Christopher R. Jones, Ricardo B. Cardoso, Edison Hüttner, Helena W. Oliveira, Marlise A. dos Santos, Maria Helena Itaqui Lopes and Thais Russomano
Reducing inequity in accessing healthcare among rural and remote populations remains a problem. Internationally, eHealth is now touted as a potential solution, with a range of…
Abstract
Purpose
Reducing inequity in accessing healthcare among rural and remote populations remains a problem. Internationally, eHealth is now touted as a potential solution, with a range of diverse approaches and impacts. Yet, the equity gains of implementing eHealth are often not realized due to a lack of effective strategies for citizen participation. The purpose of this paper is to present the background to, and results of, a multidisciplinary eHealth assistance project in a remote region of the Brazilian Amazon, highlighting the importance of citizen participation within planning processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The project was conducted in three phases – pre‐mission, mission, and post‐mission. Discussions were held between health teams and local community leaders, and were coordinated by government health organizations in partnership with the Amazon State University. A multidisciplinary team visited five remote communities in the Brazilian Amazon, where participants underwent clinical assessment using eHealth technologies within pharmacy, cardiology, dermatology, and/or odontology. Analysis and second opinion were provided by relevant specialists and the results were delivered electronically to local healthcare teams.
Findings
A total of 111 patients were evaluated with an average age of 54 years. There were several important findings following specialist second opinion, which improved the quality of care they received. These comprise identifying drug interactions and patients requiring further investigation for cardiological and dermatological complaints, including suspected malignancy.
Research limitations/implications
Due to a breakdown in communication, data from the post‐mission phase are lacking, particularly regarding treatment outcomes. Furthermore, the authors did not perform an analysis of cost‐effectiveness. If eHealth technologies are to become part of routine clinical practice it is important that the financial implications are acceptable.
Originality/value
This project demonstrates how equity can be designed for with a multidisciplinary approach to eHealth activities in rural and remote environments within Brazil. Such activities typically focus on one particular area, yet primary healthcare facilities see patients with a variety of problems.
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Ricardo Lopes Cardoso, Rodrigo de Oliveira Leite and André Carlos Busanelli de Aquino
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether analysts’ personal cognitive traits mitigate the efficacy of graphical impression management.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether analysts’ personal cognitive traits mitigate the efficacy of graphical impression management.
Design/methodology/approach
Three experiments are conducted wherein 525 professional accountants working as financial analysts rate a hypothetical company’s performance graph depicting its net income trend. The manipulation is the presence (absence) of impression management techniques. Hypotheses test whether different techniques are effective and whether analysts’ cognitive reflection ability mitigates manipulation efficacy.
Findings
Presentation enhancement is effective only with impulsive analysts, showing the weakness of this technique through the use of colors. Measurement distortion and selectivity techniques are effective for reflective and impulsive analysts; however, reflective analysts are more critical about graphs prepared via selectivity that emphasize profit recovery following crises.
Research limitations/implications
Each impression management technique is investigated in isolation and in controlled conditions. Further research could consider how personal cognitive traits impact the efficacy of combined techniques and whether imbedding manipulated graphs with other information mitigates impression management efficacy.
Practical implications
Research on impression management is mostly “task-oriented;” few “people-oriented” studies focus on decision making by those using financial reports. Users’ cognitive reflection ability is shown to undermine the efficacy of some impression management techniques.
Social implications
Financial analysts, auditors and regulators could develop mechanisms to avoid pervasive usage of (or enhance skepticism regarding) techniques not mitigated by users’ reflectiveness.
Originality/value
Evidence from financial analysts with an accounting background provides insights on individual characteristics’ influence on graphical impression management efficacy.
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Gustavo Cesário, Ricardo Lopes Cardoso and Renato Santos Aranha
This paper aims to analyse how the supreme audit institution (SAI) monitors related party transactions (RPTs) in the Brazilian public sector. It considers definitions and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse how the supreme audit institution (SAI) monitors related party transactions (RPTs) in the Brazilian public sector. It considers definitions and disclosure policies of RPTs by international accounting and auditing standards and their evolution since 1980.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on archival research on international standards and using an interpretive approach, the authors investigated definitions and disclosure policies. Using a topic model based on latent Dirichlet allocation, the authors performed a content analysis on over 59,000 SAI decisions to assess how the SAI monitors RPTs.
Findings
The SAI investigates nepotism (a kind of RPT) and conflicts of interest up to eight times more frequently than related parties. Brazilian laws prevent nepotism and conflicts of interest, but not RPTs in general. Indeed, Brazilian public-sector accounting standards have not converged towards IPSAS 20, and ISSAI 1550 does not adjust auditing procedures to suit the public sector.
Research limitations/implications
The SAI follows a legalistic auditing approach, indicating a need for regulation of related public-sector parties to improve surveillance. In addition to Brazil, other code law countries might face similar circumstances.
