The Dilemma of Accountability for Professionals: A Challenge for Mainstream Management Theories

Professional institutions are increasingly confronted by fiscal constraints and political pressures to improve and increase their accountability in a competitive consumer-driven market. Accordingly, the need to ensure efficiency and accountability is of strategic importance. This article reports on a qualitative study of medical professionals that assessed the utility of financial incentives and external control methods derived from agency theory to ensure accountability of professionals. The authors argue that approaches derived from stewardship and institutional theories can extend the principal–agent perspective to sustain greater social and ethical accountability.     

Measuring performance of non‐profit organisations: evidence from large charities

How to measure performance in charitable organisations continues to excite interest among academics and practitioners. Despite the intellectual interest, little consensus has emerged as to what are the best measures of performance in charities. This is against the backdrop of an increased demand by donors and other stakeholders on charities to provide information on their performance. Building on prior studies, this paper examines the measures of performance in charities using a hybrid methodological approach which consists of 14 exploratory interviews and a quantitative survey of 105 chief executive officers/board of trustees of large British charities. The results of factor analysis and internal reliability produced five broad measures of performance of charities: (1) financial measures; (2) client satisfaction; (3) management effectiveness; (4) stakeholder involvement; and (5) benchmarking, indicating that the overall performance of charities is best measured by a set of factors that reflect the multiple and diverse stakeholders associated with charities. Further analysis using structural equation modelling corroborates the results that non‐financial measures such as management effectiveness, stakeholder involvement and benchmarking are important to the performance of charities.     

General motors corporation,its constituencies and the public interest

This article about the social responsibility of the large corporation is not a paper about stewardship in general. If it were, it would have to focus primarily on the principle of long-term market accountability and the related principle of fidelity to long-term stockholder interests. Most of management's stewardship responsibilities can be subsumed under those two principles.This paper will deal with areas in which those two principles alone are not adequate to define management's stewardship responsibilities. These areas of social accountability occur chiefly where the interests of employees or the general public are at stake — where their human and social purposes sometimes collide with the more limited commercial purposes of the large corporation.Elmer W. Johnson is currently Group Vice President for Operating Staffs and General Counsel at General Motors. He left the private practice of law in Chicago to join General Motors.     

论我国金融监管机构自体问责制度的完善

金融监管机构的自体问责是问责制度的重要组成部分,与外部的异体问责成互补关系。金融监管机构的自体问责若采用最高监管权力层内部各部门间互为问责的形式,可以克服“问责人与责任人合为一体”的缺陷,而这必须以良好的内部治理结构为基础。本文分析了十多个国家的金融监管机构的治理结构与自体问责制度,并据此对我国金融监管机构自体问责的完善提出建议。     

浅议高校财务内部控制建设

当前,我国大部分高校在内部控制建设方面存在的问题主要是相关会计制度不健全,财务监督机制缺失,会计人员专业判断能力不强,会计信息披露不规范等。各高校应高度重视财务内部控制建设,完善相关制度,重视财务预算,及时更新管理系统,加强资金管理,明确责任主体,优化控制流程,建立财务内部控制评价体系,提高工作效率,切实加强分工协作,逐步建立以财务风险为导向的财务内部控制体系。     

我国政府财务报告制度存在的问题及对策建议

政府财务报告制度的科学构建对于提高财政透明度,强化政府公共受托责任,建设民主财政具有重要意义。我国的政府财务报告制度并未真正建立起来,原有的体系也存在诸多缺陷。今后应当明确财务信息需求主体,采用权责发生制,充实报告内容,实施审计,构建对外报告制度,促进政府财务报告制度的建立。     

Moral Discourse and Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

This paper examines voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting as a form of moral discourse. It explores how alternative stakeholder perspectives lead to differing perceptions of the process and content of responsible reporting. We contrast traditional stakeholder theory, which views stakeholders as external parties having a social contract with corporations, with an emerging perspective, which views interaction among corporations and constituents as relational in nature. This moves the stakeholder from an external entity to one that is integral to corporate activity. We explore how these alternative stakeholder perspectives give rise to different normative demands for stakeholder engagement, managerial processes, and communication. We discuss models of CSR reporting and accountability: EMAS, the ISO 14000 series, SA8000, AA1000, the Global Reporting Initiative, and the Copenhagen Charter. We explore how these models relate to the stakeholder philosophies and find that they are largely consistent with the traditional atomistic view but fall far short of the demands for moral engagement prescribed by a relational stakeholder perspective. Adopting a relational view requires stakeholder engagement not only in prescribing reporting requirements, but also in discourse relating to core aspects of the corporation such as mission, values, and management systems. Habermas’ theory of communicative action provides guidelines for engaging stakeholders in this moral discourse. MaryAnn Reynolds is an Associate Professor of Accounting in the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University. Dr. Reynolds teaches intermediate financial accounting and is published in the areas of corporate social, environmental and ethical reporting. Kristi Yuthas is the Swigert Endowed Information Systems Professor in the School of Business Administration at Portland State University. Dr. Yuthas teaches accounting and information systems and is published in the areas of social and ethical impacts of management information systems.     

