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1 – 10 of over 28000Walaa Wahid ElKelish, Atia Hussain, Muhammad Al Mahameed and Irsyadillah Irsyadillah
This study investigates the impact of organizational culture on the governance transparency of audit firms operating in the emerging market of the United Arab Emirates. The study…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the impact of organizational culture on the governance transparency of audit firms operating in the emerging market of the United Arab Emirates. The study unpacks how organizational culture influences audit firms' perceptions and practices regarding transparency in leadership, operations and reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary data for this study is collected through an online survey distributed to auditing firms in the UAE, with statistical analysis conducted using multiple regression models and robustness checks. The survey is designed to assess transparency practices in leadership, operations and reporting based on the Financial Reporting Council’s (UK) audit firm governance code. Then, the data is analyzed using SPSS software, representing a diverse sample of auditors from different firm types, ownership structures and sizes.
Findings
The study reveals that organizational culture significantly influences audit firms' perceptions of governance transparency practices. Specifically, cultural aspects such as public interest, improvements and consultation positively and significantly impact voluntary transparency in leadership, operations and reporting. Notably, reporting practices are particularly affected by organizational cultural norms and values. Furthermore, transparency practices vary based on audit firms' size, type and industry. These findings offer valuable guidance for audit firms, regulators and accounting standards setters in developing suitable governance mechanisms for global audit firms, including developed and developing countries.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies may extend the scope by including additional transparency issues such as independent non-executives and dialogue practices. Further, it would be valuable to investigate the influence of organizational culture components, such as symbols and assumptions shared by employees, on governance transparency and to include an additional set of control variables, such as corporate governance. By incorporating these aspects into research, a more comprehensive understanding of transparency practices within organizations can be achieved.
Practical implications
This study offers directions for stakeholders in the audit industry, aiding them in developing effective governance strategies both locally and internationally. The study further highlights ways audit firms can foster a culture of transparency, regulators can establish relevant frameworks, and accounting standards setters can contribute to developing consistent and appropriate governance mechanisms across different countries.
Originality/value
This study explores the influence of organizational culture on governance transparency in UAE audit firms, emphasizing the role of cultural elements in shaping transparency practices. It provides insights for enhancing governance mechanisms in global audit firms. Previous studies dealt with different determinants of audit behavior and performance. This study extends this prior literature by focusing on organizational culture as a vital underlying informal mechanism for controlling agency relationships.
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Erna H.J.M. Ruijer and Richard F. Huff
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational culture on open government reforms by developing a theoretical framework bridging the theory and practice gap.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational culture on open government reforms by developing a theoretical framework bridging the theory and practice gap.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory qualitative study consisting of a document analysis and a case study was conducted.
Findings
An open organizational culture is a precursor to effective open government. A network strategy as a facilitator for developing an open culture was used in one US federal agency, breaking across boundaries within the organization, creating greater symmetrical horizontal and vertical openness.
Originality/value
Much of the focus in both theory and practice has been on the use of technology as a vehicle to increase government openness. This study argues that a movement toward openness is beyond the technical. Organizational culture is a key to openness and may need to be changed. A networks strategy may be one way to facilitate a transformation to a more open culture.
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Although legislation and regulations form an important foundation for recordkeeping and for accountability, questions of transparency and openness must be addressed in a wider…
Abstract
Purpose
Although legislation and regulations form an important foundation for recordkeeping and for accountability, questions of transparency and openness must be addressed in a wider context. Oliver and Foscarini have argued for the importance of recognising differing cultures and the ways in which they value records and recordkeeping. In addition to reporting mechanisms and relationships, accountability must encompass a culture and a mindset which is transparent, responsive and focused on self-improvement. This paper aims to apply a dual interpretation of accountability in the context of Irish public sector recordkeeping to identify shortcomings and suggest potential remedies with a view to improving the accountability of Irish recordkeeping itself, and the extent to which it contributes to wider accountability in society.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper assesses accountability in Irish public sector recordkeeping using a model suggested by Mark Bovens, which views accountability as both a mechanism and a virtue. The model emphasises that both interpretations are necessary but that mechanisms (laws, regulations and checklists) on their own cannot be sufficient to satisfy accountability requirements. As noted by Onora O’Neill, the aim of accountability should not be checklists or artificial metrics, but the nurturing of behaviours and cultures which make public institutions more deserving of our trust. Reference will be made to Irish legislation, to records management policies in government departments, to relevant annual reports and to current practice with regard to appraisal and other recordkeeping functions to measure Irish public sector recordkeeping against Bovens' model.
Findings
This paper suggests that Irish public sector recordkeeping has a range of shortcomings under both the narrow (mechanism) and broad (virtue) interpretations of accountability. Lack of reporting requirements and oversight mechanisms in existing legislation allows for major gaps in public sector recordkeeping, facilitating a lack of accountability in the citizen–state relationship. Meanwhile, an absence of records management policies and an overall lack of appreciation of the value of records leads to opaque practices and a lack of transparency. The recordkeeping profession itself adopts processes and practices, which are not aligned with the concept of accountability as a virtue, and which do not reflect a commitment to transparency and meeting the legitimate interests of stakeholders. This paper suggests changes in relevant legislation but also suggests that these must be accompanied by a more open and responsive working culture within the recordkeeping profession.
Originality/value
By applying Bovens’ dual concept of accountability, this paper provides a new and more comprehensive assessment of public sector recordkeeping in Ireland, which can equally be applied in other contexts. It identifies ways in which revised legislation can contribute to greater accountability, but emphasises that regulations must be accompanied by a culture of transparency and responsiveness, and that recordkeepers have a crucial role to play in terms of their own commitment to transparency and professional accountability.
