Incerteza da envolvente e relevância da informação financeira e não financeira na tomada de decisão: um estudo empírico

Nos últimos anos, muitos autores consideram que a informação financeira perdeu alguma relevância para a tomada de decisão, nomeadamente em contextos de maior incerteza (Chenhall e Morris, 1986; Johnson e Kaplan, 1987; Vaivio, 1999; Baines e Langfield-Smith, 2003). Contudo, alguns estudos indicam que em determinadas situações esta informação continua a ser mais relevante que a informação não financeira. Perante resultados contraditórios, o principal objectivo deste trabalho consiste em analisar, por um lado, a relação entre a incerteza da envolvente e a utilização de informação contabilística. E, por outro lado, averiguar qual a relevância atribuída à informação financeira e não financeira na tomada de decisão. Para o efeito foram recolhidos dados através de inquérito por questionário enviado às grandes empresas da indústria transformadora a operar em Portugal, e obteve-se uma taxa de resposta de 23%. Os resultados obtidos indicam que em contextos de maior incerteza é atribuída maior relevância à informação não financeira. No entanto, a informação financeira continua a ser mais relevante que a informação não financeira relacionada com processos, operações e trabalhadores. Verifica-se também uma associação positiva entre o uso de informação financeira e não financeira, o que demonstra a complementaridade desta informação

Contributions to the measurement and management of intellectual capital: an accounting perspective

Intellectual capital (IC) represents a set of strategic assets, with an intangible nature, which contributes to the creation of competitive advantages and sustainable value, therefore should be identified, measure managed and published by organizations

The impact of environmental uncertainty on accounting information relevance and performance: a contingency approach

This paper examines the association between environmental uncertainty, accounting information relevance, and organizational performance. From a contingency approach, this paper attempts to contribute to a stream of research that investigates the relationship between accounting information relevance and organizational performance. The presence of environmental uncertainty in this relationship has not been fully established. This paper contributes to this area by suggesting a framework to study and explain this connection. An online questionnaire-based survey was conducted, which produced 119 valid responses (a response rate of 23%) from large manufacturing companies operating in Portugal. The results suggest that in contexts of environmental uncertainty, the relevance of non-financial information increases. However, the relevance of financial information continues to outstrip that of non-financial information. The results also suggest that financial information and non-financial information are complementary, and not substitutes, and can be used simultaneously in different situations. These results have several implications for professionals involved in decision-making activities. It offers findings which are potentially useful for both theory and practice. The study addresses an identified gap in the literature and adds to the existing body of work analyzing the association between environmental uncertainty, accounting information relevance for decision-making purposes, and organizational performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The evaluation of student-centredness of teaching and learning: a new mixed-methods approach.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to develop and consider the usefulness of a new mixed-methods approach to evaluate the student-centredness of teaching and learning on undergraduate medical courses. An essential paradigm for the evaluation was the coherence between how teachers conceptualise their practice (espoused theories) and their actual practice (theories-in-use). METHODS: The context was a module within an integrated basic sciences course in an undergraduate medical degree programme. The programme had an explicit intention of providing a student-centred curriculum. A content analysis framework based on Weimer's dimensions of student-centred teaching was used to analyze data collected from individual interviews with seven teachers to identify espoused theories and 34h of classroom observations and one student focus group to identify theories-in-use. The interviewees were identified by purposeful sampling. The findings from the three methods were triangulated to evaluate the student-centredness of teaching and learning on the course. RESULTS: Different, but complementary, perspectives of the student-centredness of teaching and learning were identified by each method. The triangulation of the findings revealed coherence between the teachers' espoused theories and theories-in-use. CONCLUSIONS: A mixed-methods approach that combined classroom observations with interviews from a purposeful sample of teachers and students offered a useful evaluation of the extent of student-centredness of teaching and learning of this basic science course. Our case study suggests that this new approach is applicable to other courses in medical education

The usefulness of accounting information and management accounting practices under environmental uncertainty

The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly, we aim to investigate the relationships among environmental uncertainty, broad-scope and timely management accounting information usefulness, and (traditional and contemporary) management accounting practices (MAPs) usage. Secondly, we intend to explore how these relationships influence decision-makers’ satisfaction with management accounting information. Survey data were obtained through an online questionnaire from 114 large manufacturing companies operating in Portugal. The findings indicate a positive relationship between environmental uncertainty and timely management accounting information usefulness and between (broad-scope and timely) management accounting information usefulness and (traditional and contemporary) MAPs usage. The findings also show that decision-makers’ satisfaction with management accounting information improves when there is a good fit between environmental uncertainty, broad-scope and timely management accounting information usefulness, and MAPs usage. In this way, organisations need to adjust the implementation and usage of MAPs to contextual factors, using both contemporary and traditional MAPs, to achieve greater decision-makers’ satisfaction with management accounting information. Thus, the results achieved in this study are useful for both theory and practice and have several implications for professionals engaged in MAPs implementation and decision-making activities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Strategic management accounting: definitions and dimensions

The purposes of this paper are twofold: firstly it aims to discuss prior definitions of strategic management accounting (SMA) in order to understand the main purposes and the scope of SMA; secondly the management accountant’s participation in the strategic decision-making and SMA practices are discussed. The SMA literature review shows us that there is no consensus in the SMA definition. However, there is some common elements in the SMA definitions, such as: i) a development of management accounting with a strategic orientation; ii) an external orientation (outward-looking orientation); and, iii) an orientation for future (forward-looking orientation). In addition, SMA adopts both financial and non-financial measurement typologies and an orientation to internal resources and organizational capabilities (intellectual capital). There is also some consensus on the main purpose. SMA must cooperate and provide strategic information for the strategic management, marketing, and other managerial functions. The purpose is to create and achieve competitive advantages and enhance organizational performance. To accomplish this goal SMA considers two dimensions related with the management accountant’s participation in the strategic decisionmaking process and a set of SMA practices. Therefore, this paper contributes to a better understanding of the concept and scope of SMA and its two dimensions. In this sense, it assists practitioners and researchers to understand, adopt, use, and research the SMA.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Digital entrepreneurship and sustainability: the state of the art and research agenda

Digital technologies have changed and disrupted the dynamics of the economy and society as a whole, offering new opportunities for entrepreneurs with potential impact on economic, environmental, and social value creation. This paper examines the scientific research on digital entrepreneurship (DE) and sustainability based on data from Scopus database. The main purpose is to identify both the predominant themes and further research opportunities to this topic. This study uses a bibliometric analysis, analyzing and synthesizing research on DE and sustainability, based on a total of 58 publications. Co-word analysis used to identify the conceptual structure reveals three thematic clusters: (1) innovation and entrepreneurship, (2) digital transformation: strategy and business models, and (3) sustainability and sustainable development goals. For each thematic cluster, the most significant contributions are presented. Further, this paper offers a future research agenda and holds significant implications for the theory and practice of the different subtopics of DE and sustainability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An analysis of the use of accounting information by portuguese SMEs

Despite the significant economic contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), little is known about the extent to which they make use of accounting information (AI). Although AI is considered one of the main sources of information for SMEs, many continue to ignore its potential, considering that this information is only intended to meet tax obligations. The literature stresses the influence of several factors on AI usage. However, the conclusions of the studies are fragmented, contradictory, and not very enlightening. Following these studies, the purpose of this paper is to explore which characteristics of decision makers, companies, and accounting services influence the importance and use of AI in SMEs. Data were collected through an online questionnaire survey applied to Portuguese SMEs. The findings show that the decision makers’ level of education, as well as their educational background, influence the importance they attribute to AI. It has also been found that smaller companies and SMEs that use outsourced accounting services make the least use of AI. Therefore, in addition to providing empirical evidence on the importance and use of AI, a debate that has been mainly theoretical, and on the importance of SMEs in any economy, this paper aims to raise awareness of the need to further study the decision-making process in such firms.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estabilidad oxidativa de aceites de soja y maíz enriquecidos con extracto hidroalcohólico de Pluchea quitoc

