and SDGs on transparent and responsible service (SDG 16) affect the students' overall experience. Using a sample of 142 UK HEIs, interpretative content analysis and ordinary least squares, the results show that integrating HEIs' responsible-oriented research agenda proactively with high sustainability reputation adds significantly to greater student satisfaction.

The purpose of this study is to examine the level of Shariah governance disclosure among Islamic banks in Malaysia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (i.e. Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia). On top of that, the effect of Shariah governance disclosure on Islamic banks financial performance is investigated.

Data underwent quantitative content analysis and a mean comparison of the Shariah governance disclosure mechanisms as well as multiple regression analysis. Shariah governance information is obtained from the Islamic banks' official websites and the Bursa Malaysia Exchange.

The results of the content analysis revealed that the level of Shariah governance disclosure among Malaysian Islamic banks has been more pronounced than in the GCC countries. Additionally, the multiple regression analysis results specified that of the five Shariah governance disclosure mechanisms, the Shariah committee emerged as the strongest determinant in the financial performance of the Islamic banks, followed by transparency and disclosure.

Islamic banks should emphasise publishing Shariah governance information in annual reports to reflect superior accounting practices as assessed by certified Shariah auditors with an effective monitoring system.

The empirical findings are vital for serving as a guideline for Islamic banks in Malaysia and the GCC countries to disclose their practice of Shariah governance and gain empirical insights into its effect on firms’ financial performance. Following that, Islamic banks would improve their accounting practices while adhering to Shariah principles, strengthen internal controls and boost their brand reputation.