Search results

The purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics in the relationship between tax practitioners and their tax clients, to understand how tax practitioners reconcile competing logics in their tax work.

This research adopts a qualitative approach in which semi-structured interviews are conducted with 68 tax practitioners across 11 countries, allowing for the examination of an in-depth personal perspective on tax practitioners’ relationships with their clients.

Using a Bourdieusian frame, I find that long-term client relationships built on trust and shared values, as moderated by risk appetite and cultural markers, can enable tax practitioners to reconcile competing logics in their advisory work.

The research findings presented reflect the way in which tax practitioners navigate, build up and maintain long-term relationships with their clients. The findings are highly relevant for regulators as my research shows that clients share a similar tax risk appetite with their tax advisor, thus this can assist regulators in curbing tax non-compliance and in identifying more tax-aggressive tax practitioners and taxpayers.

Previous studies (Carter and Spence, 2014; Harber and Willows, 2022) have examined the tension between commercial and other professional logics among senior accountants working in Big 4 firms. I extend and deepen this work to tax practitioners, drawing on a substantial corpus of interviews to examine the role of the client relationship in explaining the heterogeneity of the field. These findings add to the understanding of client agency and to the subtleties of professional relationships within the tax domain.

The paper aims to close a literature gap by proposing a comprehensive conceptual soft skills competency framework for enhancing graduate intern employability through the cultivation of employability capital.

The study employed a theoretical inquiry and delved into the existing literature on employability, soft skills competencies and employability capital to establish a comprehensive foundation to formulate the conceptual framework. A content analysis of existing empirical studies was conducted to derive a generic list of employers’ required soft skills. A Delphi technique was employed to harness expert consensus and insights into the derived framework.

Employability capital can be cultivated in the setting of work-integrated learning programmes and synergised through emotional and social intelligence interventions to enhance soft skills competency and graduate employability.

The soft skills identified may overlook other important skills required by employers. Increasing participation in the Delphi study could yield additional valuable insights. Validation of the framework is needed in practical settings to understand its effectiveness and applicability to real-world organisational needs.

This study significantly enhances understanding of the role of employability capital in soft skills competency development and graduate employability through work-integrated learning programs and self-development. In addition, the framework has the potential to positively impact the employer-employee relationship.

The key theoretical contribution is a soft skill development framework that offers employers and graduates a means to identify and address deficiencies through WIL and self-development.

This paper aims to investigate the entrepreneurial behaviours exhibited by commercial smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe, focusing on their socio-economic characteristics, and considers their implication for outcomes of livelihood resilience in a resource-constrained and turbulent rural context.

The study used survey data collected from 430 smallholder farmers in Masvingo province, Zimbabwe. Using a two-step cluster analysis, the study constructed a typology of farmers based on their entrepreneurial behaviour and socio-economic characteristics.

The results revealed that commercial smallholder farmers are heterogeneous in terms of their entrepreneurial behaviours. Four clusters were identified: non-entrepreneurial, goal-driven, means-driven and ambidextrous. Beyond their entrepreneurial behaviours, these clusters significantly differ in the socio-economic characterises (gender, age, education levels, farm size, proximity to the market and social connection) and farm performance (seasonal sales per hectare and farm income per hectare).

The typology framework relating farmers’ entrepreneurial behaviours to their socio-economic characteristics and business performance is important to tailor and therefore improve the effectiveness of farmer entrepreneurship programmes and policies. In particular, tailoring farmer entrepreneurship education is crucial to distribute land, finance and market resources in purposive ways to promote a combination of smallholder farmers’ effectual and causal behaviours at an early stage of their farm ventures.

Researchers still know little about which farmers’ behaviours are entrepreneurial and how these behaviours manifest in action during their commercial farm activities. This research leverages effectuation and causation theory to unveil previously overlooked distinctions on farmers’ entrepreneurial behaviours, thereby enhancing a more grounded understanding of farmer entrepreneurship in a resource-constrained context.

