1,720,973 research outputs found
L’integrazione degli strumenti di controllo: un’indagine nel contesto sanitario italiano
No full textQuesto studio indaga l’effetto combinato di diversi strumenti di controllo sull’uso dei dati di costo
da parte dei professionisti clinici con responsabilità manageriali nelle aziende sanitarie italiane.
Attraverso un questionario e l’applicazione di modelli di equazioni strutturali, il lavoro esplora
l’effetto della percezione dei clinici sulla qualità dei dati ricevuti tramite i sistemi informativi contabili
e della formazione economico-manageriale sull’uso dei dati di costo nella gestione delle unità operative. Inoltre, indaga l’effetto di mediazione del supporto ricevuto dai controller nell’interpretazione
dei dati. I risultati mostrano che incontri fra clinici e controller contribuiscono all’uso di pratiche di
controllo cibernetico, e che la formazione economico-manageriale può supportare l’utilizzo dei
dati e l’allineamento dei comportamenti con gli obiettivi aziendali. Emerge quindi l’importanza di
integrare pratiche di controllo cibernetico con meccanismi di controllo amministrativo o culturale
Management accountants’ role and coercive regulations: Evidence from the Italian healthcare sector
No full textPurpose: This paper investigates the consequences of the coercive regulations for performance
measurement and comparability that strengthened regional health authority’s control over
organizations’ activities on management accountants’ relationship with clinician managers, who are
the recipients of accounting information for decisional processes in healthcare organizations. To
achieve this aim, the research focuses on management accountants’ perception of their role and
whether they perceive role conflict and role ambiguity.
Design: A case study was undertaken in a public university hospital in the Emilia-Romagna region,
Italy; 9 management accountants and 11 clinician managers were interviewed and secondary data
analyzed.
Findings: Management accountants show low capabilities to support clinician managers’ decisional
processes. Following the enactment of regulations, management accountants perform their role with
a primary focus on functional responsibility. The focus on the provision of information to address
regulations influenced management accountants’ capability to act as business partners in the
organization. Due to the conflicting information needs from regulations and clinician managers,
management accountants experience role conflict and ambiguity.
Research implications: The paper has implications for policymakers, underlining the
consequences of strict regulations on management accountants’ role. It also emphasizes the
importance of revising accounting techniques to satisfy both regional requirements and clinician
managers’ needs for decision making.
Originality: The article contributes to knowledge related to the role of management accountants in
healthcare. It explores, in particular, the consequences of coercive regulations in healthcare
organizations, adding knowledge to a field that remains quite unexplored
Ownership structure and financial performance: A study of the Italian retail pharmacies
No full textThis study examines if differences in the financial performance of companies managing retail pharmacies can be detected based on governance factors. These factors refer to ownership type, group belonging, and a number of retail pharmacies owned. Based on a sample of 116 companies managing retail pharmacies in Italy, analyses of variance are conducted to assess the effects of governance factors on financial performance considering profitability, liquidity, and leverage ratios. Results showed that privately-owned companies tended to perform better than publicly owned and mixed ownership companies. Further, independent companies presented better financial performance than companies belonging to a group, while companies managing
a single store presented better financial performance than those with multiple stores. This work sheds light on the governance factors that have an effect on companies managing retail pharmacies’ financial performance. It contributes to the literature suggesting that private ownership can foster companies’
profitability, also in the form of mixed ownership, and discusses the findings with reference to policymaking and practitioners’ utility. The paper is the first contribution to a field that is quite under-investigated, concerning the drivers of financial performance, as pharmacies represent a public service combining
both profitability orientation and the accomplishment of social interest
Navigating accounting and accountability amidst Covid-19: Insights from clinicians and management accountants [Processi di controllo e accountability ai tempi del Covid-19: clinici e controller a confronto]
No full textQuesto studio indaga se le richieste di accountability sovraorganizzativa affrontate dalle
aziende sanitarie durante e dopo il Covid-19 abbiano ridotto o esacerbato il limitato
contributo dei sistemi informativi contabili (SIC) ai processi decisionali dei clinici. È
stato condotto un caso studio presso un ospedale universitario italiano attraverso
interviste semi-strutturate a clinici e controller per indagare il ruolo svolto dalle richieste
di accountability ricevute sui SIC, i bisogni informativi dei clinici e il ruolo dei SIC nei
processi decisionali dei clinici. Sia durante che dopo il Covid-19, il rafforzamento delle
richieste sovraorganizzative ha influenzato le caratteristiche dei SIC, a svantaggio dei
bisogni informativi dei clinici, che sono rimasti piuttosto insoddisfatti. Lo studio adotta
le lenti della teoria istituzionale e fornisce approfondimenti da parte di clinici e
controller su come la progettazione dei SIC nel soddisfare le richieste
sovraorganizzative e le pressioni isomorfe coercitive correlate abbiano limitato il
contributo dei SIC alle decisioni a livello di unità operativa.This study investigates whether the supraorganizational accountability requests that healthcare
organizations faced during and after the Covid-19 pandemic reduced or exacerbated the
limited contribution of accounting information systems (AISs) to the clinical decision-making.