Accountability in Crisis: The Sponsorship Scandal and the Office of the Comptroller General in Canada

For much of the last 50 years, a key platform animating public sector reform in Canada and elsewhere has been that efficiency and effectiveness can be achieved by adapting private sector financial management methods and practices. We argue that the recent re-establishment of the Office of the Comptroller General (OCG) of Canada represents a key element of a program of strengthening financial accountability that has emerged within the Canadian Federal Government. Although this program is longstanding and is associated Canada’s implementation of new public management initiatives, it has recently drawn particular sustenance from the sponsorship scandal in Canada. We demonstrate that the reincarnated OCG, re-established amid a rhetoric of “modernization” and of “strengthening” accountability, has a wide-ranging mandate to enhance financial and audit controls, create financial standards, nurture professional development, and oversee government spending. We explore some of the consequences of this development and of the broader financial accountability mechanisms introduced in response to the Sponsorship scandal within the Canadian public sector.     

From Control to Values-Based Management and Accountability

In recent years a series of developments in apparently loosely coupled domains have contributed to the development of new and vital perspectives on how to manage complex social systems such as corporations. These developments include improved communications technologies, increased awareness by constituencies of their potentials for influencing corporate behaviour, increased complexity and reduced transparency in large, heterogeneous organisations, a corresponding reduction in the capacity of traditional accounting and reporting systems to reflect organisational performance, new demands from employees as to their work environments, from customers as to ecological and ethical sensitivity, from civil society and governments as to social and environmental accountability etc. A result is a major shift in the way organisations are choosing to observe themselves and to describe, measure, evaluate and report on their performance. From a focus on efficiency and control to a values-based perspective on management, corporate identity and success. And from a focus on legal compliance and financial performance to a focus on corporate social and ethical responsibility and accountability. The introduction provides a background for this transformation while the body of the paper motivates the on-going shift from control to values-based management. The article concludes with reflections on corporate accountability and the emerging practices of social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting.     

The business case for commitment to diversity

Does an organization's commitment to diversity - as reflected by CEO commitment, human capital, corporate communications (internal and external), and supplier diversity - result in competitive advantage and superior financial performance? Diversity can bring new voices and perspectives into the strategy dialogue, help managers understand and address the needs of a demographically diverse customer base, and stimulate a wider range of creative decision alternatives. However, the anticipated benefits of corporate diversity efforts may also be accompanied by costs that can affect shareholder wealth. In a study comparing the financial performance of the DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity to a matched sample, we find evidence that firms with a strong commitment to diversity outperform their peers on average. For commitment to diversity to become ingrained in corporate culture there must be visible and ongoing support from senior management, a clear articulation of the business case for diversity, line manager accountability, and training programs directed at communications, conflict resolution, and team building.     

Public-Sector Accounting and E-Governance in Developing Countries: Case of Sri Lanka

This article analyzes how new public financial management system should address the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector and the emerging accrual basis accounting with e-governance for greater e-transparency on public-sector accounting in Sri Lanka. Despite the setting up of e-framework in 1983, the Sri Lankan public-sector accountancy environment during the last two decades raises concerns about efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the e-framework. The findings provide evidence of the importance of the economy and efficiency in the usage of public funds to provide more convenient access to government accounting information for citizens in Sri Lanka.     

Cultural and Ethical Effects on Managerial Decisions: Examined in a Throughput Model

Financial and cost accounting information is processed by decision-makers guided by their particular need to support decisions. Recent technological advances impacting on information as well as organizations such as the European Community mandating financial reporting requirements for many countries is rapidly changing the landscape for decision making using accounting information. Hence, the importance of individuals' decision making is more important than it was previously. These decisions are also influenced by individuals' ethical beliefs. The Throughput Modeling approach to cultural and ethical concerns provides a way of dealing with accounting information processed through various pathways by decision-makers. This modeling approach captures different philosophical perspectives from which to understand what is involved in "thinking scientifically." In the Throughput Modeling approach, pathways highlight the importance of how different philosophical perspectives may be used by individuals in arriving at a decision. This paper highlights key concepts involved in rethinking the basis of moral decision making in terms of an underlying process, rather than focusing on the application of principles or the development of a virtuous character. Examples are provided from both English and Spanish settings to help emphasize the importance of modeling ethical decision making globally.     

Teaching basic marketing accountability using spreadsheets: An exploratory perspective

Extant literature suggests that a key problem with marketing is a lack of financial accountability, and a possible way of improving the situation is to use spreadsheets to inculcate marketing accountability among future marketing executives. This study attempts to enhance our understanding of how to impart spreadsheet skills and encourage an accountability mindset among undergraduate marketing students by focusing on a course called Marketing and Money. Assessment data indicate that the course, which captures the spirit of the behavioral model of learning, does in fact enhance students' spreadsheet skills in a consistent manner. In addition, the analysis suggests that in order to increase students' self efficacy, instructors ought to try to make the course perceptually more useful rather than try to reduce its difficulty.     

