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Governments in developing countries manage their considerable state assets for public service delivery directly. In Indonesia, the Directorate of State Asset Management responsible for developing the national strategy for state asset optimization requires the determination of key elements and prioritization tools. The purpose of this paper is to show that a simple calculation using the combination of the balanced scorecard (BCS) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) will help in the prioritization of strategy development.

A questionnaire survey of 131 multistakeholder respondents to identify the most important key elements and the best alternative for asset optimization was done in this study.

The respondents agree on the most important key elements, and that the best alternative for asset optimization is the efficient maintenance of assets. Competitive human resources comprise the recommended second key element, and that improvements in asset performance and value will improve public service as the second-highest alternative. This study also shows the importance of the integration of asset optimization in existing government strategic instruments supported by a comprehensive data set related to public assets and their performance.

This paper provides a new contribution to integrating asset optimization strategies as the core of the organization’s performance and prioritization strategies. Additional BSC perspectives are suggested, with the inclusion of AHP for prioritization. In addition, this study includes the opinions of all the stakeholders, from external users to the central management. The flexibility of the tools to adapt to the existing strategic framework will allow their application by different agencies and in different countries.

Libraries are currently undergoing a significant transformation, emerging as dynamic advocates for environmental sustainability, surpassing their conventional roles as mere repositories of knowledge. In today’s world, dominated by the growing climate crisis, these evolving institutions are poised to play a pivotal role in addressing climate change. However, they confront a range of challenges, including the need to establish sustainable operations, provide accessible climate information, engage diverse audiences and uphold ethical standards.

The research methodology used for this study involves an extensive review of literature. The authors analyze existing studies concerning green libraries and their role as catalysts for climate change action globally. This analysis draws from a variety of scholarly sources, encompassing articles, books and reports, to provide a comprehensive overview of the subject.

The findings indicate that despite the aforementioned challenges, libraries in developed countries worldwide have demonstrated noteworthy success through initiatives such as green building projects, community engagement programs, collaborative partnerships, expansion of digital resources, innovative climate literacy initiatives and a commitment to ethical stewardship. These achievements serve as a source of inspiration, fostering hope and spurring action as libraries empower communities to embrace environmental stewardship. They showcase the potential of libraries as catalysts for positive environmental change.

The originality and value of this research lie in its insights into the potential of green libraries initiative as a catalyst for climate change action. Ultimately, this study opens the door to untold literary exploration, revolutionizing the art of green library capacity in the ever-evolving technological landscape. To augment their impact, libraries are encouraged to broaden the scope of their climate education initiatives, expand their digital resources, cultivate strategic collaborations, prioritize ethical responsibility and implement thorough evaluation and communication practices.

This study aims to develop a collaborative governance framework (CGF) to systematically investigate the impeding factors (IFs) in terms of the operational sustainability of PPPs. It examines the transmission pattern (i.e. the way in which network members react to each other) of the IFs network.

Literature review and interview were adopted to identify the IFs. Then, with the data collected from the interview in China, the social network analysis and interpretive structure model were synergised to examine the chain reaction, driving and dependent powers, and hierarchical structure of the identified IFs.

The results reveal that the cognition, institutional, financial and participation aspects are key barriers confronted by PPP sustainability, and the government plays a leading role in controlling factors causing sustainability-related problems in PPPs. Weak government leadership and institutional environment were identified as the most fundamental reasons triggering a chain of IFs, while project governance and management activities act as bridge nodes that play an intermediary role in the IFs network.

This research contributes to the literature on PPP governance by (1) bridging the literature gap through the development of CGF for explaining the governance of PPP sustainability with a holistic view that considers both macro environment and operational project processes; and (2) identifying the transmission pattern of IFs network which uncovers the underlying dynamics causing the unsustainable operation of PPPs.

This research provides practitioners with a list of key checkpoints for preventing failure escalation, enables decision-makers to prioritise obstacle-mitigation efforts and develop a feasible process to control PPP operation, and offers management countermeasures to remove the key barriers impeding PPP sustainability.

This study is novel for adopting network-oriented techniques to quantify the relative importance of the IFs and examine the transmission pattern of the IFs system. Therefore, it visualises the complex underlying dynamics causing unsustainable PPP operation, identifies root and direct causes of PPP failures, and provides decision-makers with insights into sustaining PPP sustainability from a network-oriented perspective.

