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A total of 25 years of research on the audit society has provided rich and engaging accounts of the ways in which rituals of verification have conditioned organizations and individuals to think and act. In contrast, this paper aims to explore the possibility of conditions through which things and spaces are enacted to be non-auditable.

Using the concept of proliferation and rarefaction (Callon and Law, 2005), the paper adopts a case-comparison design to explore two empirical sites. The first investigates a vast excess of audit structures against the case of the biggest corporate fraud in German accounting history, the Wirecard scandal. The second discusses the configuration of Tinder, the most popular provider of mobile dating and the absence of visible verification mechanisms.

The paper argues that things can become non-auditable through two mechanisms. Based on the two empirical sites, non-auditability can happen through an overload of auditable resources or, through the withdrawal of required resources. The paper discusses the consequences of this finding and suggests avenues for future research on non-auditability.

While accounting scholars have extensively addressed the audit explosion and traced how audit practices have journeyed into ever more novel terrains, this paper discusses forms of escape from the value-subverting and reductive accounts incorporated in the audit society. It thereby points to conditions under which accounting ends.

The purpose of this study is to briefly reflect on the continuing relevance of the arguments of “The Audit Society” thesis after 25 years and to consider whether they need to be adapted in the face of advances in digitization.

This essay develops a series of critical reflections on the main arguments in “The Audit Society” (Oxford University Press, 1997).

There is a need for critical accounting and management research to explore how audit society themes require adjustment in the face of “surveillance capitalism” and how the boundaries between accounting, security and surveillance are becoming blurred.

This essay is a personal and self-critical account of the genesis of The Audit Society thesis which looks forward to how this thesis can develop. It also offers a defence of the value of books in enabling the travelling of ideas across fields.

This paper shares findings from a constructivist grounded theory study, exploring Trainee Teachers’ perceptions of their teaching and learning experienced during university-based teacher education programmes, specifically the theoretical components. Findings led to the development of a model of program design, pedagogy and teaching strategies that were successful in creating opportunities to build Professional Capital. This paper aims to share this model, highlighting the significance of Professional Capital amidst challenges in English Teacher Education, and to suggest implications for application of the model within broader workforce development.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 trainee teachers from four English universities. To support the development of the theoretical framework, researchers employed inductive and iterative constant comparative methods aligned with constructivist grounded theory to sensitise concepts and codes, which were verified using theoretical sampling.

Informed by the findings of this study, a model is presented which highlights that participants developed human, social and decisional capital during their academic programs helping them to widen their perceptions of what counts as educationally important, beyond narrow performativity measures that are pervasive in a school system. By actively adopting a transformative pedagogy and employing constructivist approaches to curriculum design and delivery, optimal learning environments for learners to build their professional capital can be provided.

These findings may prove valuable to Higher Education academics as a model when designing and delivering professional, student-centred programmes. There are also implications for policymakers seeking to redesign initial teacher education towards schools-led and practice-oriented approaches, who wish to consider the perceptions, values and motivations of trainee teachers.

The findings highlight the significance of teacher trainees’ active engagement with academic literature and theory, in terms of contributing to the development of their professional capital, resilience and professional commitment.

The purpose of this paper is to garner a deeper understanding of the site of influence of aspects of risk management for tax practitioners.

The research design is twofold. Phase one consisted of a wide-scale international survey with 1,061 tax experts across 59 jurisdictions. In phase two, the authors followed up with 68 semi-structured interviews with tax practitioners working in 11 different countries.

The findings recognise the importance of the firm as a significant “site of influence” for tax practitioners in shaping their risk appetite in their tax work. The firm eclipses other influences of risk such as professional body oversight, public interest and demographic markers such as gender and career stage. The authors show that firm is significant, irrespective of size of firm.

This work has practical implications as the findings highlight the importance of oversight of professional service firms by both the professional accountancy bodies and revenue authorities. The findings may have impact on the ethical training and guidance for trainee accountants in terms of an increased awareness on the employing firm as a site of influence for tax practitioners.

This research is important as it adds to the significant body of work on firm socialisation and highlights the important role that the firm holds in moderating (or exacerbating) the risk appetite of tax practitioners, which has significant implications in terms of pushing the boundaries of tax aggressive behaviours. The work aims to recognise the important role that tax practitioners can have in moderating aggressive tax practice, and, thus, reducing tax inequalities and shaping a better world of “Reduced Inequalities” (SDG10).

This study aims to conceptualize the relationship of perceived artificial intelligence (AI) credibility with consumer-AI experiences. With the widespread deployment of AI in marketing and services, consumer-AI experiences are common and an emerging research area in marketing. Various factors affecting consumer-AI experiences have been studied, but one crucial factor – perceived AI credibility is relatively underexplored which the authors aim to envision and conceptualize.

This study employs a conceptual development approach to propose relationships among constructs, supported by 34 semi-structured consumer interviews.

This study defines AI credibility using source credibility theory (SCT). The conceptual framework of this study shows how perceived AI credibility positively affects four consumer-AI experiences: (1) data capture, (2) classification, (3) delegation, and (4) social interaction. Perceived justice is proposed to mediate this effect. Improved consumer-AI experiences can elicit favorable consumer outcomes toward AI-enabled offerings, such as the intention to share data, follow recommendations, delegate tasks, and interact more. Individual and contextual moderators limit the positive effect of perceived AI credibility on consumer-AI experiences.