Originality/value
Public-sector RPTs are an under-investigated field, calling for attention by academics and standard-setters. Text mining and latent Dirichlet allocation, while mature techniques, are underexplored in accounting and auditing studies. Additionally, the Python script created to analyse the audit reports is available at Mendeley Data and may be used to perform similar analyses with minor adaptations.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
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Michele Kremer Sott, Leonardo B. Furstenau, Liane Mahlmann Kipper, Yan Pablo Reckziegel Rodrigues, José Ricardo López-Robles, Fáber D. Giraldo and Manuel J. Cobo
The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationships between process modeling and Industry 4.0, the strategic themes and the most used process modeling language in smart…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationships between process modeling and Industry 4.0, the strategic themes and the most used process modeling language in smart factories. The study also presents the growth of the field of study worldwide, the perspectives, main challenges, trends and suggestions for future works.
Design/methodology/approach
To do this, a science mapping was performed using the software SciMAT, supported by VOS viewer.
Findings
The results show that the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), Unified Modelling Language (UML) and Petri Net are the most relevant languages to smart manufacturing. The authors also highlighted the need to develop new languages or extensions capable of representing the dynamism, interoperability and multiple technologies of smart factories.
Originality/value
It was possible to identify the most used process modeling languages in smart environments and understand how these languages assist control and manage smart processes. Besides, the authors highlighted challenges, new perspectives and the need for future works in the field.
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Romina Gómez-Prado, Aldo Alvarez-Risco, Jorge Sánchez-Palomino, Berdy Briggitte Cuya-Velásquez, Sharon Esquerre-Botton, Luigi Leclercq-Machado, Sarahit Castillo-Benancio, Marián Arias-Meza, Micaela Jaramillo-Arévalo, Myreya De-La-Cruz-Diaz, Maria de las Mercedes Anderson-Seminario and Shyla Del-Aguila-Arcentales
In the academic field of business management, several potential theories were established during the last decades to explain companies' decisions, organizational behavior…
Abstract
In the academic field of business management, several potential theories were established during the last decades to explain companies' decisions, organizational behavior, consumer patterns, and internationalization, among others. As a result, businesses and scholars were able to analyze and decide based on theoretical approaches to explain the current conditions of the market. Secondary research was conducted to collect more than 36 management theories. This chapter aims to develop the most famous theories related to business applied in the international field. The novelty of this chapter relies on the compilation of recognized previous research studies from the academic literature and evidence in international business.
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Since the early modern age, the debt of the State was a constant source for concern to the Spanish governments. Episodes of defaults caused by enormous expenditure to keep the…
Abstract
Since the early modern age, the debt of the State was a constant source for concern to the Spanish governments. Episodes of defaults caused by enormous expenditure to keep the Empire slowly faded out until a certain reorganization of public finance was attained in the central decades of the nineteenth century. The core idea that finance ministers and economists, in general, had at that time was to balance the public budget controlling expenses, in order to handle the problem of public debt. However, alternative views on government finance existed. Focusing on a crucial period for the consolidation of Spanish liberal regime and its public finance, this chapter shows that, among a predominant concern for reducing public expenditure as the best way to stabilize the economy and promote economic growth, the character of Luis María Pastor emerges to support government expansionary policies financed with credit. Far from fearing deficit, Pastor, one of the leaders of the Spanish liberal school of economic thought, believed that investment in infrastructures financed through debt was the key to economic growth. Through a multiplicative effect, a program of public investment would enhance economic growth, eventually solving the long-term insufficiency of Spanish finance. This gives evidence that ideas on public finance of classical liberal economists were far from uniform, contributing to a more precise view on the body of doctrines of this school.
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Abstract
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André Carlos Busanelli de Aquino, Ricardo Lopes Cardoso, Marcelo Sanches Pagliarussi and Valéria Lobo Archete Boya
This study extends prior balanced scorecard (BSC) research by incorporating the effects of uncertainty, payment schemes and the strength of causal relations proposed in the…
Abstract
This study extends prior balanced scorecard (BSC) research by incorporating the effects of uncertainty, payment schemes and the strength of causal relations proposed in the performance measurement model (PMM) on the budgetary dynamics. Our analysis was restricted to two strategic business units (SBU), engineering projects and electricity distribution service, from a Brazilian electric power concessionaire. We postulate a mediated moderation association between uncertainty (treatment), bonus scheme (mediator), dispersion of payment scheme and the strength of causal relations proposed in the PMM (moderators) on budgetary slack (outcome). Additionally, we postulate that the use of accounting-based measures (ABM) also mediates the effect of uncertainty on budgetary slack. We gathered monthly observations from 102 indicators containing the target and achievement values throughout 2002–2006. Managers were later asked to answer questionnaires about the possible cause–effect relations between these indicators, then 215 causal maps of the department and corporate indicators were drawn up. Econometric analysis provided evidence that the budgetary slack observed is directly impacted by uncertainty, and this impact is moderated by the dispersion of payment scheme. However, we did not find any evidence that supported the mediation process proposed between uncertainty, ABM and budgetary slack. Incomplete implementation of BSC and the level of analysis adopted are possible explanations for that.