This study aims to investigate practitioners’ perceptions of strategic work in municipal facilities management: how public facilities management is changing, what is included in strategic public facilities management and who leads the strategic work.

A literature review begins with mainstream studies of strategy management, ultimately concentrating on municipal facilities management. Findings are based on a 2020/2021 questionnaire targeting 356 practitioners in municipal facilities management across Sweden (50% response rate). The statistical treatment includes factor analysis.

Most respondents indicated changed ways of managing facilities in the past five years; most reported that they were in an organization with an explicit goal of working more strategically. Respondents associated strategic facilities management with governance, facilities, sustainability, technology change and communication. Frequently, it was the management team of the facilities management department that led strategic work.

Research into municipal facilities management is dominated by studies in Northern Europe, and more studies from other regions are needed. How strategies and work roles evolve in parallel appears to be a fruitful direction of further research.

Facilities managers need stronger competences and more resources to engage in strategic facilities management. Findings indicate a need to integrate sustainability aspects better into long-term strategic work.

More strategic municipal facilities management is of obvious social value.

This is the first study of practitioner perceptions of work on strategic facilities management in municipalities.

Considering the greenwashing risk of symbolic environmental management, this study aims to distinguish the motivation for environmental investment growth (EIG) from the corporate cost stickiness and anti-stickiness perspectives.

This study analyzes the impact of substantive and symbolic environmental management on cost stickiness. Subsequently, competing hypotheses are proposed. Finally, empirical tests are conducted on Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019.

EIG significantly improves enterprises’ cost stickiness. The cost of high EIG enterprises does not decrease significantly with a decline in income compared to other enterprises, which is consistent with the motivation for substantive environmental management. Enterprises with high asset specificity and optimistic management expectations show more obvious substantive environmental management. Government and public environmental concerns cause more pronounced substantive environmental management.

An evaluation of corporate environmental responsibility should take into account both what the company has disclosed and what it has actually done.

Governments and the public should have a comprehensive understanding of corporate environmental management. They need to strengthen their ability to recognize symbolic environmental management and support substantive environmental management.

Fundamental to the evaluation of corporate environmental responsibility, this study distinguishes the motivations for corporate EIG disclosures from the cost stickiness perspective to avoid the risk of greenwashing. Hypotheses on the impact of substantive and symbolic environmental management on cost stickiness are presented. This study verifies the substantive environmental management characteristics of listed Chinese companies.

Against the background of sustainable finance, this study aims to address whether global asset management firms started transforming toward more environmentally friendly investment policies according to the Agenda for Sustainable Development launched by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.

The authors apply qualitative, explorative research methods through the development of the case study of BlackRock, Inc. (USA). Addressing sustainable finance, the authors compare the opposite to the editorial page (op-eds) communication strategy of BlackRock against real life for the period from 2015 until today.

The op-eds communication strategy by BlackRock is multi-faceted targeting to develop a leading sustainable reputation supported by fine-grained relationships to business and policy makers. This study empirically proves that there is a discrepancy between BlackRock’s op-eds communication contends concerning sustainable finance and the reality. Among others this study found that BlackRock still invests in fossils and increasingly launches passively managed funds with limited transparency standards in terms of sustainable finance.

This study contributes to the corporate social responsibility literature focusing on fossil energy and sustainable finance. As BlackRock did not reply to the authors’ requests for conducting interviews, the authors rely on a broad range of secondary sources including material provided by non-governmental organizations. This study proposes that research should be amplified by further empirical studies among various sustainable finance stakeholders based on the research propositions the authors have developed as a result of this study.

This research provides empirical evidence for business executives and policy decision-makers involved in the energy industry, corporate ethics and global financial asset management.

This study provides insights toward sustainable finance policies of BlackRock with corresponding outcomes related to global climate change and its impact on societies.

This study delivers empirical evidence on the energy transformation from fossils toward renewables against the background of sustainable finance strategies of large asset management enterprises such as BlackRock which is rare to find in the literature.

This paper aims to systematically analyze the weaknesses of public procurement in Malaysia as reported in the Auditor General’s Reports from 2011 until 2018. Specifically, the study examines the types of weaknesses, the modes of public procurement involved with the weaknesses, the procurement categories involved with the weaknesses and the key recommendations to mitigate the weaknesses in public procurement.