This study aims to propose a comprehensive framework for assessing circular economy (CE) performance in the agri-food sector. It identifies those indicators that should be used to measure circularity regarding CE strategies, applies them at a microeconomic level and examines the impact of key business determinants (financial, internalization, knowledge, awareness and digitalization).

A literature review was conducted with a focus on CE strategies and related indicators. The framework obtained is applied on a Spanish agri-food sector survey to provide an empirical CE analysis at firm level. A partial least squares based-structural equation modelling method is applied.

The research suggests a set of circularity indicators to assess CE strategies at micro level. The findings reveal the heterogeneity of CE sub-indicators related to narrowing, slowing, closing and regenerating strategies. It also highlights the strong effects that the drivers tested have on CE, especially awareness and knowledge.

This study provides a framework that can guide public policies and business decisions in sectors with significant environmental impacts. It provides a conceptual framework that explains which CE indicators should be considered by governments and regulators when developing policies that seek to promote circular strategies.

In the case of companies, the results show that acquiring more environmental awareness and knowledge is essential for promoting more sustainable work habits that enhance CE.

The paper offers a novel contribution to the CE literature by introducing a multidimensional indicator framework comprehensively applied to the agri-food sector, integrating miscellaneous pillars of circular strategies and business determinants.

The Australian retail industry is facing skills shortages while mature and old-age workers are experiencing high unemployment rates. This study focuses on understanding organizational inclusion and turnover intentions in the context of employee age.

Survey data were collected from 502 retail supervisors and employees.

Drawing on socioemotional selectivity theory and social exchange theory, the findings indicate: no difference in inclusive supervisory behaviors perceptions for different age groups; a significantly higher workplace social inclusion perceptions among employees aged 55 plus than among employees aged 35–44; a significantly lower turnover intention among employees aged 55 plus and 45–54 years than other age groups; a positive relationship between inclusive supervisory behaviors and workplace social inclusion and a negative relationship between workplace social inclusion and turnover intention which was stronger for older employees than for younger employees.

The findings present a business case for hiring older employees and indicate that managers need to prioritize inclusion.

This study addresses the underexplored area of employee age differences in inclusion and turnover perceptions among retail employees. It links inclusive supervisory behaviors, social inclusion and turnover intention.

This study aims to examine Africa’s environment, social and governance (ESG) research through a systematic literature review (SLR). The authors aim to identify and discuss influential aspects of ESG accounting in Africa, focusing on prominent themes, authors and journals in published articles using Africa’s setting. It also constructs agendas for future research to advance the literature and contribute to the ESG accounting practices in Africa.

This study uses an SLR approach, where accounting research journal articles are collated and compiled according to pre-determined criteria and analysed using bibliometric techniques. After carefully reviewing 1,387 articles, the authors selected and examined 246 academic articles published from 2006 to 2024 in 32 accounting journals indexed in the Web of Science.

The authors identify four main streams of ESG accounting research in Africa, namely, ESG disclosure in primary-based economies; corporate governance dynamics in Africa; internal mechanisms in ESG reporting; and external mechanisms in ESG disclosure. According to the analysis, the authors propose future research agendas to discuss institutional perspective of ESG reporting standards implementation and enforcement; value creation impact on sustainability performance; ESG reporting effect on conflict resolution; and ESG reporting quality and environmental sustainability.

This study assists policymakers, academics, managers, accounting professionals and investors in comprehensively understanding the current state and projecting future actions to develop ESG accounting in Africa.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is perhaps the first to examine Africa’s ESG research through an SLR. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a comprehensive analysis of the existing ESG accounting landscape and tailoring future research agendas based on the distinctive characteristics of Africa.

This paper aims to provide a historical perspective on the beginnings of racial inequality by analysing the changing citizenship identity of migrant Indian Tamils in post-colonial Sri Lanka (1948–2003), and the role accounting plays in constructing them as stateless non-citizens.

The paper presents a genealogy of the biopolitical governing of migrant Indian Tamils, drawing on government archives, census data and interviews with retired government officials.

