External pressures on accounting study programs: An institutional approach of stakeholder expectations

Research Question: What are the requirements and expectations of each class of external stakeholders? Is there any convergence between the identified expectations? Motivation: There is a large variety of stakeholder expectations that universities are confronted with in their permanent search for social legitimacy, acknowledgement and survival. In the case of accounting study programs, their strong relationships with practitioners and professional associations, as emphasized in previous research in accounting education in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, add to the expectations that need to be met. Idea: This paper explores external stakeholder expectations of accounting study programs provided by Romanian universities, in order to identify the elements to which these expectations converge. Data: Data was collected only from public documents (laws and regulations, reports, studies, press releases, websites of relevant bodies etc.). Tools: A review of relevant public documents has been performed. Findings: As expected, all stakeholders require quality. Still, they ascribe different meanings to quality, evaluate quality in different manners, and hence exert various pressures. More, we observed that all types of isomorphism: coercive, mimetic, normative, as well as competitive are involved in assuring quality and meeting expectations. Contribution: The study contributes to literature with a complex approach, employing stakeholder and institutional theory, in the context of the extensive environment of higher education. In terms of practice, by taking stock of stakeholder requirements and expectations, the study calls the attention of decision makers to stakeholder pressures and the need to adjust accounting study programs accordingly.

A novel assessment framework for evaluating digital health maturity models: Design and development (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Digital health maturity models allow healthcare organizations to evaluate current digital state and develop roadmaps for improving patient care through digital change. Currently, there is limited capacity to assess the quality, utility, and efficacy of maturity models to select one for use. OBJECTIVE To work in partnership with researchers, governments, and health services to design and develop an assessment framework to facilitate recommendations for digital maturity models to use in practice. METHODS Underpinned by design science research, a systematic, consultative, and iterative process was used. The first step involved literature analyses and stakeholder needs analysis to develop content and design considerations. In the second step, these considerations were incorporated into a draft framework developed by researchers in a design workshop. The third step involved external stakeholder review to strengthen and finalize the framework. RESULTS The assessment framework to evaluate digital health maturity models provides healthcare stakeholders with a consistent and objective methodology to compare maturity models identified by different vendors. The sections in the framework include assessment of healthcare context, feasibility, integrity, completeness and actionability. Calculating subtotals across the sections enables identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the maturity model. After completing the assessment for several maturity models, users can compare their performance to provide recommendations for which maturity model to use. CONCLUSIONS We have developed an evidence-based framework to enable assessment and comparison of digital health maturity models. This work will inform an approach to implementing a suitable suite of digital health maturity models. This is a critical step as healthcare evolves towards a digital health system focused on improving the quality of care, reducing costs and improving the provider and consumer experience. CLINICALTRIAL N/A

The impact of specialization, ownership, competition and regulation on efficiency: a case study of Indian seaports

We develop a two-stage formulation to estimate seaport performance and to understand the drivers of efficiency, which could potentially include specialization, ownership, competition and tariff regulation. The first-stage non-parametric, slacks-based measure estimates the technical efficiency of each port. For the second-stage analysis, we develop a set of contextual variables including an absolute measure of specialization and a berth-level measure of ownership structure. To measure competition, we develop spatial measures that quantify the level of competition as a function of distance. We subsequently apply this formulation to major Indian seaports, covering a period of 21 years, from 1995 to 2015. The first-stage results suggest that average seaport efficiency has increased gradually over time. The second-stage fixed effects regressions show that specialization and external stakeholder participation have significant positive impacts on seaport performance. Perhaps surprisingly, we find that, in a tiered governance framework, competition between major seaports and local seaports has a significant negative impact on performance, potentially due to excessive infrastructure. Finally, changes in the regulatory mechanism over time are shown to be efficiency improving.