Soybean and corn oils are among the most popular vegetable oils, and are ingredients which are widely used in cooking and in the food industry. These oils contain many unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids, which makes them easily oxidized by oxygen. Extensive efforts are being made to prevent or minimize vegetable oil oxidation through the development of antioxidants. Phenolic antioxidants which are present in some extracts can be used as food additives to prevent lipid oxidation. In this study chromatographic analyses (HPLC and GC) of the Pluchea quitoc hydroalcoholic extract were performed. The content of phenolic compounds by the Folin-Ciocalteau method and the antioxidant properties against radicals 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) were also evaluated. The effect of samples prepared with soybean and corn oils enriched with Pluchea quitoc hydroalcoholic extract was determined and compared with samples of these oils which were free of antioxidants and with samples containing the synthetic antioxidant BHT. The results showed potential for application of the extract. A high content of phenolic compounds (314 milligrams of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g of extract) and good IC50 values were detected for the inhibition of the radicals DPPH and ABTS (13.2 µg·mL-1 and 5.6 µg·mL-1). In the evaluation of the oxidative stability of the oils enriched with this extract, it was found that at 1% concentration it was possible to obtain values of induction period (IP) close to the samples with added BHT.Los aceites de soja y maíz se encuentran entre los aceites vegetales más populares, ingredientes ampliamente utilizados en la cocina y también en la industria alimentaria. Estos aceites contienen muchos ácidos grasos insaturados como los ácidos oleico, linoleico y linolénico que se oxidan fácilmente con el oxígeno. Se están realizando grandes esfuerzos para prevenir o minimizar la oxidación de los aceites vegetales mediante el desarrollo de antioxidantes. Los antioxidantes fenólicos presentes en algunos extractos se pueden utilizar como aditivos alimentarios para prevenir la oxidación de lípidos. En este estudio se realizó la obtención y análisis cromatográficos (HPLC y GC) del extracto hidroalcohólico de Pluchea quitoc. El contenido de compuestos fenólicos se evaluó por el método de Folin-Ciocalteau y las propiedades antioxidantes frente a radicales DPPH y ABTS. Se determinó el efecto de muestras preparadas con aceites de soja y maíz enriquecidas con extracto hidroalcohólico de Pluchea quitoc y se comparó con muestras de estos aceites libres de antioxidantes y con el antioxidante sintético BHT. Los resultados mostraron potencial para la aplicación del extracto. Se detectó un alto contenido de compuestos fenólicos (314 mg GAE) y buenos valores de IC50 para la inhibición de los radicales DPPH y ABTS (13.2 µg·mL-1 y 5.6 µg·mL-1). En la evaluación de la estabilidad oxidativa de los aceites enriquecidos con este extracto, se encontró que para la concentración del 1% es posible obtener valores de período de inducción (IP) cercanos a las muestras adicionadas con BHT

Model for a Universe described by a non-minimally coupled scalar field and interacting dark matter

In this work it is investigated the evolution of a Universe where a scalar field, non-minimally coupled to space-time curvature, plays the role of quintessence and drives the Universe to a present accelerated expansion. A non-relativistic dark matter constituent that interacts directly with dark energy is also considered, where the dark matter particle mass is assumed to be proportional to the value of the scalar field. Two models for dark matter pressure are considered: the usual one, pressureless, and another that comes from a thermodynamic theory and relates the pressure with the coupling between the scalar field and the curvature scalar. Although the model has a strong dependence on the initial conditions, it is shown that the mixture consisted of dark components plus baryonic matter and radiation can reproduce the expected red-shift behavior of the deceleration parameter, density parameters and luminosity distance.Comment: 11 pages and 6 figures. To appear in GR