This study shows how accounting plays a supplementary role in providing the state with an account of its population through practices of naming, counting and valuing. These practices also create Indian Tamil migrants as new objects of knowledge using their non-citizenship and racial identity. Government accounting of the everyday life (bios) of these non-citizens (births, deaths, education and wage rates) provided yearly evidence of the social and economic disparities between Sri Lankan citizens and the stateless Indian Tamils who lived predominantly on plantation estates.

This paper enhances our understanding of how current racial dynamics are linked to historical economic, social and political forces and shows the long-term consequences of racial inequality related to statelessness.

This research investigates the feasibility, benefits and challenges of environmental sustainability reporting by Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs).

The authors develop an abridged SME environmental sustainability reporting framework based on the environmental aspects of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards for Sustainability Reporting. The authors collect the views of 203 SME accounting practitioners on our proposed reporting framework using a survey questionnaire.

The authors find that the greatest perceived benefit for firms adopting environmental sustainability reporting is that it leads to an improvement in company image. Lack of knowledge, resources and data capturing tools impede implementation of environmental sustainability reporting for both SMEs and accounting practitioners. While SMEs are not yet required to implement environmental sustainability reporting, the research discusses implications for policy makers and practitioners for adopting environmental sustainability reporting in the SME context.

The main limitation of this study is that environmental sustainability reporting for SMEs is in its infancy. A longitudinal survey, or re-examining this survey over time, could be beneficial to assess the long-term benefits and costs of implementing sustainability reporting.

The findings of this study have practical implications for the future development of SME environmental sustainability reporting in the EU and for regulators considering sustainability reporting regulations with a specific focus on SMEs.

The study reconstructs the GRI environmental guidelines into a framework for SMEs and provides empirical evidence on the accountant’s sustainability reporting role.

This study aims to delve into the role that telehealth plays in mitigating health inequities faced by forcibly displaced Ukrainians amidst the ongoing conflict.

A retrospective cross-sectional study design was implemented, using data procured from the electronic health records of the Likarnya online project. The research approach integrated descriptive statistics, visual data representations and inferential analyses, including chi-square tests, odds ratio calculations and logistic regression tests.

The analysis revealed a predominance of female users (77.1%) and a high prevalence of health-care access barriers (69.7%). General practice/internal medicine consultations constituted the majority of referrals (72.93%), with a notable 78.66% of cases achieving closure. A significant prevalence rate was observed concerning chronic conditions relative to acute presentations. Statistical analyses uncovered significant associations between case severity and health-care access barriers, with moderate and severe cases demonstrating elevated odds of encountering obstacles to care. Age emerged as a crucial predictor of health-care access difficulties, highlighting the particular vulnerabilities faced by older displaced individuals.

This study highlights the potential of telemedicine in reducing health-care access disparities of displaced populations in conflict zones. Furthermore, this study brings to light pivotal insights concerning demographic and clinical variables that influence patterns associated with health-care services attainability. These findings serve as a clarion call for targeted interventions explicitly tailored for older individuals and those with severe health conditions. Hence, the findings provide a foundation upon which forthcoming academic endeavours alongside strategic policy formulation may be constructed.

Research on the living conditions of slum dwellers in the inner cities of developing countries has received much attention. Nevertheless, there is little empirical research on the influence of personal attributes on the poor environmental condition of the slum area. This study aims to examine the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics and the physical condition of the slum environment in the inner city of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Data was collected through the use of questionnaire administration from a household survey of 491 slum dwellers. Systematic random sampling was used in the selection of the respondents. The study used descriptive, factor and multiple regression to analyse the data collected.

The study used descriptive, factor and multiple regression to analyse the data collected. The study reveals an interplay between various socio-economic factors and environmental conditions. The results show that out of ten (10) socio economic variables that were submitted in the regression model, only eight (8) of these variables such as income, household size, occupation, level of education, age, marital status, year of residency and nativity were significant.

