Review of Elices Agudo, Juan Francisco (2004). Historical and theoretical approaches to English satire. München: Lincom Studies in English Linguistics

The origins of satire lead us to the origins of Western civilisation, both in its practice and in its earliest theorisation (Horace, Juvenal)1. Its complexity has always attracted the interest of criticism. Having this perspective in mind, the author has sought to provide a systematic analysis of satire that covers both aspects of history and theory. The work under analysis has therefore aimed to cope with those aspects which are essential to understand the peculiarities, functioning and implications of satire

Towards a Historical Synthesis of the Concept of Irony.

The present essay aims to analyse the ways in which the concept of irony, characterised by its great versatility, has been approached throughout history, and how the different historical trends may have influenced the way it is understood nowadays, especially in the framework of relevance theory. Then it focuses upon the evolution of the recurrent traits of the relevance approach and relates it to other contemporary proposals. Finally, it refers to the latest trends in the investigation of irony and suggests possible lines of development or further research both within relevance theory and in other approaches

Transparencia y rendición de cuentas en las Empresas de Inserción

Work integration social enterprises (WISE) are under pressure in two different regards. On the one hand, they have to participate in the market and compete with other firms, ensuring that they are sustainable in terms of prices, costs and quality. On the other hand, they endeavour to offer a means of social integration through employment. WISE must therefore show their efficiency from both an economic and a social perspective, justifying their usefulness and legitimacy to all the social actors. In order to be seen as socially legitimate they must do more than simply abide by the legal regulations; they must resort to accountability tools that provide greater transparency and responsibility than any other market entity. This paper presents an accountability model based on our experience with Aragonese WISE, theories of accountability in NPOs and a review of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).Social enterprises, transparency, social impact, accountability.

Utilidad de la Información Financiera para la Gestión de las Entidades Privada no Lucrativas

El notable protagonismo experimentado por las entidades no lucrativas en los sistemas económicos y la relevancia social que han adquirido impulsó la emisión de normas contables dirigidas a su rendición de cuentas. La utilidad para la toma de decisiones constituye la finalidad esencial de la información financiera, y en este marco se sitúa la adaptación del Plan General de Contabilidad para las entidades no lucrativas, diseñada por el ICAC y publicada en 1998. En este trabajo se aborda el análisis de la utilidad de la información financiera exigida por esta regulación desde el punto de vista de los usuarios internos. Para ello, hemos realizado una encuesta a responsables de la gestión económico-financiera de las asociaciones de utilidad pública españolas, recabando su opinión y valoración sobre las distintas áreas de la información financiera y presupuestaria.Los resultados de la encuesta permiten constatar que los responsables de la gestión utilizan la información financiera para diversas tareas de gestión, aunque se sigue considerando muy relevante su utilidad para la rendición de cuentas. Destaca sin embargo, la baja utilidad asignada al estado del presupuesto y su liquidación, en contra de lo que cabía esperar a priori.The relevant increase of the role of non profit organizations in the economic systems and their high social impact has induced accounting standard setters to introduce financial reporting standards for these entities. Usefulness for decision-taking is the main purpose for financial reporting and, in this context, was introduced the adaptation of the General Accounting Plan for non profit organizations. The present study analyses the usefulness of financial reporting required to non profit entities from a management perspective. For carrying out this goal, we sent a questionnaire to managers of Spanish public utility associations to know their opinion about the compulsory financial reporting. Our results show that managers of these entities use financial reporting for management purposes, although financial reporting is still basically relevant for accountability purposes. However, the budgetary statement is not very used

Universidad y desarrollo sostenible: Análisis de la rendición de cuentas de las universidades del G9 desde un enfoque de responsabilidad social

La integración de la cultura de la responsabilidad social constituye uno de los ejes centrales de la Estrategia Universidad 2015 como elemento fundamental del compromiso de la Universidad española con la sociedad y con su tiempo. Entre las acciones a acometer, las universidades responsables deben garantizar la rendición de cuentas mediante el establecimiento de mecanismos de comunicación que satisfagan las necesidades de información de los distintos grupos de interés. Este trabajo trata de medir, mediante la elaboración de índices de información, hasta qué punto la información revelada por un grupo de universidades españolas responde a los criterios de rendición de cuentas desde el enfoque de la denominada “triple bottom line”. Los resultados muestran diferencias importantes entre las universidades, poniendo de manifiesto la falta de una cultura de rendición de cuentas en las universidades españolas que responda a criterios de sostenibilidad.Responsabilidad social universitaria, rendición de cuentas, indicadores de sostenibilidad, transparencia.

Incidencia de aflatoxinas B1, B2, G1 y G2 en raciones alimenticias de ganado ovino, y de aflatoxinas M1 en leche de oveja (abstract)

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Evaluating sustainability in organisations with a fuzzy logic approach

Purpose - To determine whether the organisations more strategically committed to its stakeholders present better social and financial performance and, based on this relationship, know the state of the art of the Spanish sectors’ approach to the sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach - This paper analyses the sustainability approach of a sample of 52 Spanish listed firms. This process is based on the study of different indexes generated in order to evaluate the company’s commitment through its stakeholders, the social and financial performance of these organisations, and the relationship between them. Previous results showed a positive and not significant relationship between these variables and a positive financial performance. This paper replicates a former research by introducing a fuzzy- logic- based methodology in order to generate the aforementioned indexes. Findings -The current results support the conclusions formerly obtained and simultaneously demonstrate that the big Spanish companies are at an incipient stage of development of a clearly sustainability - oriented management. Research limitations/implications - The unavailability of a long series of organisations sustainability information is an obstacle for a broader analysis. This research could motivate the usefulness of the fuzzy logic methodology for analysing the business sustainability approach and to develop studies on the corporate social performance. Originality/value - The use of fuzzy logic methodology for the generation of indexes related to the organisations social responsibility and sustainability result

Composición en ácidos grasos de la leche de oveja Assaf y modificación en el perfil de ácidos grasos libres del queso de Teruel durante la maduración

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