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This synopsis provides a concise historical contextualisation of current risk disclosure issues, highlights major factors influencing contemporary risk reporting practices, and engages in a reflective overview of four recently published papers on aspects of corporate risk-related disclosures in a code law country, Portugal. The breadth and depth of our analysis is modest. Nonetheless we report findings indicating that risk-related disclosures are inadequate, lack transparency, and compound the difficulty of assessing the risk profile of a company. We contend that recent regulation initiatives have been of dubious effectiveness in improving the quality of risk information disclosed. In respect of the Portuguese context, we find that companies disclose risk-related information principally to reduce agency costs and to enhance corporate reputation. We contend that enhanced corporate accountability would be more likely to ensue if further disclosures of relevant risk-related information were mandated. One mechanism to do so would be through regulations recommended by the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC).

We explore the language of leadership of global media mogul Rupert Murdoch in 2010, the year before the phone-hacking scandal in the UK came to public attention. Subsequent public enquiries in the UK exposed unethical conduct by staff of News Corporation, a global corporation whose Chairman and CEO was Rupert Murdoch. We focus on the ethical climate fashioned by ‘A Letter from Rupert Murdoch’ that appeared in the opening pages of the annual report of News Corporation for the year ended 30 June 2010. Plausibly, Murdoch’s discourse in that letter helped condition the inapt, unethical conduct of News Corporation staff. We highlight the cultural and ethical signs that were embedded in Murdoch’s letter and which reflected the company’s tone at the top and ethical values. We identify signs of a perverse leadership thinking that possibly help explain the inappropriate cultural values and ethical behaviours that were revealed subsequently in evidence presented to public inquiries.

Available online 20 June 2012, Common explanations for the voluntary adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards [IFRS] have been based on economic efficiency arguments. This paper introduces new theoretical arguments to explain how institutional pressures influence decisions to adopt IFRS voluntarily. Through recourse to an institutional theory context, we combine the analytical framework proposed by Oliver (1991) with the concept of institutional logics, and apply this framework to the financial accounting field for the first time. This combined model shows how multiple forms of rationality constrain company responses to pressures to adopt a new accounting regime. We find that companies in a code law country are willing to change from a code-law institutional logic to a common-law institutional logic if they consider such a change will have positive overall benefits to them. Companies assess the net benefits of change after considering the legitimacy they achieve with IFRS, the consistency of IFRS with their goals and institutional context, and the loss of autonomy they believe they are likely to sustain from adopting IFRS. Contrary to predictions in earlier formulations of institutional theory, we find that the acquiescence of companies in adopting IFRS is not a blind response to institutional demands, but is largely predictable by virtue of the inherent nature and importance of such institutional pressures to them. Prevailing institutional logics are shown to provide important insights to the decisions of companies to adopt IFRS voluntarily. We draw on our results to contend that a company’s acquiescence to institutional pressures to adopt IFRS occurs notwithstanding that they can also contemplate more active strategies (through decoupling)., Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Project PEst-OE/EGE/UI4021/2011

Purpose This paper investigates the effect of the global financial crisis (GFC) on the level of corporate social responsibility disclosures (CSRD) in the annual report and/or CSR report of 36 major listed Portuguese companies in each of the years 2005, 2008 and 2011. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is framed principally by stakeholder theory. Data were explored using thematic content analysis and an index of disclosure calculated by year, industry type (consumer proximity versus environment sensitivity) and category of information. Findings Before the GFC, Portuguese listed companies increased their CSRD practices significantly. During the crisis, there was a slight decrease in CSRD. However, this was not as pronounced, as it would otherwise have been because it was counteracted by increased disclosures of company interactions with society, particularly in matters of corruption prevention and community engagement. CSRD was higher for companies with high consumer proximity but did not appear to be influenced by companies’ level of environmental sensitivity. Originality/value The results reveal a strong concern by companies for stakeholder management (particularly in respect of community relations) in a period of financial crisis. This study highlights the effect of a company’s proximity to consumers on levels of CSRD.