The study concluded that despite the fact that the condition of the slum environment is a product of multiple interrelated factors, personal attributes also contribute to the poor environmental condition of the slum area. The study recommended that improving the socio-economic conditions of slum dwellers would lead to improved environmental conditions.

The purpose of this viewpoint is to examine the claims made in the resignation letter and global petition surrounding the mass resignation of editorial members from the journal Gender, Work and Organization. It aims to shed light on the overlooked voices that criticized the boycott and to reflect on how the protest, while addressing legitimate concerns, inadvertently marginalized early-career and minoritized scholars, undermining principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).

The authors adopted a reflexive methodology, engaging with a globally diverse set of junior, mid-career and senior scholars to gather their insights on the unfolding events. By intentionally seeking out those critical of the resignation, the authors emphasized their positionality as scholars committed to fostering inclusivity and fairness. They positioned themselves against the instrumentalization of social justice rhetoric, critiquing how it disproportionately impacted vulnerable academic communities.

The viewpoint highlights how the mass resignation and academic boycott of Gender, Work and Organization failed to account for its adverse effects on early-career and marginalized scholars, missing opportunities for feminist care and solidarity. It argues that the boycott, while signalling virtue, had a polarizing impact and overlooked key principles of EDI, leading to unintended negative consequences.

The originality of this viewpoint lies in its focus on the often-unheard voices of scholars who opposed the mass resignation and academic boycott of Gender, Work and Organization, offering a counter-narrative to the widely publicized protest. Its value comes from critically examining how actions intended to promote social justice and equality can inadvertently harm early-career and marginalized scholars. By spotlighting these complexities and challenging the virtue signalling behind the boycott, the critique contributes to ongoing discussions on the ethical responsibilities of academic activism, solidarity and inclusivity in feminist scholarship.

Drawing on the attribution theory, this study re-examined the effect of supervisor-subordinate guanxi (SSG) on counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) by highlighting the critical moderating role of job self-efficacy and the mediating role of psychological entitlement, with the aim of revealing the potential drawbacks of SSG.

Three-wave matched data were collected from 434 employees working in China. The authors adopted path analysis in Mplus 7.4 to test the hypotheses proposed in this study.

The results suggested that among subordinates with high job self-efficacy, SSG triggers psychological entitlement, which subsequently leads to CWBs.

This research challenges the prevailing consensus regarding the beneficial effects of SSG on subordinate management from the social exchange theory perspective by revealing when and why high-quality SSG can also engender subordinates’ psychological entitlement and subsequent CWBs. By doing so, this study provides a more dialectical view of the impact of establishing high-quality SSG in human resource management.

The purpose of this study is to pinpoint the factors that affect teacher motivation in this particular setting. It specifically looks at how job satisfaction, the reward system, training and development and work situational factors affect teachers’ motivation.

Through nonrandom sampling, data from 229 teachers from private schools in Lebanon were gathered.

The findings showed that professional training and development opportunities and a supportive work environment have a strong impact on teachers’ motivation.

The findings highlight the need for more research to guide comprehensive improvement strategies in Lebanese private schools for motivating teachers. The Ministry of Education and private schools in Lebanon can benefit from the insights provided by the findings in terms of policy and practice. Among the suggestions include bringing up-to-date rules to boost teacher satisfaction, raising educational standards, creating focused training sessions, changing compensation systems and improving both the physical and mental aspects of the workplace.

The substantial expansion of technology and the efficacy of digital platforms in reaching young audiences have led to enhanced targeting and customization of promotional communications. Notwithstanding the expansion and efficacy of contemporary advertising platforms, scholarly attention has not kept pace with this domain of inquiry. This study aims to assess the antecedents of Google Shopping Ads (GSA) on intention to purchase behavior among the Generation Y and Z cohorts.

The current study used a quantitative approach and snowball sampling technique to gather primary data via a questionnaire and Google Forms, which resulted in the collection of 5,808 questionnaires among the cohort members. A principal component analysis and multigroup confirmatory multigroup structural equation modeling (between Generation Y and Z) were used to assess the research data and model.

