Third sector accounting and accountability in Australia: anything but a level playing field

This research report seeks to understand why some Australian not-for-profit organisations make voluntary financial disclosures beyond their basic statutory obligations. Introduction This paper surveys previous work on voluntary information disclosures in accounting reports of Australian Not-for-Profit organisations (NFPs). This is new research and is a part of a project to evolve a comprehensive explanation of why Australian NFPs disclose what they do disclose; and to capture and explain patterns of variations between NFPs between what they regard to disclose and the type of information they disclose. To accomplish this, first some background information about the NFP sector are considered. Then, the Australian NFP sector is reviewed. Third, the information needs of some key stakeholders are briefly discussed. Next, the research methodology where a literature survey which looks at not just disclosures to NFPs but to the commercial sector that are plausibly &nbsp

Reasoning with qualitative preferences for optimization of component-based system development

A component-based system is a set of entities that work together in well-defined ways to satisfy a given requirement specified by the stakeholders for the system. This requirement can be modeled as a set of combinations of traits, which represent acceptable alternatives for providing the required functionality. A system satisfies its requirement if and only if it provides one of the required sets of traits in its entirety. Beyond the requirement, system stakeholders may also have preferences with respect to optional functionality that could be provided by a system, tradeoffs between non-functional properties, or other system design options. This work focuses on integrating support for both qualitative preference reasoning and formal verification into the component-based system design process in order to choose a set of components for the system that, when composed, will (1) satisfy the stakeholders\u27 requirement for the system and (2) provide a set of traits that is optimal with respect to the given preferences. Our primary research objective is to develop a generic, modular, end-to-end framework for developing component-based systems of any type which are correct according to the system requirement and most preferred with respect to the stakeholders\u27 preferences. Applications of the framework to problems in Web service composition, goal-oriented requirements engineering, and other areas will be discussed, along with future work toward integrating multi-stakeholder preference reasoning and partial satisfaction of traits into the framework

A preference meta-model for logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction

This paper presents an approach for specifying user preferences related to services by means of a preference meta-model, which is mapped to logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction following a Model-Driven Methodology (MDM). MDM allows to specify problem domains by means of meta-models which can be converted to instance models or other meta-models through transformation functions. In particular we propose a preference meta-model that defines an abstract preference specification language allowing users to specify preferences in a more friendly way using models. We also present a meta-model for logic programs with possibilistic order disjunction. Then we show how we conceptually map the preference meta-model to logic programs with possibilistic ordered disjunction by means of a mapping function.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Integrating Semantic Web Services Ranking Mechanisms Using a Common Preference Model

Service ranking has been long-acknowledged to play a fundamental role in helping users to select the best o erings among services retrieved from a search request. There exist many ranking mechanisms, each one providing ad hoc preference models that o er di erent levels of expressiveness. Consequently, applying a single mechanism to a particular scenario constrains the user to de ne preferences based on that mechanism's facilities. Furthermore, a more exible solution that uses several independent mechanisms will face interoperability issues because of the di erences between preference models provided by each ranking mechanism. In order to overcome these issues, we propose a Preference- based Universal Ranking Integration (PURI) framework that enables the combination of several ranking mechanisms using a common, holistic preference model. Using PURI, di erent ranking mechanisms are seamlessly and transparently integrated, o ering a single fa cade to de ne preferences using highly expressive facilities that are not only decoupled from the concrete mechanisms that perform the ranking process, but also allow to exploit synergies from the combination of integrated mechanisms. We also thoroughly present a particular application scenario in the SOA4All EU project and evaluate the bene ts and applicability of PURI in further domains

DECIDE: DevOps for Trusted, Portable and Interoperable Multi-Cloud Applications towards the Digital Single Market

The main objective of the DECIDE action is to provide a new generation of multi-cloud service-based software framework, enabling techniques and mechanisms to design, develop, and dynamically deploy multi-cloud aware applications in an ecosystem of reliable, interoperable, and legal compliant cloud services. Three use cases will be conducted to validate the proposed approach.The project leading to this paper has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731533

The unique governance context of the not for profit (NFP) boardroom: construction and execution of board member roles and processes