CNRS 4, FNEGE 4, HCERES C; International audience; We respond to the call for a more balanced view of agency (Tourish, 2014: 88) by presenting an account of the forced resignation of Jean-Marie Messier as CEO of the major French company, Vivendi Universal, in 2002. Messier’s ousting arose from a struggle for board control involving an exercise of power that was influenced strongly by kinship relationships, interlocking directorships, and business alliances; and by the interplay between a nouveau riche (Messier), an influential old guard shareholder family (the Bronfmans), and an established elite (of prominent representatives of French business). Collusion between the French business establishment and the Bronfman family created a coalition of interest and a locus of control that managerial and agency theories explain inadequately. We highlight the potential for a reading of class relationships in terms of structuration to foster better understanding of the complexities involved when the board of a major corporation decides to support, or withdraw support for, their CEO. We highlight several context-specific structures and mechanisms that were influential in determining corporate control and CEO agency.

We draw on archival resources and maritime and accounting history literature to explore the role of Royal Navy (RN) pursers between 1665 and 1832. Through an agency theory lens, we investigate accounting-related practices pursers used to control consumable rations, including the ‘purser’s (short) measure.’ The records pursers were required to keep suggest that the RN was at the forefront of the development of cost and materials accounting, and in the keeping of detailed accounting records. We provide fresh insights in to the purser’s role and his association with the gestation of materials waste controls, standard costing, and audit and accountability processes.

Enzymatic biofuel cells use enzymes to catalyze electrochemical reactions, directly converting chemical energy to electricity. In this research, three enzymatic biofuel cell devices were created and a focus was placed on their electrode structure in order to improve current density, power density, and/or biocompatibility. The first device, a flow-through glucose biofuel cell, was fabricated from laser-cut poly(methyl methacrylate) and utilized a porous anode to increase current density through improved mass transfer. The maximum current and power density of 705 μA cm-2 and 146 μW cm-2 were among the highest for a flowing biofuel cell in the literature. The second device was a contact lens lactate biofuel cell fabricated in two iterations: one using buckypaper electrodes and the other with carbon paste electrodes, both electrode types being molded into a contact lens. These were the first reported examples of a biofuel cell on a contact lens. The first prototype suffered from poor stability as well as biocompatibility issues, but the second prototype was more stable and amenable to possibly being worn on the eye. The current and power density of the second prototype were, respectively, 22 ± 4 μA cm-2 and 2.4 ± 0.9 μW cm-2 at 0.18 ± 0.06 V. As the device was limited by its cathode, simulations were created to investigate two important factors: carbon nanotube (CNT) connectivity to the electrode and enzyme loading on the CNT surface. It was found that ca. 20% of the CNTs were connected to the electrode; furthermore, only 1-2% of the enzyme was wired to the electrode through the CNT network and roughly 20% of the CNT surfaces were in communication with enzyme. The ferrocene redox polymer/lactate oxidase enzyme-mediator anode system used on the second contact lens biofuel cell prototype performed very well, so it was also used in the third device-a self-powered lactate sensor. Coupled with a bilirubin oxidase cathode, the sensor had a detection range between 0-5 mM lactate, a sensitivity of 45 μA cm-2 mM-1, and a current and power density of 657 ± 17 μA cm-2, 122 ± 5 μW cm-2, respectively.

This paper proposes a taxonomy to assist in more clearly locating research on aspects of the association between corporate reputation and corporate accountability reporting. We illustrate how our proposed taxonomy can be applied by using it to frame our exploration of the relationship between measures of reputation and characteristics of the language choices made in CEO letters to shareholders. Using DICTION 5.0 software we analyse the content of the CEO letters of 23 high reputation US firms and 23 low reputation US firms. Our results suggest that company size and visibility each have a positive influence on the extent to which corporate reputation is associated with the language choices made in CEO letters. These results, which are anomalous when compared with those of Geppert and Lawrence (2008), highlight the need for caution when assessing claims about the effects on corporate reputation arising from the language choice in narratives in corporate annual reports. Author has checked copyright DG 16/11/12 Names JG 2012-11-16

PurposeThe indigenous Māori culture of New Zealand offers valuable insights for the development of ideas about the concept of asset. To highlight such insights, and to encourage a rethinking, this paper aims to explore the meaning of the closest Māori term to asset, taonga.Design/methodology/approachThe critical review the authors conduct fuses Western literature‐based scholarship with an indigenous scholarly method that utilises oral information and the written literature of Māori scholars who have recognised traditional and scholarly credentials.FindingsTaonga includes a sacred regard for the whole of nature and a belief that resources are gifts from the gods and ancestors for which current generations of Māori are responsible stewards. Taonga emphasises guardianship over ownership, collective and co‐operative rights over individualism, obligations towards future generations, and the need to manage resources sustainably.Originality/valueThe insights offered by Māori culture are beneficial in addressing a range of vexing environmental and social issues in ways that embrace a broader set of principles than those based on individual property rights and economic values.