A case study of an Italian university hospital was conducted through semi-structured interviews
with clinicians and management accountants (MAs). The study seeks to investigate whether the
organization responded to the accountability requests by aligning its AISs accordingly, or if it
instead opted to modify the AISs to address clinicians’ decision-making needs. Both during and
after Covid-19, the strengthening of supraorganizational requests affected the features of AISs,
to the detriment of clinicians’ information needs, which remained largely unsatisfied. The study adopts institutional theory lenses and provides insights from clinicians and MAs on how the
design of AISs to accommodate supraorganizational requests and related coercive isomorphic
pressures limits decision-making at the clinical unit level
On the feasibility of integrated reporting in healthcare. A context analysis starting from the management commentary
No full textThe paper aims at investigating mechanisms that affect the possible development of integrated reporting (IR) practices in the healthcare sector. Through a performative case study, this paper discusses the process of production, construction, and consumption of the management commentary, which is a report combining financial and non-financial information about organizational performance, so that it can be considered as the natural setting to develop IR. Findings from interviews with both the report's preparers and institutional users show that the management commentary mainly addresses normative requirements, and results in a heavy document steaming from preparers' silos-thinking approach, with scarce usefulness for its users. Interviews with users provided insights about the material non-financial information that would have added value to their decision making if addressed within the hospital's reporting practices. Users reported that the management commentary could be meaningful if it arose from a shared planning process emphasizing the connectivity of the university hospital's activities with the local players. This latter assertion, however, is not shared by the organization’s top management. Whether the implementation of IR framework is recommended by literature, even in the public sector context, it emerges the features of the organization can challenge its applicability
Energy management to foster circular economy business model for sustainable development in an agricultural SME
No full textThe role of energy management (EM) capabilities in enhancing circular economy (CE) business models of agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises by way of developing dedicated organisational competences is an under-investigated topic. In addition, the contribution of CE business models to the sustainability performance of agro-energy businesses deserves further investigation. To cover these gaps, a case study was conducted within an agricultural firm that exploits a high-tech hydroponic system to cultivate tomatoes. Interviews were conducted with top management of the firm and technicians to identify the EM capabilities that foster the development of organisational competences to implement a CE business model. The framework of dynamic capabilities was used to discuss the results. Results indicate that EM and auditing capabilities play pivotal roles in enhancing knowledge of sustainable production methods and accountability, and constitute the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities that are needed to sense, seize, and reconfigure the business model around CE, which allows the achievement of sustainability performance. EM, along with the promotion of an organisational culture of energy conservation, also enhances the knowledge and implementation of CE business models. Implications for SMEs’ agricultural managers relating to EM implementation are discussed, given its pivotal role in the implementation of CE business models
Determinants of adaptability in the design of accounting information systems - A study of Italian hospitals
No full textThis study examines whether accountability structures and managerial characteristics/traits are associated with clinical managers’ perceptions of accounting information systems (AISs). We undertake this study in Italian hospitals and include a sample of clinical managers. Our sample includes only public hospitals but they operate under different structural arrangements. We assess if clinical managers from the two different types of structures differ in perceptions of AISs. We also assess whether different specializations perceive the AISs differently. Given clinical specialization has been demonstrated to reflect different attitudes and behaviors we use this as a proxy for ‘managerial characteristics’ and assess whether attitudes of clinical managers to AISs differs between the specializations. Our results partially support our expectations. Clinical managers’ perceptions of AISs adaptability in the two different structures only differs for those dimensions of the AISs that are patient centric. We also find support for our expectations that surgeons perceptions of AISs is significantly lower than other types of clinical managers
Ambiguity in public sector performance measurement: a systematic literature review
Full text linkPurpose: This paper presents a systematic literature review aiming at analysing how research has addressed performance measurement systems’ (PMSs) ambiguities in the public sector. This paper embraces the ambiguity perspective that PMSs in public sector coexist with and cope with existing ambiguities. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a literature review in Scopus and ScienceDirect, considering articles published since 1985, and the authors selected articles published in the journals included in the Association of Business Schools' Academic Journal Guide (Chartered ABS, 2018). Of the 1,278 abstracts that matched the study’s search criteria, the authors selected 131 articles for full reading and 37 articles for the final discussion. Findings: The study's key findings concern the elements of ambiguity in PMSs discussed in the literature. The study’s results suggest that ambiguity is still a relevant problem in performance measurement, as a problem that is impossible to be solved and therefore needs to be better understood by researchers and public managers. The analysis allows us to summarize the antecedents and consequences of ambiguity in the public sector. Research limitations/implications: The key findings of the study concern the main sources of ambiguity in PMSs discussed in the literature, their antecedents and their consequences. The study results suggest that ambiguity exists in performance measurement and that is an issue to be handled with various strategies that can be implemented by managers and employees. Practical implications: Managers and researchers may benefit from this research as it may represent a guideline to understand ambiguities in their organizations or in field research. Researchers may also benefit from a summary list of the key issues that have been analysed in the empirical cases provided by this research. Social implications: This research may provide insights to limit ambiguity and thus contribute to improve performance measurement in the public sector. Originality/value: This research presents a comprehensive review on the topic. It provides insight that suggests what future research should attend to in helping to interpret ambiguity, considering also what should be done to influence ambiguity
ANALISI DEI PROCESSI E MISURAZIONE DEI COSTI IN SANITÀ: IL CASO DELLA PREVENZIONE PUBBLICA
No full textThe sustainability of Thalassemia’s treatments: Developed countries vs Developing countries’ perspective
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