Vida Botes, Howard Davey, Daniel Esposo and Bruce Rust Smit
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the last time a crisis affected businesses worldwide by putting economies into hibernation was in 1918 – the Great Influenza Pandemic. Environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the last time a crisis affected businesses worldwide by putting economies into hibernation was in 1918 – the Great Influenza Pandemic. Environmental, social and governance frameworks require businesses to respond to such crises as it significantly changes the business environment. With approximately 2.84 million accountants existing across 130 countries, this study aims to determine whether the accounting profession responded to this crisis. As these responses can provide insights into the type of activities accountants performed during the lockdown, the authors analysed them for emerging themes and identified changes in the way that accountants performed tasks.
Design/methodology/approach
Using search engines, the authors examined publicly available secondary sources such as websites of professional bodies, the Big Four and mid-tier accounting firms and government organisations using the keyword “COVID-19” to identify responses on issues faced by accountants during the 2020 lockdown period in New Zealand. The authors used interpretive text analysis to examine the responses for emerging themes.
Findings
The accountants’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic emphasised information technology and soft skills but most importantly the interaction, integration and immersion of technical skills with information technology and soft skills. The findings also highlight changes in the way accountants performed their tasks.
Originality/value
The study insights enable accounting academics to better understand the interconnection between hard and soft skills for incorporating it in syllabi, thereby preparing students for future roles. In addition, the study findings will assist both practitioners and researchers to explore the emerging changes in the way accountants perform their tasks.
Details
Keywords
Ernesto Castañeda, Daniel Jenks and Cynthia Cristobal
Purpose: To describe some of the tensions that both unaccompanied and accompanied immigrant children and youth face when reuniting with family members living abroad after years of…
Abstract
Purpose: To describe some of the tensions that both unaccompanied and accompanied immigrant children and youth face when reuniting with family members living abroad after years of living apart, separated by borders and anti-immigrant policies are described.
Methods: Fifty-eight interviews with immigrant minors from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala and the tensions they reported having after moving in with their biological parents or legal sponsors in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area are drawn upon.
Findings: Youth reported that getting used to cohabitation and in-person relationships with their parents or other sponsor was difficult at first, though it improved over time. Despite the biological, emotional, and financial bonds, minors had to learn how to relate to new authority figures and follow their rules. Many reported feeling lonely and missing grandmothers and other family members and friends left behind in the country of birth.
Research implications: Interviews with counselors and local authorities that interface with these families show that parenting and youth programs in the places of settlement can become effective interventions to improve relations between children and parents recently reunited, which can indeed help with scholastic achievement and socio-economic advancement.
Value: The interview extracts bring a window into intrafamily dynamics, often overlooked in discussions of the integration of immigrant children and youth into their new homes and communities.
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Ada Tuna Cenkci, Tuba Bircan and Jeff Zimmerman
This paper aims to explore the relationship between inclusive leadership (IL) and employee work engagement (WE), as well as the mediating effect of procedural justice (PJ) on this…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the relationship between inclusive leadership (IL) and employee work engagement (WE), as well as the mediating effect of procedural justice (PJ) on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
An online, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. A total of 201 information technology (IT) professionals in Turkey participated in the study. The authors used structural equation modeling to analyze the collected data. The authors then used a series of nested model comparisons to test the hypothesized mediating relationship.
Findings
The outcomes suggest that IL is positively related to PJ while PJ is positively associated with WE. In addition, PJ mediates the relationship between IL and WE.
Practical implications
The outcomes underline the importance of IL to effectively lead IT professionals. Organizational leaders can cultivate IL by demonstrating openness, availability and accessibility toward their employees and create work environments in which employees’ ideas are valued. Additionally, for employee PJ perceptions, organizations need to ensure that their procedures and policies are transparent and fair in terms of how decisions are made. Moreover, organizations can offer training to their IT managers on IL and PJ topics.
Originality/value
This study adds to the very scarce literature on IL. In addition, to the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first study to test the IL and PJ relationship. Furthermore, this is the first study to explore the concept of IL in the Turkish context. Moreover, the findings of this research can be beneficial for future theory development on IL in cross-cultural contexts.