Development of Tool for Case Submission and Review as Foundation for Department Patient Safety / Quality Improvement Program

Objective: Describe creation and implementation of secure case collection tool for the foundation of otolaryngology department Patient Safety/Quality Improvement (PSQI) program. Describe how tool decreased burden while fulfilling stakeholders’ reporting requirements. Methods: Incorporation of elements of required reports into online tool, facilitating improved case submission for Morbidity and Mortality conference (M&M) review. Reviewer commentary and conference discussion notes are recorded within the project. Regular reports tailored to each stakeholder were designed. Results: During first 8 months of implementation, 83 cases were submitted–5250 surgical procedures were performed by our department in that period—compared to 75 cases submitted via prior system in a same time period the year before (6930 surgical procedures performed). Elements of routine reports for interdepartmental use and external stakeholder requirements determined and reported. Discussion: Preliminary description of secure online tool with a single platform serving multiple stakeholders with unique reporting elements. This presents an opportunity to reduce the burden of essential administrative tasks while providing a reliable PSQI repository. Future metrics for ongoing evaluation will be identified and incorporated. Case submissions were maintained through a period of altered clinical activity (SARS-CoV-2 pandemic). Implications for Practice: This tool will allow our department to review cases for our required M&M with improved efficiency and efficacy, while supporting our PSQI program and generate necessary reports to stakeholders. Reduction of electronic task burden may reduce risk of physician burnout. Facilitating implementation of essential and required PSQI efforts will strengthen our curriculum and clinical work.

Environmental Performance Improvements and External Stakeholder Pressures in Companies with Certified Environmental Management System

The relationship between environmental performance and Environmental Management Systems has been widely investigated by international researches. Despite this, our paper adds new perspectives to the current literature framework. First, it is focused on companies with an Environmental Management System registered according to EMAS Regulation, while many previous studies considered also ISO14001 certified companies. Second, to achieve the objectives of this paper, a wide sample of Italian companies was considered, and the results of a questionnaire survey filled out by 143 organizations are reported. In addition, this study points out the relationship between environmental performance and stakeholder pressures which have not been thoroughly investigated in previous papers. The results show that EMAS positively influences performance on some environmental aspects such as water consumption and emissions into the atmosphere, while this positive influence is not confirmed for other aspects. The Public Authorities represent the stakeholder identified by the survey as the main external pressure to improve environmental performance.

Are federal single audit reports of internal control weaknesses a useful tool for evaluating management? The case of charter schools

PurposeThe authors examine whether reports of internal control weaknesses (ICWs) under federal single audit (FSA) guidelines are a useful tool for evaluating non-profit (NP) management, using a unique nationwide sample of NP charter schools. While prior research focuses on external stakeholder reactions to reported ICWs, little if any research addresses the utility of these reports for internal users. The authors fill this gap in the literature, finding evidence suggesting that NP charter school decision-makers use internal control (IC) reports when setting executive compensation – awarding lower pay increases when deficiencies are reported.Design/methodology/approachThe authors regress executive compensation changes on reported ICWs and likely determinants of NP compensation, including organization size, growth, liquidity and management performance, using a sample of 173 school/year observations representing 113 unique schools for the years 2012–2015.FindingsThe authors find a negative relationship with executive pay increases subsequent to reports of initial and repeated IC deficiencies, indicating that lower than average pay increases are awarded subsequent to reports of ICWs.Research limitations/implicationsInterpretation of the authors' results is subject to several limitations, including the possibility of omitted variable bias and the authors' sample, though it comprises all available data for the sample period, and is relatively small and may be considered exploratory in nature. Further, charter schools represent a unique public/private partnership in the educational sector, and the results may not be generalizable to other NPs. Future research could explore the relationship between reported IC deficiencies and governance in other, broader NP sectors.Practical implicationsThe authors' findings are useful to NP organization boards of directors as they consider what factors to evaluate in their chief executive officer (CEO) compensation decisions. In addition to other criteria, inclusion of IC effectiveness in the CEO reward system is prudent, especially in today's environment of increasingly important information security and IC matters. The results suggest such information is being included. This previously undocumented use is also of particular value to regulators when weighing the costs and benefits of mandating single audits for smaller NPs, who are otherwise unlikely to obtain information on the organization's IC environment.Social implicationsThese findings may help inform the debate regarding NP charter schools, a fast-growing, economically significant and highly controversial sector in public education. Charters are predominantly funded by state and local taxes. As such, the quality of governance in NP charter schools is of interest to a wide range of stakeholders including parents, regulators and the public at large.Originality/valueWhile prior research on ICWs and NPs focuses on external stakeholder reactions to reported ICWs, little if any research addresses the utility of these reports for internal users, especially in relatively smaller organizations. The research leverages the existence of charter schools, which are independent but present nationwide, providing a suitable sample of like organizations. Further, no extant research to the authors' knowledge examines the relationship of NP executive compensation and reported ICWs – a topic previously addressed in the for-profit (FP) literature.