A document analysis was adopted in achieving the objective. The Auditor General’s reports and the reports of activities of federal ministries/departments published by the National Audit Department, Malaysia from the year 2011 until 2018 are the main documents used in this study. The data gathered were analyzed using frequency distribution and displayed with descriptive statistics and relevant graphs.

The findings of the study revealed that the top five reported are non-compliance to scope, specifications and terms of contracts; delayed completion/non-completion of project; poor documentation; low quality of products, service and work; and little or no prior planning. It is also found that direct negotiation mode was reported with the highest issues of public procurement, while the procurement mode with the least public procurement weaknesses is direct purchase. Moreover, it was found that work category is the highest with public procurement issues reported compared to supplies and services. The top recommendations given by the Auditor General were to improve internal control, to enhance monitoring, to establish planning in details, to improve assets management and to take appropriate actions toward contractors and procurement officers when needed.

This is among a few studies that attempted to systematically examine the main issues regarding the public procurement activities in Malaysia. This study highlighted pertinent aspects of the public procurement activities, which need close attention by the relevant authorities to ensure efficient and effective public procurement.

During the 1990s, Italian healthcare organisations (HOs) underwent a process of corporatisation, and the most innovative HOs introduced the balanced scorecard (BSC) to address the need for broader accountability. Currently, there is a limited understanding of the dynamics and outcomes of such a process. Therefore, this study aims to explore whether the BSC is still considered an effective performance management tool and analyse the factors driving and hindering its evolution and endurance in public and non-profit HOs.

We conducted a retrospective longitudinal analysis of two pioneering cases in the adoption of the BSC: one in a public hospital and the other in a non-profit hospital. Data collection relied on accessing institutional documents and reports from the early 2000s to the present, as well as conducting semi-structured interviews with the internal sponsors of the BSC.

We found evidence of three main categories of factors that trigger or hinder the adoption and development of the BSC: (1) the role of the internal sponsor and professionals’ commitment; (2) information technology and the controller’s technological skills; and (3) the relationship between the management and professionalism logics during the implementation process. At the same time, there is no evidence to suggest that specific technical features of the BSC influence its endurance.

The paper contributes to the debate on the key factors for implementing and sustaining multidimensional control systems in professional organisations. It emphasises the importance of knowledge-based assets and distinctive internal capabilities for the success of the business. The implications of the BSC legacy are discussed, along with future developments of multidimensional control tools aimed at supporting strategy execution.

Since the 1980s, governments worldwide have been implementing the move from cash to accrual accounting. Scholars initially considered the appropriateness of this accounting reform to be self-evident, but later they have expressed critical views. This paper systematises the existing literature intending to reflect on the adverse effects of adopting accrual accounting in the public sector and identify implications for future research.

The present study builds on a systematic literature review of 106 academic articles published between 1980 and 2021. It is based on the “preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses” (PRISMA) method. Synthesising research through a transparent, rigorous and replicable process makes it possible to identify and discuss the adverse effects of adopting public sector accrual accounting.

Significant issues are linked to organisational impacts and accountability. Resistance to change is the main negative consequence and is more likely in countries that have chosen to adopt accrual accounting without maintaining cash accounting. The new accounting rules make accounting information more complex and arbitrary for citizens and politicians. How these criticalities should be addressed deserves further investigation.

This paper offers a comprehensive literature review on the drawbacks of adopting accrual accounting in the public sector. It could provide a general lesson to be applied to policymakers of other jurisdictions currently considering this transition to prevent the adverse effects and act proactively.

This paper aims to contribute to the debate over the desirability of introducing an accrual-based accounting system in the public sector by examining whether accrual-based accounting information is superior to cash-based information in the context of public sector entities.

This paper applies a quantitative research method to assess the degree of smoothness and relevance of the accrual components of income recorded by 302 entities of the Italian National Health Service (INHS) over the period 2014–2020.

The analysis reveals that net income is smoother than cash flows as a summary measure of economic results and that accounting for accruals improves the predictability of future cash flows. However, the authors' novel disaggregation of accrual accounts reveals that those accounts that contribute the most to making income smoother than cash flows – noncurrent assets and liabilities – are also those that contribute the least to predicting future cash flows.

The disaggregation of accrual accounts allows to identify the sources of the informational benefits of accrual accounting, and to document the existence of an informational “trade-off” between smoothness and relevance in the context of public sector entities.