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There is a longstanding debate over the role of modern business methods in the contemporary non-profit organisation (NPO). Critics of business practices assert that they may undermine the missions of NPOs. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this debate. Many accounting researchers have shifted research focus to concepts such as trust and crises. These are important topics. But they may overshadow practices which are taken for granted as accepted practice which does not merit re-examination.

This qualitative project is based on an initial survey followed by comparative case studies of three NPOs. The researchers have used both interviews and documentary analysis in this study.

The contention that the adoption of business-like practices undermines the fundamental aim of altruism of NPOs is challenged by the findings of this paper. The very concept of altruism is not a single unifying concept in NPOs – it is a contested idea. However, and most importantly, in this research there is no evidence of mission drift by NPOs which adopt business practices. This research highlights the way many NPO CEOs are mission-driven but also pragmatic bricoleurs in their consideration of new business practices. Most importantly, these case studies demonstrate a variation in practices within the participating organisations. This raises challenging questions about a receptive context for the adoption of new business practices which are explored in this paper.

The case studies in this paper are from the UK, and further studies in different operating contexts in other countries would be useful. In particular, the finding that the fundamental ethos of NPOs is not challenged by being business-like merits further research. There is also scope for further research on what constitutes a receptive context for the adoption of new business practices by NPOs.

This study reveals the potential significance of NPO boards, particularly non-executive directors, in the shaping of organisational practices. There is evidence in this study of NPOs recruiting business experts for purposes of legitimation. But this study also shows how business expertise can be mobilised to enhance NPO performance by bricoleurs in NPO who are highly motivated individuals who will adopt useful business practices to hand if they improve charity outcomes.

The NPO organisations are motivated by the desire to make a difference to the lives of people who are vulnerable or disadvantaged. This study has interesting implications for managers and directors of NPOs on their effectiveness.

This study challenges the critical view that becoming more business-like undermines the fundamental ethos of altruism in NPOs. This is an important finding, but this study also reveals the recruitment of business expertise by NPOs purely for purposes of legitimation. However, these legitimating practices differ from the well-established view of isomorphism in the field of NPOs and suggests that, on the contrary, there is a variation in practice within the NPO field which has important implications for donors, regulators, directors and managers of NPOs.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of economic growth, digitalisation, eco-innovation, energy consumption and patents on environmental technologies on the volume of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) recorded in European countries for a period of nine years (2010–2018).

Two empirical methods were integrated into the theoretical approach developed based on the analysis of the current scientific framework. Multiple linear regression, an extended version of the OLS model, and a non-causal analysis as a robustness method, Dumitrescu–Hurlin, were used to achieve the proposed research objective.

Digitalisation described by the number of individual Internet users and patents on environmental technologies determines the amount of GHG in Europe, and economic growth continues to have a significant effect on the amount of emissions, as well as the consumption of renewable energy. European countries are not framed in well-established patterns, but the economic growth, digitalisation, eco-innovation and renewable energy have an impact on the amount of GHG in one way or another. In many European countries, the amount of GHGs is decreasing as a result of economic growth, changes in the energy field and digitalisation. The positive influence of economic growth on climate neutrality depends on its degree of sustainability, while patents have the same conditional effect of their translation into environmentally efficient technologies.

This study has a number of limitations which derive, first of all, from the lack of digitalisation indicators. The missing data restricted the inclusion in the analysis of variables relevant to the description of the European digitalisation process, also obtaining conclusive results on the effects of digitalisation on GHG emissions.

A similar analysis of the relationship among the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and economic growth, digitalisation, eco-innovation and renewable energy is less common in the literature. Also, the results can be inspirational in the sphere of macroeconomic policy.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the critical themes explored by the five papers in this Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (AAAJ) special issue and to offer a prospective analysis of issues for further research.

This reflective article provides a contextual outline of the challenges of managing and accounting for the third-sector during times of crisis.

Prior studies have covered aspects of trust, accountability and the use of accounting numbers for performance management in the third sector; however, little is known about how accounting numbers and disclosures can contribute to repairing donor trust and sensemaking following adverse events or how accounting numbers and disclosures can be used to navigate uncertainty. Drawing on accountability, trust and sensemaking literature, the papers in this AAAJ special issue contribute to closing this gap.