This study contributes to the emerging research on AI credibility and consumer-AI experiences that may improve consumer-AI experiences. This study offers a comprehensive model with consequences, mechanism, and moderators to guide future research.

The authors guide marketers with ways to improve the four consumer-AI experiences by enhancing consumers' perceived AI credibility.

This study uses SCT to define AI credibility and takes a justice theory perspective to develop the conceptual framework.

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 increasing capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) are changing the way organizations operate and interact with users both internally and externally. The insurance sector is currently using AI in several ways but its potential to disrupt insurance is not clear. This research evaluated the implementation of AI-led automation in 20 insurance companies. The findings indicate four business models (BM) emerging: In the first model the insurer takes a smaller part of the value chain allowing others with superior AI and data to take a larger part. In the second model the insurer keeps the same model and value chain but uses AI to improve effectiveness. In the third model the insurer adapts their model to fully utilize AI and seek new sources of data and customers. Lastly in the fourth model a technology focused company uses their existing AI prowess, superior data and extensive customer base, and adds insurance provision.

The purpose of this study is to provide a literature review of the past literature on the use of blockchain for attaining sustainability in start-ups, covering major characteristics of current findings, limitations and prospective study possibilities.

Papers that included the term “Blockchain,” “Sustainability” and “Start-ups” were considered for the analysis. Biblioshiny package under the R programming tool was considered for a detailed paper analysis.

Numerous sectors are quickly adopting blockchain technology, which has enormous potential to remove middlemen and boost sustainability in start-ups.

This research is limited to 147 papers from the Scopus database through 2022.

This paper stresses the crucial part that blockchain technology has played in igniting a conversation about innovation and technology. This research will aid in advancing the researcher’s knowledge of blockchain technology in start-ups.

Blockchain technology will give transparency and sustainable product or services to consumers of the start-ups.

The novelty of this research is based on its presentation of an organized and thorough literature evaluation, which defines the current state of the art concerning the use of blockchain for sustainability in start-ups. To create a sustainable start-up, a thorough study of how the information gained in respect of its implementation might be spread into the start-ups is presented.

In recent times, reverse logistics (RL) is gaining significant traction in various automobile industries to recapture returned vehicles’ value. A good RL program can lower manufacturing costs, establish a green supply chain, enhance customer satisfaction and provide a competitive advantage. However, reducing disruptions and increasing operational efficiency in the automobile RL requires implementing innovative technology to improve information flow and security. Thus, this manuscript aims to examine the hurdles in automobile RL activities and how they can be effectively tackled by blockchain technology (BCT). Merging BCT and RL provides the entire automobile industry a chance to generate value for its consumers through effective vehicle return policies, manufacturing cost reduction, maintenance records tracking, administration of vehicle information and a clear payment record of insurance contracts.

This research is presented in three stages to accomplish the task. First, previous literature and experts' opinions are examined to highlight certain factors that are an aggravation to BCT implementation. Next, this study proposed an interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set (IVIFS) – decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) with Choquet integral framework for computing and analyzing the comparative results of factor interrelationships. Finally, the causal outline diagrams are plotted to determine the influence of factors on one another for BCT implementation in automobile RL.

This study has categorized the barriers to BCT implementation into five major factors – operational and strategical, technical, knowledge and behavioral, financial and infrastructural, and government rules and regulations. The results revealed that disreputable technology, low-bearing capacity of IT systems and operational inefficiency are the most significant factors to be dealt with by automobile industry professionals for finer and enhanced RL processes utilizing BCT. The most noticeable advantage of BCT is its enormous amount of data, permitting automobile RL to develop client experience through real-time data insights.

This study reveals several factors that are hindering the implementation of BCT in RL activities of the automobile industry. The results can assist experts and policymakers improve their existing decision-making systems while making an effort to implement BCT into the automobile industry's RL activities.

Although there are several studies on the benefits of BCT in RL and the adoption of BCT in the automobile industry, individually, none have explicated the use of BCT in automobile RL. This is also the first kind of study that has used IVIFS-DEMATEL with the Choquet integral framework for computing and analyzing the comparative results of factor interrelationships hindering BCT implementation in automobile RL activities.

Reverse logistics (RL) has become integral in modern supply chains, with many companies investing in circular economy (CE), a recuperative and effective industrial economy. The traditional linear model triggered many negative environmental consequences such as climate change, ocean pollution, loss of biodiversity and land degradation. The development of RL strategies that support the transition between RL to CE is crucial. The purpose of this paper is to connect RL with CE in the context of Industry 4.0 and develop a hierarchal structure to explore the relationship between RL and CE critical success factors in the context of Industry 4.0.

This study used both qualitative and quantitative approach. Literature review in collaboration with the Delphi method is used to identify and validate critical success factors. Then, the ISM-based model and MICMAC method were used to determine the relationship between CE and RL success factors and its driving and dependence power.

This study result shows that waste reduction, skilled employees and expert's involvement and top management commitment and support will provide guidelines and paths for implementing CE and RL, leading to the competitiveness of a firm.

The findings provide managerial insight, particularly useful to third-party logistics companies' managers who are looking to implement RL and CE, to help prioritize where to invest company resources to generate prime difference. Furthermore, this study also identified Industry 4.0 technologies, which would tackle top identified critical success factors within the hierarchical model such as block chain and digital platforms.

This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the connection between RL and CE in the context of Industry 4.0 that determines the critical success factors enabling sustainable inter-firm collaboration.