Presently, only a small body of literature investigates the internal processes of boards of directors using a qualitative approach, and the number of Not-For-Profit (NFP) sector board studies is even smaller. However, there is a strong argument for understanding how governance works in the NFP sector, which is increasing in both size and significance. NFP organisations also have unique characteristics that generate governance questions. Some of these characteristics include fulfilling altruistic missions and values while also remaining financially and operationally sustainable and satisfying numerous stakeholder groups. Other challenges confronting many NFP entities include legislative and funding change, technological developments and different expectations from clients with the advent of user-pays systems in more areas of service delivery. Collectively, these changes generate new challenges and responsibilities for boards. By examining the three board roles of strategy, control and resource dependence, the aim of this longitudinal case study is to understand board roles and how board members discharge their roles in the NFP environment. This case study is significant in that it investigates board roles at both the individual and collective board levels and contributes to the board studies that have either applied or called for analysis at multiple levels. The multi-level approach recognises that board work is both an individual and a collective effort. It could be argued that this study undertakes analysis at a third level, the organisational level, as the researcher often considered the effect of factors such as the organisation’s characteristics, sector and environment in which it was operating. A framework of broad accountability was applied to the data collected through observation, interviews and document analysis. The researcher spent a year and a half observing board meetings, committee meetings and strategic planning days. In addition to the considerable participant observation data collected, the researcher interviewed all board members including the Chair and all senior managers including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The researcher also obtained data from secondary sources such as board and committee papers, agendas and financial reports. An investigation of the theoretical approaches in NFP governance and similar fields reveals that a framework of broad accountability is most suitable. This is not a critical approach, but applies many of the positive aspects from critical accountability perspectives. The broad accountability approach widens the perspective of accountability beyond narrow conceptions of responsibility and transparency. It considers concepts such as formal and informal accountability, narrative and calculative aspects, and negotiable and rule-based accountability. A key finding from this study is that the board members in the case study organisation focused largely on strategy in response to external and internal factors that conditioned the strategic focus. One of the significant themes in the board’s strategic focus was the desire to balance achieving the philanthropic mission and values of the organisation while also remaining financially and operationally sustainable. The board was also sensitive to the need to navigate its professional and political relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Much of this centred around the board’s ambition to communicate to internal and external stakeholders that the organisation’s mission and values were fulfilled as well as the entity’s goal of remaining a viable organisation. This demonstrated negotiable accountability in action. Narrative and calculative accountability as well as formal accountability featured in the exercise of the strategic board role and worked to prevent “mission drift”. Another principal finding from the present study is the contribution it makes with regard to an enhanced understanding of “operational drift” and how board members prevent the practice from occurring. It is one of very few studies that investigates and identifies the techniques board members use to discharge their three roles without encroaching on senior manager roles. Broad accountability concepts of trust (negotiable accountability), upwards and downwards accountability, formal and informal accountability, and individualizing and socializing accountability were employed by board members in their efforts to avoid operational drift. The finding of “blended control” as a practice enacted by board members is a key contribution of this study. This concept builds on prior research with respect to blended strategising practices enacted by NFP leaders. The present study discovered formal and negotiable accountability practices often helped board members ensure board and organisational legitimacy existed when their control role was exercised. The motivation for achieving legitimacy was not only for the board’s benefit, but also to reassure internal and external stakeholders that the organisation was achieving its values as well as being financially and operationally sustainable

Non-financial measurements in banking industries of Sweden, Romania and Ukraine

Our study explored the use of non-financial measurements in financial services industries in Sweden, Romania and Ukraine. The countries were selected on grounds of the authors' nationality and the masters program. The analysis was focused on the use in practice of the latest theoretical developments, the non-financial indicators link with the banks’ strategies and the financial measurements and the differences in use between the three countries found at different economic development levels. The findings indicate that Swedish banks use a more mature and developed performance measurement system, which includes non-financial measurements besides financial ones. The study indicates that banks from the other two countries use a performance measurement system in its early development stages with strong influences from traditional accounting systems. The results also indicate a possible further development of the performance measurement system in Romania and Ukraine considering mainly the great influence of the foreign ownership, latest theoretical developments exposure and also the interest showed at declarative level for the non-financial dimensions