Crisis accountability and aged "care” during COVID-19

PurposeThis study aims to fill the gaps in mandated reports with social accounts to provide more inclusive accountability during a crisis using the illustrative example of Anglicare's Newmarch House during a deadly COVID-19 outbreak.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a close-reading method to analyse Anglicare's annual review, reports, board meeting minutes and Royal Commission into Aged Care submissions. Informed by Foucault's concept of biopolitics, the study collocates alternate "social accounts” in the form of investigative journalism, newspaper articles and media commentary on the events that transpired at Newmarch House to unveil a more nuanced and human-centric rendering of the ramifications of a public health/aged care crisis.FindingsCOVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing issues within the aged care sector, exemplified by Newmarch House. The privileging of financial concerns and lack of care, leadership and accountability contributed to residents' physical, emotional and psychological distress. The biopolitical policy pursued by powerful actors let die vulnerable individuals while simultaneously making live more productive citizens and "the economy”.Research limitations/implicationsOrganisations express their accountability by using financial information provided by accounting, even during circumstances with more prevailing humanistic concerns. A transformational shift in how we define, view and teach accounting is required to recognise accounting as a social and moral practice that should instead prioritise human dignity and care for the betterment of our world.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the limited literature on aged care, extending particularly into the impact of COVID-19 while contributing to the literature concerned with crisis accountability. To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is also the first to examine a form of biopolitics centred on making live something other than persons – the economy.

Auditors' response to regulators during COVID-19: disclosures of key audit matters

PurposeNew Zealand regulatory bodies guided preparers and auditors of financial statements to deal with potential COVID-19 impacts on the financial statements and audit procedures. This study provides evidence of auditors' response to the impact of COVID-19 on the reporting of key audit matters (KAMs) in audit reports of listed companies in New Zealand. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 50 New Zealand listed companies was selected to compare the KAMs in 2019 (pre-COVID-19) and 2020 (during COVID-19). The study uses content analysis to evaluate the KAMs' disclosures and descriptive analysis to examine the differences between 2019 and 2020 in terms of the auditor type, industry sector and accounting standards.FindingsAuditors responded positively to the request from regulators to communicate the impacts of COVID-19. The findings show an increase in the amount and length of KAMs in 2020 compared to 2019, with 82% of companies and 61% of KAMs reporting the impact of COVID-19. The real estate and information technology sectors disclosed more on the impact than other sectors. In analysing the KAMs, accounting standards for inventories, property plant and equipment, impairment of assets, investment property, revenue from contracts with customers and leases were highly affected by COVID-19.Practical implicationsThe findings support regulators to evaluate how well auditors communicated matters relating to COVID-19 in the audit report. Also, the findings will help standard setters to identify key accounting standards affected by COVID-19 of KAMs and provide insights to users on how the KAM reporting enhances communicative value during the pandemic.Originality/valueThe current study captures the impact of COVID-19 on the reporting of KAMs by comparing changes before and during the pandemic.

Influence of Corporate Governance on Firm Value: Sequential Mediating Role of CSR and Organizational Identification

Corporate Governance (CoGv) has gained significance with an increase in the number of enterprises and has evolved with several prescriptions from scholars and broader audiences (shareholders and stakeholders). Another reason for this growing significance can be attributed to the pressing social and environmental concerns that these enterprises share. This study focuses on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India. It proposes a conceptual model and attempts to provide insight into the role of corporate governance in enhancing Firm Value (FV). Some studies have established a positive relationship between these two variables. However, this relationship can be further enhanced by variables such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Organizational Identification (OI). The proposed conceptual model has been empirically tested to check whether these variables have contributed to enhancing FV. The study uses Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) along with SmartPLS. It provides empirical evidence on the mediating influence of CSR and OI and the mediating effect between CoGv and FV. Based on the findings, theoretical and managerial implications are also proposed.

MEDIATION METRICS II: DEALING WITH ERRANT ZOOM STYLES IN VIRTUAL MEDIATION

This is the second in a series that examines emerging issues and opportunities in mediation. The need for social distancing over the past two years spawned a meteoric rise in virtual mediation to the extent that it is now the dominant form of alternative dispute resolution. Despite its efficiency and necessity at times, virtual mediation, now synonymous with Zoom mediation, presents new challenges for mediators. In particular, mediators have lost some control over social dynamics (Zoom dynamics). This paper examines a host of errant Zoom styles among participants that may plague the virtual mediation process. It offers a Personality-Based Model of Errant Zoom Styles as well as coping strategies for dealing with them. The extent to which mediators recognize and respond to these errant Zoom styles impacts the effectiveness of virtual Mediation. Recommendations and an update on mediation settlement rates are also provided.