Whilst the papers presented in this AAAJ special issue provide valuable insights into the challenges faced by third-sector organisations (TSOs) in times of crisis, several vital gaps that merit further investigations have been identified.

This paper and AAAJ special issue provide a set of original empirical and theoretical contributions that can be used to advance further investigations into the complex issues faced by the third sector.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies’ (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on gender and food security in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

This paper adopts a survey research technique aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population. A total of 800 women respondents were sampled across the rural areas of the Niger Delta region. It is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation.

The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching (PSM) and logit model indicate that the CSR interventions of the MOCs using GMoUs have contributed to empowering women to effectively discharge their role in food and nutritional security. This is achieved by enhancing coherence in policies on gender, agriculture, nutrition, health, trade and other relevant areas in the Niger Delta. The findings also show that the CSR intervention of MOCs supported ecologically sound approaches to food production, such as agro-ecology that promotes sustainable farming and women’s empowerment in the region.

This suggests that recognizing and respecting the local knowledge of farmers, including women farmers, will help develop locally relevant food and nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa.

This implies that promoting the implementation of everybody’s right to food, particularly that of women, as well as giving women rights to other resources such as land, in addition to engaging women and men in challenging the inequitable distribution of food within the household, will help strengthen food security in Africa.

This research contributes to the gender debate in agriculture from a CSR perspective in developing countries and serves as a basis for the host communities to demand social projects. It concludes that corporate establishments have an obligation to help solve problems of public concern.

This study investigates the views of Italian aquaculture production science students, in their role of future operators, on the application of circular economy strategies.

A key step in the development of professional knowledge is to solicit the opinions of the future operators in the aquaculture sector. The authors used the Q methodology to assess the perceptions of the students on four different knowledge dimensions of the CE: operations, culture and organization, products and services, and ecosystem.

Four discourses emerge from the results, representing the respondents' views on the CE. The first discourse considers CE as business strategy applicable to products and services, the second a corporate mission and the fourth an operational efficiency strategy. Finally, the third discourse views CE as a multidimensional concept.

This study contributes to the scientific and institutional debate on how to accelerate the aquaculture's circular transition. First and foremost, it offers insights to guide policy makers in the development of appropriate knowledge and information systems. Second, it offers the opportunity to improve training programmes to enable current students to be prepared for the future challenges.

The results reflect a different perceived knowledge of CE among future operators, whose opinions are little explored in the literature.

Being involved at work advances accountants' contribution to organizational success. However, scholars are not consistent in discussing involvement's implications on work–life balance (WLB). The article aims to address this issue, investigating involvement's effects on the accountants' ability to manage the work–life interplay.

Secondary data on a sample of 538 accountants were collected from the sixth European Working Condition Survey (EWCS). A serial mediation analysis was designed to obtain evidence of involvement's implications on WLB through the mediating role of work engagement and work satisfaction.

Involvement negatively affected the accountants' ability to deal with the work–life interplay. Engagement and satisfaction with work mediated this relationship. More specifically, involved accountants who were engaged and satisfied with their work conditions were less likely to report struggles between work and life.

Involvement implies an intensification of work, heralding an overlapping between work and life. Nonetheless, accountants who are engaged and satisfied with work are less touched by involvement's drawback on WLB. A precautionary approach should be taken to avoid that involvement results in workaholism, thus undermining individual well-being.

The article originally discusses involvement's implications on WLB across accountants. Being involved at work impairs the individual ability to achieve a balance between work and life, endangering well-being at work. Whilst the findings cannot be generalized beyond the accounting profession, they deliver some intriguing insights that highlight avenues for further developments.

This paper aims to explore the process of implementing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in construction to contribute to the understanding of systemic innovation in construction.

The exploratory research presented is based on qualitative data collected in workshops and interviews with 76 construction- and solar-industry actors experienced in solar PV projects. Actor-specific barriers were identified and analysed using an abductive approach.

In light of established definitions of systemic innovation, the process of implementing solar PV systems in construction involves challenges regarding technical and material issues, competencies, and informal and formal institutions. The specificities of this case highlight the necessity of paying attention to details in the process and to develop knowledge of systemic innovation in construction since the industry’s involvement in addressing societal challenges related to the energy transition will require implementing such innovations much more in the future.