This paper explores the potential for systematic scrutiny of the language of top management to reveal signals of possible deceptive conduct. The language used in letters signed by Ramalinga Raju, Chair of the Indian multi-national company Satyam, are analysed using a multi-method quantitative approach. We explore the language in Raju’s annual report letters from 2002–2003 to 2007–2008; and in his letter of January 7, 2009 in which he confessed to deceptive conduct. We analyse the frequency of personal pronouns, the tone of positivity or negativity, the frequency of words of extreme emotion and aspects of the characteristics of language use indicated by the DICTION 5.0 text analysis master variable, CERTAINTY. The text of Raju’s letters appears to have been influenced by his self-confessed deceptive behaviour. Raju’s word choice changed noticeably in his five annual report letters prior to the collapse of Satyam as the scale and impact of his financial misstatements increased. The methods presented should be considered for adoption by auditors and regulators—as a way of assessing whether signals emerging from language use warrant closer (including audit) scrutiny of a firm’s financial reporting and governance. They should also be considered for use by monitors of entity risk, such as credit rating agencies and financial analysts.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the experience of a New Zealand (NZ) local council in changing from output‐based to outcome‐oriented performance measures, thereby, seeking to enhance understanding of how institutional pressures affect managers in a local government body.Design/methodology/approachBy means of semi‐structured interviews with four managers and a councillor at a major city council in NZ, the authors elicit a better understanding of the process of changing to outcome‐oriented performance measures. The six‐stage model of institutional change proposed by Greenwood et al. provides a useful analytical lens. The authors report the thoughts and attitudes of interviewees regarding the effects of the change on the council's performance management, and particularly on its process of Long‐Term Council Community Planning.FindingsInstitutionalisation of the new outcome‐oriented performance measurement system was neither complete nor automatic. Conformity with it was harder where outputs and/or outcomes of activities were less easily definable. Decoupling was evident. Community consultation was regarded to be beneficial because it encouraged managers to be people‐oriented and reduced information asymmetry between managers and councillors.Originality/valueThe paper provides fresh case‐based insights to the process of institutionalising change in the performance measurement system of a local council.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the risk-related disclosure (RRD) practices in annual reports for 2005 Portuguese companies in the non-finance sector. Design/methodology/approach – The paper conducts a content analysis of a sample of 81 companies (42 listed and 39 unlisted). In considering corporate governance effects, the sample is reduced to the 42 listed companies that are required to disclose a corporate governance report. Findings – Implementation of IAS/IFRS and the European Union's Modernisation Directive in 2005 did not affect the quantity and quality of RRD positively. Disclosures are generic, qualitative and backward-looking. Public visibility (as assessed by size and environmental sensitivity) is a crucial influence in explaining RRD: companies appear to manage their reputation through disclosure of risk-related information. Agency costs associated with leverage are important influences also. In listed companies, the presence of independent directors improves the level of RRD. Research limitations/implications – Content analysis does not allow readily for in-depth qualitative inquiry. The coding instrument is subject to coder bias. Information about risk can be provided in sources other than annual reports. The study is confined to one year/one country and pre-dates the global financial crisis (GFC) (2008) and the implementation of IFRS 7 (2007). Originality/value – The results point to the desirability of enhancing accountability by mandating further disclosure of substantive and relevant risk-related information in company annual reports. The RRD observed are shown to be explained by a confluence of agency theory, legitimacy theory and resources-based perspectives., Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

PurposeThis study aims to draw on the New Zealand context to provide extensions and comparative insights to prior research that has canvassed the reasons for sustainability reporting by local governments. A base is provided from which more extensive and theoretically grounded research can proceed.Design/methodology/approachSemi‐structured exploratory interviews were conducted in mid‐2009 in each of five local government councils in New Zealand with the person responsible for preparing the sustainability report.FindingsLocal governments in New Zealand were prompted to engage in sustainability reporting for reasons of leadership, accountability, and financial incentive; and by a need to bolster important internal stakeholders. Sustainability reporting by local governments in New Zealand does not appear to be motivated strongly by an idealistic desire to ensure a sustainable world, but more by pragmatism and economic rationalism.Originality/valueNew Zealand provides a unique setting in which to explore why local governments prepare sustainability reports. New Zealand has a statutory requirement for local governments to adopt a principles‐based approach to sustainable development. Additionally, public relations crisis management theory is drawn upon to provide some fresh perspective on reasons for sustainability reporting.

Destructive narcissism is recognized increasingly as a serious impairment to good corporate leadership and ethical conduct. The Chief Executive Officer’s letter to shareholders (an important formal corporate communications medium) has potential to provide linguistic traces of destructive narcissism and insight to aspects of corporate leadership and the ambient ethical culture of a company. We demonstrate this potential through selective analyses of the letters of the Chief Executive Officers of Enron, Starbucks, and General Motors.

In Portugal, a concept of taxable income associated closely with reported accounting income is used to determine the tax liability of firms. Recently, the Portuguese government legislated to introduce a system of “special payment on account” (SPA). Firms were required to pay an amount of income tax in advance that varied between a promulgated minimum and maximum. Although such a tax is unique to Portugal, other countries have tax arrangements that are similar in intent. Thus, Portugal’s experience with the introduction of a SPA regime is likely to be instructive in fiscal policy deliberations in other settings. We assess the extent to which the SPA tax policy measure encouraged private Portuguese companies to manipulate earnings. We find that earnings manipulation appears to have been motivated by desire to minimize SPA. Firms whose estimate of SPA liability fell within the range of minimum and maximum limits of the SPA had higher levels of discretionary accruals than firms whose estimate was (equal to or) above the ceiling imposed by the new legislation. Firms with higher rates of income tax were found to reduce earnings to near zero. Firms with higher average income tax rates were more likely to manipulate their earnings than other firms. Our results reinforce the importance for auditors, stakeholders, and tax policy advisors to be alert to the close association between tax planning considerations and reported earnings in their monitoring, analysis, and policy advising activities., Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

We assess the value relevance of the amounts for identifiable intangible assets and goodwill reported in the financial statements of all non-finance companies listed on the main market of the Portuguese Stock Exchange from 1998 to 2008. Additionally, we use panel data to explore the impact on value relevance of Portugal’s formal adoption of International Accounting Standards [IAS] and International Financial Reporting Standards [IFRS] in 2005. A distinctive feature of the accounting by our sample companies is that when they adopted IAS 38 and IFRS 3 in 2005, they were no longer required to recognise some intangible assets (such as start-up costs and research expenditures) and were no longer required to amortise goodwill. We find that net earnings, reported goodwill and other intangible assets are highly significantly associated with stock price. However, whereas earnings are related positively to stock prices when Portuguese Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) were applied prior to 2005, the value relevance of earnings appears to have declined after the adoption of IAS/IFRS in 2005. Although the change to IAS/IFRS had no impact on the value relevance of identifiable intangibles as a whole, the evidence suggests that there was a positive effect on the value relevance of goodwill. When the subclasses of identifiable intangible assets are considered, we found evidence of an increase in value relevance of goodwill, other intangible assets, and research and development expenditures.

This response to Alexander (2010) clarifies the approach taken in Smieliauskas et al. (2008). Here we elaborate further on the significance of the accounting risk concept for fairness of presentation in financial reporting. In the process we show how Alexander's potentially important concept of accounting policy risk can be made operational via the concept of accounting risk.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse voluntary disclosures of intellectual capital (IC) items in the sustainability reports of Portuguese companies. The paper aims to highlight the level, pattern and determinants of IC disclosures in those sustainability reports; and the potential for sustainability reports to be a medium for IC disclosures.Design/methodology/approachAn index of voluntary disclosure of intangibles is constructed and deployed to analyse IC disclosures in the sustainability reports for 2006 of Portuguese firms, published on the web site of the Portugal's Business Council for Sustainability Development. Four hypotheses are tested about associations between that disclosure index and firm‐specific variables.FindingsDisclosure of information about IC is more likely in sustainability reports of firms that have a higher level of application of the Global Reporting Initiative framework, and are listed companies.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is cross‐sectional. Subjective judgment is involved in constructing the disclosure index.Practical implicationsThe observed level and pattern of disclosure of IC information suggests that the preparation of a sustainability report is an opportune starting point for the development of IC reporting.Originality/valueThe study highlights the determinants of IC disclosures in sustainability reports; the high incidence of such disclosures; and points to the enhancement of legitimacy and reputation as potential incentives for firms to engage in such practice.

We have to get the word out. It is not over. People still want to read! Nashville librarian Donna Nicely (Patchett, 2009, p. W3) Lister's (2010) proposal to expand the reading base of accounting st...

We describe a successful, semester-length writing skills development programme conducted at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) with intermediate level undergraduate financial accounting students. The programme focused on improving students' writing in five competency areas: organization, grammar, style, professional writing and case writing. Effectiveness was assessed by means of a quasi-experiment involving a pre-test, post-test design with a treatment group and a control group. Comparison of entry and exit test scores of students in the treatment group with those in the control group revealed a highly statistically significant increase in the writing skills of the treatment group. The programme outlined is not presented as a template for emulation, but rather to prompt educators to ponder how they might address the challenge of improving (and assessing) the writing skills of students.

Neo-institutional theory can increase understanding of an organization's general response to social and environmental issues and social activism. More particularly, it can frame an organization's accounting responses. The analytical schema proposed by Lounsbury (1997) is deployed to explore social and environmental accounting issues that occurred in two local government authorities—one in Canada, one in England. Our analysis highlights possibilities for better and more complete theories of organizational transformation, and social and environmental accounting. We stress the importance of ethical values and ecological thinking if change (including accounting change) is to help institutions behave in a way that is conducive to achieving a sustainable future.

We add texture to the conclusion of Duchon and Drake (Journal of Business Ethics, 85, 2009, 301) that extreme narcissism is associated with unethical conduct. We argue that the special features possessed by financial accounting facilitate extreme narcissism in susceptible CEOs. In particular, we propose that extremely narcissistic CEOs are key players in a recurring discourse cycle facilitated by financial accounting language and measures. Such CEOs project themselves as the corporation they lead, construct a narrative about the corporation and themselves using financial accounting measures, and then reflect on how their accounting-constructed performance is perceived by stakeholders. We do not present empirical evidence about whether the use of accounting language and measures leads to unethical behaviour by extreme narcissistic CEOs – although the conclusions of Duchon and Drake (2009) suggest empirical support is probable. Rather, we focus on developing alertness to the potential for accounting, when engaged by an extremely narcissistic CEO, to be a precursor or implement of unethical behaviour.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse company‐specific factors associated with adoption of risk‐based auditing. It seeks to explore the role of internal auditing in enterprise risk management (ERM).Design/methodology/approachFindings are drawn from a questionnaire survey, sent in 2006, to all 96 chief internal auditors who were members of the Institute of Portuguese Internal Auditors.FindingsIn planning an annual schedule of audits, the adoption of a risk‐based approach is statistically significant in international firms (p≤0.05) and companies listed on the Portuguese stock market (p≤0.10). There is a strong (but not significant) association between risk‐based annual audit planning and entities which are private, in the finance sector, and large. In planning each audit engagement, adoption of a risk‐based approach is correlated positively with entity size. Internal auditing is more proactive in the implementation of ERM in smaller organisations, and is more important in the finance industry and the private sector.Practical implicationsA better understanding emerges of factors associated with the adoption of risk‐based auditing, together with an enhanced appreciation of the role of internal auditing in ERM.Originality/valueThe paper reveals the specific characteristics of companies that are associated with the adoption of risk‐based approaches in the internal audit process. It is the first paper published about risk‐based internal auditing in Portugal.

This paper extends the conversation about metaphors in accounting that were presented in this journal by McGoun et al. [McGoun EG, Bettner MS, Coyne MP. Pedagogic metaphors and the nature of accounting signification. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2007a;18:213–30; McGoun EG, Bettner MS, Coyne MP. Money n’ motion—born to be wild. Critical Perspectives on Accounting;2007b;18:343–61.]. Our aim is to promote further critical conversations about how metaphor is implicated in accounting. We assemble and review some of the empirical evidence we have gathered from close readings of discourse about accounting over the past decade. Based on this empirical grounding, we propose that the fundamental conceptual metaphor, ACCOUNTING IS AN INSTRUMENT, has been deployed commonly to describe the essence of accounting. We contend that such deployment has insidious, distortive and confounding outcomes because it encourages belief that accounting is incapable of reporting other than with representational faithfulness; and that it confounds the (alleged) primary qualitative characteristics of accounting information (relevance and reliability) outlined in the Financial Accounting Standards Board's SFAC 2 Qualitative Characteristics of Accounting.

This paper draws upon Althusser [Althusser L, Ideology and ideological state apparatuses (notes towards an investigation). In: Althusser L, editor. Lenin and philosophy and other essays [Brewster B, Trans.]. London: New Left Books; 1971] to conceive two teachers of commercial subjects as apparatchiks serving an ideological state apparatus in order to diffuse a state ideology. We explore the lives of Joao Henrique de Sousa and Albert Jaqueri de Sales, the first two teachers of the Portuguese School of Commerce, established in Lisbon in 1759. Sousa and Sales were important propagators of commercial knowledge and mercantilist State ideology during the regime of the Marquis of Pombal (Chief Minister of Portugal, 1756–1777). We explore their role as operatives of an “ideological state apparatus” and the contribution they made to the growth of indigenous commercial know-how and the development of the Portuguese economy. We explore how their status in Portuguese society was related to the fortunes of the regime they served.

PurposeThis paper is the third in a trilogy of papers to explore the use of accounting as a fundamental element in senior management's narrative regarding the privatization of a major transportation enterprise, Canadian National Railway (CN). The paper aims to examine how two accounting performance benchmarks (the operating ratio, and free cash flow) were deployed to help sustain a rhetoric of post‐privatization success. The aptness (and the danger) of accounting language in strategic narrative is highlighted.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the importance of senior management discourse in the aftermath of a privatization. A narrative perspective is adopted, in which an imagined future post‐privatization era initially articulated in accounting language is then told and re‐told as the post‐privatization years unfold. Accounting performance measures highlighted in the story of success of the privatization in the Annual Letters to Shareholders by the CEOs of CN in the ten years following privatization in 1995, and celebrated in the Annual Report, are examined critically.FindingsThe results emphasize the important features and role of accounting language and accounting‐based performance benchmark measures in the narrative construction of the success of a privatization by corporate leaders.Research limitations/implicationsCase studies possess the strength of specific instance detail and interpretation, and the ostensible weakness of interpretation of a sample of one. But such research can provide for a reframing of conceptual perspectives and stimulate additional efforts to interrogate the role of accounting language in events of major social change.Practical implicationsThe paper strongly endorses the adoption of a critical analytical perspective by those affected by a major social change (such as a privatization) in which the role of accounting language is subtle, but nonetheless persuasive and enduring.Originality/valueThe paper examines a case study in which the narrative framing of success is made rhetorically potent by deploying accounting performance measures. The paper reinforces the view that accounting is not an innocent bystander in the political and narrative manoeuvrings associated with a privatization. Accounting does not axiomatically provide an objective measure of some underlying financial truth, but is part of an arsenal of rhetoric to achieve political ends.

This article examines argumentation factors which affect the truth of an audit opinion. We propose that the auditor's report be revised to replace the words ‘true and fair view’ with ‘acceptable risk of material misstatement’. This would better align the communication of auditors with the characteristics of accounting information upon which they report. Adoption of the wording ‘acceptable risk of material misstatement’ will facilitate a better appreciation by users of financial statements of the accounting estimates in financial statements.

This paper uses ordinal regression, structural equation modelling, and multivariate analysis techniques to investigate the preparedness to adopt IFRS that was exhibited by listed Portuguese companies in August 2003. We find the level of preparedness was significantly associated with company size, commercial internationalization, audit by a ‘Big 4’ accounting firm, and profitability. Our findings will help to indicate the pre-conditions that are likely to spur lagging companies (and countries) to prepare to implement IFRS.

Amid the losses of library and archival records that were sustained in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the director-general of the national archive of Portugal, Manoel da Maya, played an inspirational role in salvage and preservation efforts. Maya’s determination, dedication, and resourcefulness in the aftermath of the earthquake were exemplary and in the best traditions of practice as an archivist.

We analyse the corpus of CEO letters to stockholders that were signed by a widely revered business leader, Jack Welch, during his tenure as CEO of the General Electric Company [GE], 1981—2000. Our discussion is located within theory pertaining to transformational leadership. We examine Welch's language from the standpoint of how transformational leadership can be conceived as a rhetorical artefact of one-sided dialogue emanating from a powerful leader. We give particular attention to the saturation of Welch's discourse with metaphors, and argue that metaphors illuminate how transformational leadership and the accompanying construct of charisma manifest themselves in practice. Five root metaphors that heightened Welch's persuasive and rhetorical impact on his audience are identified and discussed: Welch as pedagogue , physician, architect, commander and saint . We advocate greater awareness of the rhetorical techniques employed by transformational leaders in attempts to broker compliance with their views.

In an era of heightened university accountability, characterised by research assessment exercises, ‘league tables’, and annual staff performance reviews, few academics would deny the ever-present p...

This paper applies an innovative approach to explore the processes, effects and likely future progress of the convergence of national accounting standards with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Particular use is made of the Hegelian dialectic concepts of thesis, antithesis and synthesis; notions of isomorphism and decoupling; and, to a lesser extent, Foucault's concept of power–knowledge. Factors that are likely to explain the extent, rhythm and pattern of convergence of national accounting standards with IFRS are discussed. The paper concludes by highlighting four matters that are thought likely to enhance understanding of the process of international accounting standards harmonization; and by averring that the international harmonization process is a dialectical process influenced by belief systems that are constructed in a context of isomorphism and decoupling.

PurposeThe paper highlights the strategic importance of being alert to the power of the language and words used by CEOs in their various communications – their CEO‐speak.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs a close reading analysis of several contemporary examples of one of the most significant genres of CEO‐speak – the CEO's annual letter to stockholders.FindingsFour perspectives important for understanding corporate strategy are highlighted: the importance of CEO‐speak as a linguistic marker of CEO narcissism; the revealing nature of metaphors chosen by CEOs; the potential rhetorical potency that arises from the way CEO‐speak is framed; and the significance of cultural keywords.Research limitations/implicationsCase examples, such as the close readings in this article, possess the strength of specific instance detail and interpretation, and the ostensible weakness arising from interpretation of small samples. But such research may provide for a reframing of conceptual perspectives and practical approaches.Practical implicationsThe case examples and advice provided will help business executives and corporate stakeholders to monitor the quality of CEO‐speak, engage CEO‐speak more effectively for strategic purposes, and improve CEO text and leadership‐through‐language.Originality/valueReaders are reminded of the power of CEO text, the benefits of subjecting it to greater scrutiny, and are provided with some practical, operational advice.

Prior to the eighteenth century, commercial (including accounting) knowledge was acquired principally from on-the-job training and courses conducted in private schools. However, in eighteenth century Europe, the State began to participate directly in the provision of commercial (including accounting) education through the establishment of public schools of commerce.This article explores changes in commercial education in eighteenth-century Portugal and the role the state played in those changes. It attempts to falsify the claim that the Portuguese School of Commerce, established in Lisbon in 1759, was Europe’s first official, government-sponsored school to offer formal instruction in commerce, including in double-entry bookkeeping. The archival and literature searches conducted, and the various other enquiries we have made are such that we are unable to falsify the claim.The results point to the likelihood that the Portuguese School of Commerce was the first government sponsored business school in Europe.

We review theoretical arguments, research methods and empirical findings of 57 Chinese and English language studies of corporate environmental reporting (CER) in China. The studies reviewed highlight the influential role of the Chinese government in driving change in CER, especially since 2008. They reveal that few of the associations reported in Western capital markets research between company characteristics and CER (other than size and industry) were found in studies of CER in China. Agency theory prevailed in Chinese language studies of CER in China whereas institutional theory was more popular in English language studies. Theoretical foundation of CER research relating to China needs to be more sensitive to the efficacy of transporting Western-based theories to the Chinese context. We draw attention to the potential of using institutional theory to frame analysis of Chinese CER. We call for future research into CER in China to adopt a more flexible theoretical perspective, to be more conscious of distinctive Chinese company characteristics, and to integrate macro and micro contextual factors more strongly.