Unpacking the “black box” of innovativeness and innovation: focus on tourism research

The main purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of innovativeness and innovation, differences and relationship, with particular focus on tourism research. The terms innovativeness and innovation are frequently used as synonyms, although they substantially differ, which leads studies to provide inconsistent and sometimes contradictory results. Innovation is an outcome of a firm´s permanent endeavor to explore and exploit new ideas. Therefore, innovativeness is a precondition for innovation. None of the previous studies, to the best of our knowledge, has provided a clear examination of them. Also, we go further and extend the analysis to the tourism industry and propose an integrative conceptual model for the study of innovativeness and innovation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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

Incerteza da envolvente organizacional, necessidades de informação contabilística e práticas de contabilidade de gestão: o caso da indústria transformadora a operar em Portugal

Este trabalho de investigação adopta uma abordagem contingencial e tem como objectivos caracterizar a envolvente organizacional e analisar a influência da incerteza da envolvente organizacional nas necessidades de informação contabilística e nas práticas de contabilidade de gestão (PCG) das grandes empresas da indústria transformadora a operar em Portugal. Para cumprir esses objectivos foram formuladas várias questões e hipóteses de investigação. Os dados foram recolhidos através de um inquérito por questionário enviado, por correio electrónico, às maiores empresas da indústria transformadora a operar em Portugal. Foram obtidas 114 respostas utilizáveis, a que corresponde uma taxa de resposta de 23,22%. Os resultados obtidos indicam que a incerteza da envolvente influencia a utilidade da informação oportuna. A utilidade da informação de extensão larga e da informação oportuna influencia a utilização das PCG contemporâneas. No entanto, as PCG tradicionais são mais utilizadas, são consideradas mais importantes e da sua utilização são reconhecidos mais benefícios. Verifica-se ainda que do ajuste entre a incerteza da envolvente organizacional, as necessidades de informação contabilística de extensão larga e oportuna e as PCG (tradicionais e contemporâneas) resulta maior satisfação com a informação produzida e melhor desempenho organizacional. Deste modo, os resultados obtidos mostram que a influência da incerteza da envolvente no desempenho organizacional é mediada pelas características dos sistemas de contabilidade de gestão (SCG), nomeadamente no que diz respeito ao tipo e à oportunidade da informação disponibilizada e à maior ou menor ênfase colocada nas PCG. Destaca-se, assim, a necessidade das organizações ajustarem os seus SCG às características da envolvente para uma maior satisfação e um melhor desempenho. Um sistema muito sofisticado poderá, no entanto, conduzir a uma mau desempenho se o grau de incerteza não justificar esse investimento

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

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

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

O profissional de contabilidade de gestão em Portugal

As transformações e mudanças que ocorrem no mundo empresarial e nos negócios, têm um impacto directo no exercício da profissão de contabilidade. O desenvolvimento das organizações empresariais suscita discussão na sociedade sobre a função do profissional de contabilidade na gestão dos negócios e o seu papel no auxílio à resolução de problemas das empresas. Com estes desenvolvimentos o profissional de contabilidade de gestão passou a ter maior relevância tanto no meio académico, como no mercado, que procura profissionais especializados, com visão de gestão, planeamento fiscal, financeiro e de contabilidade. A classe profissional deve estar atenta às perspectivas e tendências, para que o profissional de contabilidade se torne cada vez mais relevante no apoio à tomada de decisões empresariais. Ele deverá ser visto como um comunicador de informação essencial para a tomada de decisão, com a sua capacidade de avaliar os factos passados, perceber os factos presentes e prever os eventos futuros. Pretende-se, assim, fazer um enquadramento histórico da profissão, alargando o âmbito ao profissional de contabilidade em geral, abordar a situação do profissional de contabilidade de gestão nos dias que correm, bem como enunciar os principais desafios que o profissional de contabilidade de gestão terá que atravessar

Females in social entrepreneurship: what we know and what we need to know

Social entrepreneurship (SE), which aims to solve social problems of deprived groups, has become a popular area of research and practice. The recent investigation on SE has been characterized by a greater focus on gender differences, emphasizing that the role and characteristics of females are more suitable for social entrepreneurial initiatives. This chapter investigates the predominant themes on females in SE and identifies further research opportunities. On the one hand, the main macro (e.g., sociocultural values) and micro (e.g., personality traits) levels determinants are examined. On the other hand, the macro (e.g., social change) and micro (e.g., women economic empowerment) levels outcomes of females in SE are analyzed. Furthermore, directions for future research are suggested which will enable future authors to focus their studies more effectively.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio