Purpose This research aims to explore whether an emerging “Artificial Intelligence (AI) divide” is developing in local public accounting due to disparities in professional attitudes, financial capacity, technological resources and political governance. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was employed using survey data from 172 Spanish municipalities, combined with real financial and political indicators. A linear regression model with clustered standard errors was applied to test the hypotheses. Findings Findings are consistent with an emerging AI divide in local public accounting in terms of uneven intention to use AI and institutional readiness conditions. Results indicate that public accountants are willing to assume the learning effort required to use AI when clear benefits and a legitimising environment are present. Regarding structural conditions, municipalities with stronger financial sustainability and higher economic development display greater readiness, while advanced technological resources diminish intention, potentially reflecting institutional inertia. In addition, the findings suggest that AI readiness is becoming a cross-cutting priority that depends on governments’ ability to articulate coherent strategies. Originality/value This study provides actionable value for public accountants and governments by clarifying how they can prevent an AI divide from emerging. Public accountants can assess digital readiness, advocate for training and resources and take a strategic role in leading AI-driven innovation. For local governments, it provides guidance on creating enabling conditions for AI adoption through pilots, strategic planning, financial stability and inter-municipal cooperation, while highlighting how higher-level administrations can support cohesion through shared services and capacity-building.
Purpose This study aims to examine how hidden cost calculations produced through the Socio-Economic Approach to Management (SEAM) mediate organizational sensemaking and professionalization in a crisis-stricken small family-owned business. Design/methodology/approach An intervention-research design using the SEAM and its Qualimetrics protocol, based on a longitudinal case study of a Lebanese industrial small family-owned business. Findings Hidden cost calculations made informal dysfunctions visible, discussable and connectable to managerial routines, functioning as mediating accounting representations rather than mechanically triggering change. Post-intervention figures are interpreted as part of the intervention record, not as causal proof of effectiveness. Research limitations/implications As a single intervention-research case, the findings are analytically rather than statistically generalizable. The hidden cost figures are negotiated estimates produced within the intervention and are not read as independent causal measurements of performance improvement. Practical implications For owner-managers, hidden cost accounting may offer a route to professionalization by translating coordination delays, rework, skill gaps and idle time into financial terms, supporting prioritization without immediate bureaucratic expansion. Social implications By making internal sources of loss visible and discussable, hidden cost accounting may help crisis-stricken firms protect productive capacity and shift from reactive cost cutting toward organizational learning. Originality/value The study contributes to interpretive management accounting and organizational change literature by showing how a socio-economic intervention can produce calculative representations through which crisis-stricken small family-owned businesses reinterpret internal dysfunctions and negotiate professionalization.
Purpose This study aims to examine how the attributes of reported sustainability indicators can be used to infer the reporting strategies organisations adopt. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on institutional, stakeholder and legitimacy theories, we reviewed the sustainability reporting literature to identify key reporting strategies and related indicator attributes, including reporting frequency, stakeholder focus and the direction and sensitivity of information. These attributes informed a global reporting initiative (GRI)-based coding framework, which we applied to 2,184 GRI-based sustainability reports from 364 US-listed firms in the Forbes Global 2000 between 2018 and 2023. Frequency data were analysed quantitatively, while the remaining attributes were independently coded and mapped to GRI performance indicators. Descriptive trend analysis, comparative distribution analysis and regression models were then used to examine how disclosure profiles differed across reporting groups and evolved over time. The framework was subsequently applied across the sample to identify and compare firms’ reporting strategies. Findings Indicator attributes reveal strategic differences not visible from disclosure counts alone. Firms with similar disclosure volumes may allocate reporting attention very differently across indicators, stakeholders and disclosure types, while firms with differing disclosure volumes may exhibit similar reporting profiles. The findings show that increases in disclosure volume do not necessarily correspond to broader disclosure coverage or more inclusive reporting strategies. Although reporting levels generally increased over time, disclosure profiles changed only modestly, with firms largely maintaining similar reporting orientations across the study period. A firm’s reporting approach may also appear broader under one theoretical lens but selective or concentrated under another, highlighting the importance of using multiple perspectives when assessing sustainability disclosure strategies. Originality/value The study shows the value of examining sustainability reports through multiple theoretical perspectives and introduces a structured, theory-informed approach for analysing reporting content.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adoption of sustainability principles by Iranian firms in their strategic planning, risk management and management accounting (MA) practices. It aims to build a structural model that demonstrates how industry-driven, sustainable risk assessment tools can enhance organizational responsibility, adaptability and adherence. Design/methodology/approach The research adopted a survey approach, serving 103 Iranian companies from different sectors of the business world. To examine these relations of strategic planning, sustainable risk assessment tools and integration of sustainability in MA systems, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used. Procedural and statistical remedies were used to check and control the common method bias. Findings The findings indicate that enterprises using sustainable risk assessment instruments are significantly more advanced with respect to the inclusion of environmental issues in MA. Environmental and social risk assessments are highly determined by strategic planning, as sustainable risk assessment tools become an important mediator between the integration of sustainability in MA and global organizational sustainability performance. Yet, there are many companies without unit-level sustainability departments or that still report sustainability within the traditional accounting systems, suggesting enduring institutional and structural impediments. Originality/value In this early empirical research in Iran, the relationship between sustainability and risk assessment and MA is explored using SEM. By embedding the sustainability integration concept in a developing economy, this study supplements the limited literature on sustainable MA in a non-Western context.
Purpose This paper aims to explore the external and internal determinants of dysfunctional audit behavior in the Tunisian context using a cognitive approach. Design/methodology/approach The authors’ methodological approach is based on a cognitive approach. The authors use the cognitive mapping method to analyze 12 auditors’ cognitive maps in Tunisia. A collective map was grounded through assembling the full individual maps. Findings Using the Decision Explorer software for this analysis, the authors find that time budget pressure, client importance, turnover intention and job burnout are the most significant factors that can lead to dysfunctional audit behavior among Tunisian auditors. Practical implications This study’s findings help audit firms to identify the most significant factors that increase the probability of engaging in dysfunctional audit behavior. Furthermore, this paper contributed to the researchers, auditors and educators in further understanding of the factors that lead to dysfunctional behavior among auditors. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first to examine internal and external factors that contribute to dysfunctional audit behavior using a cognitive approach. This paper contributes to the literature on accounting by analyzing the determinants of dysfunctional behavior based on attribution theory.
