Hybridity and conflicting logics—and what if not? A historical exploration of a XIV–XVI century social entity in Venice

AbstractThis paper sets out to explore how hybrid organizations managed their established institutional complexity in the past, and what place was there for accounting in this endeavor. The paper draws on a historical case study of how a social entity operated in 14th–16th‐century Venice. Ca' di Dio, a hospice providing hospitality and care to poor women, is what today we would call a "hybrid organization," in that it was born at the crossroads of ecclesiastic and public jurisdictions, it was autonomously administered, self‐financed through commercial activities, but operated within the public control of the State. It will be found that Ca' di Dio worked within a complex arrangement of multiple logics, that these logics coexisted without particular tension or conflict, and that accounting was a central practice to manage Ca' di Dio activities, despite its noncommercial nature. The paper thus, while contributing to documenting the presence of hybrid organizations in the past, also questions the presupposed tension and conflict in logics that these organizations are thought to come with. Finally, it also documents the trivial, but overlooked, role of accounting as primarily a calculative tool for everyday management in hybrid organizations

Hybridity and conflicting logics—and what if not? A historical exploration of a XIV–XVI century social entity in Venice

This paper sets out to explore how hybrid organizations managed their established institutional complexity in the past, and what place was there for accounting in this endeavor. The paper draws on a historical case study of how a social entity operated in 14th–16th-century Venice. Ca’ di Dio, a hospice providing hospitality and care to poor women, is what today we would call a “hybrid organization,” in that it was born at the crossroads of ecclesiastic and public jurisdictions, it was autonomously administered, self-financed through commercial activities, but operated within the public control of the State. It will be found that Ca’ di Dio worked within a complex arrangement of multiple logics, that these logics coexisted without particular tension or conflict, and that accounting was a central practice to manage Ca’ di Dio activities, despite its noncommercial nature. The paper thus, while contributing to documenting the presence of hybrid organizations in the past, also questions the presupposed tension and conflict in logics that these organizations are thought to come with. Finally, it also documents the trivial, but overlooked, role of accounting as primarily a calculative tool for everyday management in hybrid organizations

The rise of a culture of management control: The case of Scuola Grande di San Rocco in the XVI century

This chapter aims at reconstructing the emergence of forms of management control practices in the ‘Scuola Grande di San Rocco’ (SGSR), as its activity grew in scope and complexity during the XVI century. The Scuole Grandi were a relevant economic and social actor in the Republic of Venice: they were privately managed, but publicly regulated charitable organisations, sharing a devotional orientation and performing de facto welfare functions. The chapter focuses on the SGSR as it moved from the devotional role it was born with to a more widespread and structured social one (providing housing and social assistance to the needy population), in progressive integration with the State. Based on the analysis of balance sheets and administrative documents, the rapid growth of SGSR will be reconstructed, and the parallel emergence of a need for control and responsibility over the activity and the resources endowed with will be highlighted. For example, the progressive establishment of professional accountant roles, the organization by “Commissarìe” (internal units with own financial and managerial autonomy), and the construction of accountability relations with the State will be shown. In conclusion, considerations around the advancement of a culture of control in XVI century Venice will be discussed

Governance and accounting practices in hybrid organizations: Insights from a sixteenth-century charity in Venice

This paper explores governance and accounting practices in hybrid organizations. Currently, hybrid organizations represent an increasingly pervasive phenomenon, but their role has also been central in the past. To achieve this aim, we consider the case of a charity, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, as its activity grew in scope and complexity during the sixteenth century in the Republic of Venice. The Scuole Grandi represent a form of hybrid organizations because these charities were privately managed but publicly regulated. They shared a devotional orientation and performed de facto welfare functions in progressive integration with the State. Based on an analysis of balance sheets and administrative documents, this paper aims to discuss the role of governance and accounting in enabling hybrid organizations to operate through multiple logics

The rise of a culture of management control: The case of Scuola Grande di San Rocco in the XVI century

This chapter aims at reconstructing the emergence of forms of management control practices in the ‘Scuola Grande di San Rocco’ (SGSR), as its activity grew in scope and complexity during the XVI century. The Scuole Grandi were a relevant economic and social actor in the Republic of Venice: they were privately managed, but publicly regulated charitable organisations, sharing a devotional orientation and performing de facto welfare functions. The chapter focuses on the SGSR as it moved from the devotional role it was born with to a more widespread and structured social one (providing housing and social assistance to the needy population), in progressive integration with the State. Based on the analysis of balance sheets and administrative documents, the rapid growth of SGSR will be reconstructed, and the parallel emergence of a need for control and responsibility over the activity and the resources endowed with will be highlighted. For example, the progressive establishment of professional accountant roles, the organization by “Commissarìe” (internal units with own financial and managerial autonomy), and the construction of accountability relations with the State will be shown. In conclusion, considerations around the advancement of a culture of control in XVI century Venice will be discussed

Bookkeeping, but not for profit: A special form of double entry in a 16th century Venetian charity