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Carina Rey Martin, Concepción Rodriguez Parada and Enric Camón Luis
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the level of transparency of the libraries of Catalan universities that are members of the Consortium of University Services of Catalonia…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the level of transparency of the libraries of Catalan universities that are members of the Consortium of University Services of Catalonia (CSUC).
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis involved reviewing the information available on the websites of the ten libraries belonging to CSUC. For each library’s website, the presence of 18 indicators was explored. These indicators had been defined by the Commitment and Transparency Foundation (Spain).
Findings
There is a notable difference between the level of transparency of Catalan universities and their libraries. Moreover, the universities’ culture of transparency is not reflected in that of the libraries. Four of the libraries can be considered transparent because they have accomplished from 12 to 18 indicators; three can be considered “translucent”, due to their indicators ranging from 11 to 7 points; and three are considered opaque as a result of obtaining from 1 to 5 indicators.
Practical implications
There is a need to review the volume and quality of information that can be consulted on library websites, considering that all services and entities funded with public money must inform citizens of the principles that govern their management and the results obtained.
Originality/value
The information regarding transparency is incomplete and should be organised with parameters that make it easier to find. Libraries that occupy the lowest positions in the ranking all belong to private universities. Their poor results are due to the lack of information justifying their management or providing information on how the service is organised. Some conclusions of this study are very similar to those of the study on Madrid’s Madroño Consortium (Pacios Lozano, 2016) which has been taken into account in this paper.
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Stakeholder paradigm has been gaining currency over the past few decades and technological breakthroughs have been influential in building its momentum. Hyper-Transparency is…
Abstract
Stakeholder paradigm has been gaining currency over the past few decades and technological breakthroughs have been influential in building its momentum. Hyper-Transparency is emerging as a building block and as an indispensable concomitant of stakeholder paradigm. The crux of a Hyper-Transparent organization is trust. The new paradigm requires substituting translucent and opaque business practices with fully transparent ones under which lasting trust can be built between the organization and its stakeholders. However, the nub of the stakeholder paradigm is the changes inside the organizations as well as changes in relation to their external environment, and transparency is both a driver and a resultant of these changes. Transparency is an integral part of corporate social responsibility debate and an eristic issue for the stakeholders. Moreover, Hyper-Transparency empowers the stakeholders to considerably influence the decision making sphere. In this chapter, transparency, its drivers and tools as well as the power of stakeholders in the new age of Hyper-Transparency alongside a number of case studies are presented.
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Redeemer Krah and Gerard Mertens
The study aims at examining the level of financial transparency of local governments in a sub-Saharan African country and how financial transparency is affected by democracy in…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims at examining the level of financial transparency of local governments in a sub-Saharan African country and how financial transparency is affected by democracy in the sub-region.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applied a panel regression model to data collected from public accounts of 43 local authorities in Ghana from 1995 to 2014. Financial transparency was measured using a transparency index developed based on the Transparency Index of Transparency International and the information disclosure requirements of public sector entities under the International Public Sector Accounting Standards.
Findings
The study finds the low level of financial transparency among the local governments in Ghana, creating information asymmetry within the agency framework of governance. Further, evidence from the study suggests a strong positive relationship between democracy and financial transparency in the local government.
Research limitations/implications
Deepening democracy is necessary for promoting the culture of financial transparency in local governance in sub-Saharan Africa, perhaps in entire Africa.
Practical implications
There is a need for the local governments and governments, in general, to deepen democracy to ensure proactive disclosure of the financial information to the citizens to improve participation trust and eventual reduction in corruption. Effective implementation of the Right to Information Act would also help promote financial and other forms of transparency in the sub-region.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the public sector accounting literature by linking democracy to financial transparency in the local government. Hitherto, studies concentrate on how entity level variables impact on the level of financial information flow in the local government without considering the broader governance infrastructure within which local governments operate.
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The experience of Mexico's 2002 transparency reform sheds light on the challenge of translating the promise of legal reform into more open government in practice. An innovative…
Abstract
The experience of Mexico's 2002 transparency reform sheds light on the challenge of translating the promise of legal reform into more open government in practice. An innovative new agency that serves as an interface between citizens and the executive branch of government has demonstrated an uneven but significant capacity to encourage institutional responsiveness. A “culture of transparency” is emerging in both state and society, although the contribution of Mexico's transparency discourse and law to public accountability remains uncertain and contested.
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Kaveh Abhari, Michael Pesavento and David Williams
The need for accelerating innovation is exacerbated as organizations struggle to either adapt or perish in this unforgiving condition due to the COVID-19 disruption. To address…
Abstract
Purpose
The need for accelerating innovation is exacerbated as organizations struggle to either adapt or perish in this unforgiving condition due to the COVID-19 disruption. To address this issue, many organizations have embraced employee-driven participatory innovation to survive and thrive albeit the uncertainties. This study aims to investigate the role of enterprise social media (ESM) in supporting and facilitating these efforts.
Design/methodology/approach
This study first identified the underlying mechanisms that allow ESM use to foster and maintain participatory innovation and then reexamined how these mechanisms played out during the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. The data was collected through a questionnaire in two phases, before and during work-from-home mandates, and the results were analyzed and compared to capture similarities and differences.
Findings
The results revealed that innovation culture and management support mediated the effects of ESM use on three measures of innovation productivity in both conditions. Interestingly, the effect of ESM use was more prominent in driving innovation in the work-from-home condition. This effect was not limited to the direct effect of ESM use on innovation productivity but on innovation culture and management support as well.
Originality/value
The results suggest that ESM offer a potentially useful path to support and enable employees to participate in the innovation processes, especially when they work remotely or in a distributed team. More generally, this paper should be of interest to researchers and practitioners interested in understanding, implementing and evaluating enterprise social software applications and encouraging employee-driven participatory innovation.
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