A stakeholder perspective on public sector innovation: Linking the target groups of innovations to the inclusion of stakeholder ideas

Public sector innovation scholarship has not yet systematically explored how the target context (or output phase) of innovations impacts the early phases of innovation processes. This study theorizes and tests whether innovating organizations are more sensitive to ideas from particular stakeholder groups depending on the target group of said innovation. Using a large-scale dataset from the Australian Public Service, the results show that innovations with external target groups are more likely to be built on ideas from external stakeholders (compared with internal stakeholders) and—within the group of internal stakeholders—on ideas from managers (compared with non-managerial employees). Practical and scholarly implications are discussed. Points for practitioners: Innovations benefit from the inclusion of internal and external stakeholder ideas, both substantively (appropriate knowledge leads to better end products) and symbolically (innovations need to be deemed legitimate, and receive support from the actors that will be primarily impacted by the innovation). Innovating organizations need to be aware of the perceptions of the stakeholders affected by the innovation, and properly sense, capture and translate the ideas of those stakeholders in the innovation process.

A Comparative Study on the Efficiency of Stakeholder Involvement in Community-Based Tourism (CBT) Development

Community-based tourism (CBT) is a development strategy for the community to manage its resources through the use of tourism as a medium. For CBT to operate, communities may rely on the external assistance in their development project. These stakeholders are academia, local government, and international organizations. This paper compares the work efficiency of these stakeholders’ and their involvement in operating CBT strategies. A total of 535 online respondents with work experience as different stakeholders are gathered and compared. The results shows that local government involvement is ranked the most attentive by the community, followed by the assistance of academia, the community itself, and international organizations (where appropriate). This outcome supports the idea in the literature where government is the most crucial external stakeholder to reach out to during the planning stage of CBT development, but it also suggests that the involvement of academics is more efficient than that of international organizations, possibly due to the fact that academics are from a smaller set of individuals or group with theories and consultancy expertise in the field of CBT rather than the international organizations that are more general with the power and resources they could offer. In future study, in-depth interviews with different stakeholder members would allow further explanation and observation of these relationships.

Impact of Construction Project Managers’ Emotional Intelligence on Project Success

Numerous authors are persistent in investigating the competency profile of the ideal construction project manager in order to decrease the failure rate of construction projects. There is evidence for the change in construction project management, from traditional practices to practices more focused on people and working relationships. The literature demonstrates a positive correlation between project manager’s Emotional intelligence and project success but less is written about the mechanisms that interfere with that relationship. Furthermore, project manager’s relationships with stakeholders are recognized as an important determinant of project success in the construction industry. Considering the above facts, this study was motivated to examine how the construction project manager’s emotional intelligence influences project success, and whether the relations with internal and external stakeholders interfere as mediators in that relationship. In the conducted research, 110 project managers participated. The results demonstrate that the emotional intelligence of construction project managers significantly influences the project success and that internal and external stakeholder relationships play an important role as mediators among them. Moreover, it is found that some components of EI have more significant influence on stakeholder relationships and project success and that internal and external relationships in different amounts affect components of project success.