New knowledge of solar PV systems as an innovation in professional construction is collected, enabling the adaptation of management strategies for its implementation. This knowledge can also be applied generally to other challenges encountered in highly systemic innovation implementation. Solar industry actors can gain an understanding of solar-specific challenges for the construction industry, challenges for which they must adapt their activities.

The exploration of actor-specific experiences of solar PV projects has resulted in a novel understanding of this specific innovation and its implementation. The findings illustrate a case of a high level of systemic innovation and the need to use a finer-grained scale for classification when studying innovation in construction.

The purpose of this study is to identify how the responsibilities and costs of planning, controlling and executing the material, resource and waste flows are shifted between actors when introducing a construction logistics setup (CLS) as a product innovation in a construction project, compared to the traditional way of organizing these activities.

This study is an analytical conceptual research study which aims to bring new insights into a problem through logical relationship building. Empirical data are gathered in two cases where CLSs are used, through observations and interviews regarding how the activities within the order-to-delivery process are performed. The results have been discussed at workshops with suppliers, installation companies, contractor firms and trade unions.

The outcome of this study is a model for illustrating how costs and responsibilities are shifted in the construction project and supply chain when a CLS is introduced. The cost shift is dependent on the activity shift that accompanies the services included in the setup.

The practical contribution of this work is twofold. First, this study provides a methodology of how to evaluate the impact of logistics services on the actors in the construction project. Second, this study shows shifts in costs and responsibilities in logistics activities with the introduction of construction logistics services.

The theoretical contributions of the model and this study lie in the inclusion of a multi-actor perspective in total cost modelling in supply chains.

Given the persistent receptive skills challenges faced by language learners and the numerous merits of using technologically-enhanced learning in the form of mobile-assisted language learning in language teaching, this study decides to incorporate a context-analysis-practice-exploration lesson-planning framework with mobile learning to improve the receptive skills of learners. This step is necessary on the recommendation by scholarly research that while implementing technology, teacher training, digital literacy and expertise, incorporating good teaching practices and lesson planning frameworks may assist in yielding positive results.

This study decides to utilize a mixed-method research design through an experimental approach to elicit information from 90 EFL students concerning the effectiveness of incorporating the context-analysis-practice-exploration framework in a mobile-leaning mode instructional delivery to improve their reading and listening skills.

After collecting and analyzing data, the study found that while the participants perceived enhanced-mobile learning to make lessons enjoyable, integrating this framework and m-learning improved their reading skills. This study used notable findings to make pedagogical conclusions on the objective of this study.

This study contributes through empirical evidence on the effectiveness of incorporating mobile learning and a responsive lesson planning framework towards improving English as a foreign language learners' learning outcome. Besides, this study is the first to probe and unpack the effectiveness of a responsive lesson-planning framework in language education.

The purpose of the study is to address the problems of low accuracy and missed detection of occluded pedestrians and small target pedestrians when using the YOLOX general object detection algorithm for pedestrian detection. This study proposes a multi-level fine-grained YOLOX pedestrian detection algorithm.

First, to address the problem of the original YOLOX algorithm in obtaining a single perceptual field for the feature map before feature fusion, this study improves the PAFPN structure by adding the ResCoT module to increase the diversity of the perceptual field of the feature map and divides the pedestrian multi-scale features into finer granularity. Second, for the CSPLayer of the PAFPN, a weight gain-based normalization-based attention module (NAM) is proposed to make the model pay more attention to the context information when extracting pedestrian features and highlight the salient features of pedestrians. Finally, the authors experimentally determined the optimal values for the confidence loss function.

The experimental results show that, compared with the original YOLOX algorithm, the AP of the improved algorithm increased by 2.90%, the Recall increased by 3.57%, and F1 increased by 2% on the pedestrian dataset.

The multi-level fine-grained YOLOX pedestrian detection algorithm can effectively improve the detection of occluded pedestrians and small target pedestrians.

The authors introduce a multi-level fine-grained ResCoT module and a weight gain-based NAM attention module.