The results show positive trust and perceived value associations with intention to purchase, particularly among Generation Y and Z consumers. The findings also show negative irritation, product risk and time risk associations with intention to purchase, especially among the Generation Y cohort, which indicates that young consumers generally do not observe perceived risk due to the usage of GSA.

GSA will continue to grow and become an increasingly important integrated marketing communications tool as the digital landscape develops. It can be concluded that young consumers show a high degree of perceived value and low levels of perceived risk due to the use of GSA. This study, therefore, promotes improved understanding among academics, marketers and businesses of search engine advertising among young cohorts of consumers (Generation Y and Z) in a developing country context.

This study aims to assess the environmental implications of slaughterhouses within residential areas of Ede, Nigeria. The effects on the health of the residents and the physical environment were examined. It provides an insight into the levels of damages done by this facility on the nearby residents and the implications on the quality of life.

The research was based on the 16 slaughterhouses identified in the study area, which formed the sample population. From these, eight (representing 50%) were randomly chosen for survey. To determine the suitability of this facility in the current locations and its impacts on nearby residents and the immediate environment, occupants of residential structures within a range of the selected slaughterhouses were considered for investigation. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics.

The study shows that most slaughterhouses existed earlier than many residential structures. Their owners are mainly aged people with low levels of education and income. Wastes generated from the slaughterhouses dominated by organic content were poorly handled. The results of the soil tests conducted around the slaughterhouses show that acidic content exceeds the 7Ph threshold recommended by the World Health Organisation. Most residents living in buildings within a close range are observed to have experienced high disturbances from environmental pollution, which is suspected to result to various degrees of health challenges.

The paper builds on revealing the implications of operating slaughterhouses within residential area which is common practices in most developing countries. The effects of these operations on the environment and wellbeing of the inhabitants were revealed.

Global warming and climate change are significant barriers to food production due to rising temperatures and extreme weather events. Thus, some households have taken to producing organic food on their rooftop gardens to mitigate the aforementioned challenges, which could improve the green environment and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Given the emergence of this trend, this study aims to predict organic food production intention and behaviour within urban rooftop home gardens using an integrated model of the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory and theory of planned behaviour (TPB).

Study data were collected from 352 households in two major Bangladeshi cities and analysed through SEM-PLS for model assessment and prediction.

Resultantly, biospheric and egoistic values led to an improved ecological worldview (EP). The EP, awareness of consequences (ACs) and social norms (SNs) predicted personal norms (PNs). In addition, PNs and SNs forecasted the intention to produce organic food in urban-area rooftop gardens. Strong intentions could promote and predict the adoption of organic food production in rooftop gardens. Based on the study outcomes, PN partially mediated the relationship between SN and the intention to produce organic food. Furthermore, the value–behaviour nexus performed serial mediation through beliefs, norms and intentions.

In this vein, the VBN framework provided a comprehensive guideline to encourage the intention and behaviour of organic food production in urban-area rooftops. Education and public policies potentially leveraged public beliefs and norms to engage in climate-friendly activities.

Cultivating organic herbs and vegetables on rooftop reduces dependency on industrially produced food and fertilised crops, making it a sustainable food choice and climate-mitigating activity. Thus, this study focuses on rooftop organic food production as a lens to examine pro-environmental intentions and behaviours. In addition, past studies have not emphasised the mediating roles of environmental beliefs, PN and intentions between the value–pro-environmental behaviour nexus. Such paths could be interesting to observe and add value to the VBN model. This study investigated the mediating roles of environmental beliefs, PN and intentions between the value–pro-environmental behaviour nexus and the role of PN between SN and pro-environmental behavioural intention with VBN farmwork.