Double entry bookkeeping is considered to involve the recording of monetary amounts and is recognised as consequently facilitating financial reporting concerning the financial stewardship of an entity. This paper presents a unique example of double entry bookkeeping that responds to a different stewardship need, one where quantities are sometimes the focus of interest, while elsewhere it is monetary amounts. Duality is maintained throughout, even in cases where the debit entries are in monetary amounts and the credit entries are in quantities. These findings arose from an investigation into the diffusion of double entry from its banking and commercial roots into the not-for-profit sector in 16th century Venice. Its focus was the accounting practice and the management of a small charitable hospice within the context of its socio-political, economic, and commercial environment. Identification of this hybrid variant form of double entry bookkeeping in the account book of the charity confirms that diffusion of the method had occurred. And, it had done so in a tailored way that was more varied and nuanced by its purpose than might have been anticipated from the texts of Pacioli and the several authors of 16th century Venetian bookkeeping manuals. It is concluded that the differences identified were adopted to delineate responsibility and facilitate assessment of stewardship

Imaging of liver transplantation

Liver transplantation (LT) is the treatment of choice for end-stage chronic liver disease, fulminant liver failure and early stage hepatocellular carcinoma. As discussed in this review, state-of-the-art imaging modalities including ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) play a pivotal role in the selection of patients and donors, as well as in early detection of those complications at risk of impairing graft function and/or survival. We also illustrate main imaging findings related to the wide spectrum of clinical problems raised by LT

Can multiparametric MRI replace Roach equations in staging prostate cancer before external beam radiation therapy?

Purpose To investigate the agreement between Roach equations (RE) and multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) in assessing the T-stage of prostate cancer (PCa). Materials and methods Seventy-three patients with biopsy-proven PCa and previous RE assessment prospectively underwent mpMRI on a 3.0T magnet before external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Using Cohen\u2019s kappa statistic, we assessed the agreement between RE and mpMRI in defining the T-stage ( 65T3 vs.T\u2005 64\u20052) and risk category according to the National comprehensive cancer network criteria ( 64intermediate vs. 65high). We also calculated sensitivity and specificity for 65T3 stage in an additional group of thirty-seven patients with post-prostatectomy histological examination (mpMRI validation group). Results The agreement between RE and mpMRI in assessing the T stage and risk category was moderate (k\u2005=\u20050.53 and 0.56, respectively). mpMRI changed the T stage and risk category in 21.9% (95%C.I. 13.4\u201333-4) and 20.5% (95%C.I. 12.3\u201331.9), respectively, prevalently downstaging PCa compared to RE. Sensitivity and specificity for 65T3 stage in the mpMRI validation group were 81.8% (95%C.I. 65.1\u201391.9) and 88.5% (72.8\u201396.1). Conclusion RE and mpMRI show moderate agreement only in assessing the T-stage of PCa, translating into an mpMRI-induced change in risk assessment in about one fifth of patients. As supported by high sensitivity/specificity for 65T3 stage in the validation group, the discrepancy we found is in favour of mpMRI as a tool to stage PCa before ERBT

Additional findings at preoperative breast MRI: the value of second-look digital breast tomosynthesis

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate second-look digital breast tomosynthesis (SL-DBT) for additional findings (AFs) at preoperative MRI compared with second-look ultrasound (SL-US). METHODS: We included 135 patients with breast cancer who underwent digital mammography (DM), DBT, US, and MRI at two centres. MR images were retrospectively evaluated to find AFs, described as focus, mass, or non-mass; 6410 mm or >10 mm in size; BI-RADS 3, 4, or 5. DM and DBT exams were reviewed looking for MRI AFs; data on SL-US were collected. Reference standard was histopathology or 6512-month negative follow-up. Fisher exact test and McNemar test were used. RESULTS: Eighty-four AFs were detected in 53/135 patients (39%, 95%CI 31-48%). A correlate was found for 44/84 (52%, 95%CI 41-63%) at SL-US, for 20/84 (24%, 95%CI 11-28%) at SL-DM, for 42/84 (50%, 95%CI 39-61%) at SL-DBT, for 63/84 (75%, 95%CI 64-84%) at SL-DBT, and/or SL-US, the last rate being higher than for SL-US only, overall (p\u200910 mm, BI-RADS 4 or 5, or malignant lesions (p\u2009<\u20090.031). Of 21 AFs occult at both SLs, 17 were malignant (81%, 95%CI 58-94%). CONCLUSIONS: When adding SL-DBT to SL-US, AFs detection increased from 52% to 75%. MR-guided biopsy is needed for the remaining 25%. KEY POINTS: \u2022 Detection rate of MRI AFs using SL-US was 52% \u2022 Adding SL-DBT, the detection rate of MRI AFs significantly increased to 75%. \u2022 Over 80% of the remaining 25% MRI AFs were malignant. \u2022 MR-guided biopsy should be used when SL-US and SL-DBT are inconclusive