Financial return or social responsibility? An investigation into the stakeholder focus of institutional investors

Since the financial crisis, regulators have put emphasis on encouraging institutional investors to take their governance responsibilities more seriously. In the UK, the Stewardship Code was introduced to enhance the engagement of institutional investors with shareholdings in UK listed companies. In the literature, institutional investors have been predominantly conceptualised as owners, although a number of authors have rejected this view, arguing that traders would be more appropriate. The UK Stewardship Code adds a third view: the institutional investor as steward. The literature generally considers the stewardship concept to be the ownership role combined with wider stakeholder responsibilities. By focussing primarily on this new stakeholder element, this study examines empirically the new stewardship concept by undertaking a content analysis of the published Stewardship Statements of 81 asset managers. The results find support for both the ownership and stewardship role but also highlight significant variations in practices that point toward different competitive strategies.     

Organizational Governance and Ethical Systems: A Covenantal Approach to Building Trust

American businesses and corporate executives are faced with a serious problem the loss of public confidence. Public criticism, increased government controls, and growing expectations for improved financial performance and accountability have accompanied this decline in trust. Traditional approaches to corporate governance, typified by agency theory and stakeholder theory, have been expensive to direct and have focused on short-term profits and organizational systems that fail to achieve desired results. We explain why the organizational governance theories are fundamentally, inadequate to build trust. We advance a conceptual framework based on stewardship theory characterized by “covenantal relationships” and argue that design of governance mechanisms using a covenantal approach is more effective in building trust in organizations. A covenantal relationship is a specialized form of a relational contract between an employee and his or her organization. We argue that regardless of incentives and control mechanisms carefully designed through contractual mechanisms, in the absence of covenantal relationships it is extremely difficult to build trust within organizations. We propose that organizations are more likely to build trust – both at the organizational level and at the interpersonal level – when they create reinforcing and integrated systems that honor implied duties of “covenantal relationships.”     

Der Dodd-Frank Act auf dem Prüfstand

In February 2017, newly elected U.S. president Donald Trump released a presidential executive order on core principles for regulating the United States financial system. Basically, the order seeks to compare how existing regulation imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act corresponds with the core principles that include the promotion of financial stability by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, the end of “too big to fail”, the protection of the American taxpayer by ending bailouts and consumers from abusive financial services practices. This article presents an overview of important regulations imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act and discusses the criticism on some of the regulations.     

A Study of Community Events Held by Not‐for‐Profit Organizations in Australia

This research questions the role and purpose of community‐based events hosted by not‐for‐profit organizations (NFPs), particularly charities. Followed by a review of the relevant literature, open‐ended interviews were conducted with managers of several Australian charities. The findings identify the key themes of strategic tension, stakeholder engagement, competitive pressures, event structure, event analysis, and review which are likely to be of importance to managers of NFPs who are involved in community events.     

Young people's perceptions of the responsibilities of organizations promoting financial capability

Today's changing market environment demands financial capability even from young consumers. This article concentrates on the perceptions of young people on the roles and responsibilities of school, public, private and non‐profit sector actors in promoting financial capability among the young. The qualitative data were collected via focus group discussions among young people aged 15–26 in schools and education institutions across Finland. Educational institutions play an important role in the everyday lives of the young but tend to focus on macro‐finance issues in financial education. Banks are seen as professional actors promoting financial capability to the young, but their activities are recognized as profit driven. Public sector and non‐profit organizations are less familiar to young people as providers of financial information but are considered impartial and reliable. It is apparently difficult for young people to differentiate between the activities of the various parties offering financial advice. They would welcome finance‐related information from several actors and from different perspectives. Financial education and financial matters are only interesting to the young when topical. In order to promote a financial capability among young people, the actors involved should become more proactive and cooperate with each other.     

The Role of the Global Reporting Initiative's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines in the Social Screening of Investments

Social screening of investments calls not only for investment policy and criteria, but also for information about companies, their policies, practices and performance. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and its June 2000 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines have the potential to significantly improve the usefulness and quality of information reported by companies about their environmental, social and economic impacts and performance. The GRI aims to develop a voluntary reporting framework that will elevate sustainability reporting practices to a level equivalent to that of financial reporting in rigour, comparability, auditability and general acceptance. This will be a welcome and efficient supplement to the questionnaires, interviews, press releases, media reports and other sources of information traditionally used for screening in investment decision making – social/ethical and mainstream. The Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index, the Jantzi Social Index and the Innovest EcoValue'21 analytical platform, together with the SRI community, are all likely to benefit from GRI-style sustainability reports. One of the GRI's key challenges is to accommodate the broad variety of disclosure needs and expectations of a wide range of report users and company stakeholders. To maximize the usefulness of the GRI Guidelines, report users, including the SRI community, need to be engaged in the process of developing and refining the Guidelines over time. The GRI Guidelines are emerging as an important instrument in enabling companies to communicate with their stakeholders about performance and accountability beyond just the financial bottom line.