Publicly funded healthcare systems struggle to govern and determine how finite resources should be allocated in relation to political goals within a pre-determined budget. Primary healthcare (PHC) has a central multipurpose function, not least in terms of political strategies, but PHC governance is still largely underexplored. The aim is to explore how politicians responsible for making decisions pertaining to healthcare coverage navigate the governance of public PHC and disentangle it in the form of narratives based on different types of underlying rationales.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 politicians from 3 Swedish regional healthcare authorities. The data were analysed abductively based on scientific, clinical and cultural rationales using thematic content analysis.

Our study provides insights into how PHC’s multipurpose function implicates tensions between politicians' different responsibilities regarding healthcare coverage. It shows how politicians navigate various coexisting rationales, with some being more dominant than others and where tensions also exist between them. In this balancing act, they create narratives addressing different stakeholders and priority-setting dilemmas, reflecting the diverse rationales. Our study reveals that politicians play a crucial role in PHC governance and priorities, balancing rationales that might otherwise become overly dominant.

This paper contributes new knowledge by displaying how politicians balance tensions within and between rationales through different narratives regarding goals/commissions, problematic situations and preferred solutions in PHC governance.

The study aims to uncover the relationship between rising temperatures, increased greenhouse gas emissions and the prevalence of lethal violence, encompassing suicides and homicides. It also sought to identify how climate change affects different economic strata in countries, notably in high and middle-income nations, and across Asia and Africa.

This study rigorously explored the link between global climate change and lethal violence across 201 countries from 1970 to 2020. Climate change was measured using annual surface temperature fluctuations and greenhouse gas emissions, while lethal violence was estimated using data on suicides and homicides.

The analysis revealed significant positive associations between escalating temperatures, heightened greenhouse gas emissions and lethal violence. These connections were evident across different economic levels and geographic regions in Asia and Africa.

This study emphasizes the urgent need for comprehensive interventions to combat human-induced climate change and mitigate its extensive negative impacts on society, particularly its association with increased violent behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and its implication on improving the farming household food security status, their resilience and livelihood risk management of farmers.

This systematic review has followed procedures to accomplish the review, including literature searches, screening studies, data extraction, synthesis and presentation of the data.

Based on the result of the review, the determinants of CSA adoption can be categorized into five categories, including demographic factors (age, sex, family size, dependency ratio, education), economic factors (land size, household income, livestock ownership), institutional factors (extension services, training access, credit services, farm input, market distance), environmental factors (agroecology, change in precipitation, slope of land) and social factors (cooperatives membership, farmers perception). The result also shows that applying CSA practices has an indispensable role on increasing productivity, food security, income, building resilient livelihoods, minimizing production risk and alleviating poverty. This concluded CSA practice has a multidimensional role in the livelihood of agrarian population like Ethiopia, yet its adoption was constrained by several factors.

This review mainly emphasizes on the most commonly practiced CSA strategies that are examined by different scholars.

This study aims to co-design a new online teacher training program tailored for rural Japanese teachers to deliver neuroscience-informed mental health interventions to children. The objective was to reduce the educational gap between Japanese teachers in rural and urban areas, effectively improving children’s mental health.

The online teacher training program was developed by incorporating insights gathered from teacher interviews in the authors’ needs-analysis study. Feedback from experts in neuroscience, clinical psychology, educational psychology, education and Japanese culture was integrated. A focus group was held to gauge the suitability of content and formats, building on input from a selection of five primary school teachers out of the 20 who participated in the authors’ research on needs-analysis.

The focus group findings supported the suitability of co-designed online training program, indicating that its content and format are mostly suited for Japanese educators in rural areas to acquire knowledge of neuroscience-informed mental health interventions. However, revisions were proposed, including the inclusion of more detailed intervention guidelines and the provision of worksheets for classroom utilization. These suggestions were integrated to revise the online teacher training program. Future research could investigate the impact of program on improving the mental health of Japanese children.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to report on the co-design of an online teacher training program that incorporated opinions from Japanese primary school teachers in rural areas, aiming to close the educational gap among Japanese teachers. It was designed to train teachers in providing neuroscience-informed mental health interventions.