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This study aims to analyze the relationship between the personal responsibility, the intrinsic knowledge of the norms and the knowledge of signs of money laundering of accountants.

The research was developed with responses from 381 Brazilian accounting professionals through a survey, statistically analyzed using structural equations.

The results indicate that personal responsibility directly affects the levels of intrinsic knowledge and knowledge about signs of money laundering; however, the different dimensions of knowledge were not related to each other.

From these results, organizations can clarify the individual about their responsibility, optimizing the use of training and mitigating costs, with greater sustainability and security for the organization, employees and business partners.

The results contribute to the construction and modeling of latent constructs on money laundering knowledge, with validity, reliability and statistical significance.

This research discusses and empirically explores the knowledge about money laundering of the accountants’, one of the main explanatory factors of whistleblowing in business.

This study aims to shed light on the internal and external antecedents of open innovation (OI) in the context of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a special focus on the role of knowledge management (KM) capability. The paper develops and tests an integrative research model which assesses the effect of internal factors on KM capability; the impact of organizational and external factors, namely, KM capability and environmental dynamism, on OI; and whether environmental dynamism moderates the relationship between KM capability and OI.

Drawing on the knowledge-based view and the social exchange and the contingency theories, this paper develops an integrative research model which analyzes several relations between organizational antecedents of KM capability and its effect on OI by using covariance-based structural equation modeling on a data set of Spanish SMEs.

Results confirm that information technology-supported operations and commitment-based human resource practices have a positive and significant influence on KM capability. In contrast, results do not find support for the relationship between interdepartmental connectedness and KM capability, whereas both KM capability and environmental dynamism have a direct influence on OI.

This paper adds to existing research on OI, as it is the first study that addresses the critical role of KM capability for the implementation of OI.

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of technological, organizational and environmental factors on innovation ambidexterity and its influence on the performance of manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as the moderating effect environmental dynamism on this relationship.

Drawing on the Technology–Organization–Environment theory and the Knowledge-Based View, this paper develops an integrative research model, which analyzes the network of relations using covariance-based structural equation modeling on a data set of 429 Spanish SMEs.

The results show that information technology capability, knowledge management capability and environmental dynamism are positively associated with innovation ambidexterity. In addition, environmental dynamism is found to strengthen the positive effect of innovation ambidexterity on firm performance.

The study findings support the idea that innovation can be developed in an ambidextrous manner within a single SME as long as the firm is capable of creating a suitable organizational context and giving a prompt response to changes in the business environment.

Although many studies have highlighted that being ambidextrous is more challenging for SMEs than for their larger counterparts, the vast majority of studies has been conducted in large companies. This paper extends prior literature by analyzing antecedents and outcomes of innovation ambidexterity in manufacturing SMEs.

This study aims to analyze the relationships between cultural orientation and normative knowledge, in a direct and moderate way, on the whistleblowing intentions of accountants from Hispanic American countries.

This study used responses from a sample of 410 accountants, preparers and auditors of financial statements from Hispanic American countries. Descriptive statistics, nonparametric tests and structural equations with partial least squares algorithm were applied for data analysis.

The results emphasized the cultural positioning of horizontality, in which an individual perceives themselves as equals to their colleagues, allowing discussions on various aspects of individual behavior. The knowledge variable is proved to be important in explaining the intention to report and can also moderate the influence of cultural variables on intentions.

These findings contribute to the literature by offering a clearer definition the normative knowledge variable, and to organizations, which can explore the research’s evidence to improve their training and qualification programs, thereby generating significant knowledge for their employees.

Whistleblowing is the main tool for identifying organizational frauds, but it is differently perceived in several cultural contexts. The results demonstrated the ethical cultural positioning of these Hispanic American professionals in relation to cultural aspects of other countries. Some studies highlight knowledge as a relevant factor in the organizational environment, but this study innovates by testing and demonstrating its impact on whistleblowing and culture.

Financial analysis at international level has to overcome a lot of obstacles that increase the uncertainty which the financial analyst is used to handling. It is commonly argued by accounting regulators, academics, and so on, that different accounting standards are one of these handicaps. For this reason European listed companies will be required in year 2005 to elaborate consolidated financial statements according to International Accounting Standards. Will it be a solution for the handicaps that face financial analysts? The objective of this study is to see how accounting diversity can be resolved and what are the conclusions of financial analysts in capital markets. The prior hypotheses will be: first, that accounting diversity is not what introduces the most important uncertainty in the international financial analysis, and second, that accounting diversity is avoided instead of being corrected. It is evidenced that the most important factors of diversity are strategies of the company and that analysts try to reduce the impact of accounting diversity, for example, using less biased ratios such as Enterprise Value/EBITDA.

The interdependence of ecology and the economy has become a highly significant feature in contemporary European business society. This degree of interdependency emphasizes the need for compatibility of the goals of economic growth, environmental protection and the rational management of natural resources. The issues are not predominantly centred on economic growth versus environmental sustainability, but rather on the pragmatic acknowledgement that there needs to be recognition and compromise between competing aims. Seeks to examine European Union regulations relating to business environmental issues and to analyse the legal, political and professional adaptation processes of environmental regulation in Spain and the UK.

This paper aims to analyze unexplored connections between economic, environmental and social dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and knowledge management (KM) strategies (exploration, exploitation), also considering environmental dynamism as an influencing variable on these connections. The predicted CSR-KM interplay suggests, from stakeholder and knowledge-based views of the firm, the existence of ideal configurations between CSR and KM strategies that generate differentiated impacts on companies’ innovation capabilities, especially in dynamic environments.

Structural equation modeling by means of the partial least squares technique was used to test the study’s hypotheses after collecting survey data from Spanish companies of the renewable energy sector.

The study findings show that in highly dynamic environments, companies will tend to commit prominently in CSR, although their orientation (economic, environmental, social) and effects on innovation capabilities will depend mainly on the selected KM strategies. Social and environmental CSR are found to be highly related to KM exploration, whereas economic CSR is highly related to KM exploitation. Nevertheless, while a significant indirect effect of economic CSR by means of the KM exploitation strategy on innovation capabilities is found, the proposed indirect effect of both environmental and social CSR through the KM exploration strategy on innovation capabilities is not significant.

The results suggest that company managers should be aware of the advantages of following specific paths of investment in KM and CSR initiatives in highly dynamic environments, as there is a potential payoff in terms of innovation capability improvement. The results also suggest that “good” relationships with stakeholders, built from specific CSR investments, make firms able to get valuable knowledge that it is useful to develop KM strategies for innovation capability development.

Previous studies do not consider the interplay between KM strategies and CSR as a catalyzer for developing a firm’s innovation capabilities. This paper contributes to the KM and innovation literatures by introducing CSR into the conversation about how to improve innovation capabilities in dynamic and sustainable industries by using configurations of KM strategies and specific CSR investments in economic, social and environmental areas.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how several variables, such as universities' profitability, growth‐reduction of student numbers, age/tradition, type of university and internationality, among others, influence the transparency practices of Spanish universities as well as the technology, interactivity, structure and navigability of their webpages.

First a content analysis of the Spanish universities' websites is carried out. To do this a disclosure index is created and applied. This index is more complex than those in previous papers, focusing on several issues, such as financial information, corporate governance, social responsibility, research, teaching activities, strategic information, timeliness, contact information, technology, interactivity with users, navigability and web structure. Then an empirical model is estimated by applying a linear regression, taking several factors into consideration.

Three of the independent variables proposed to test the hypotheses – complexity, internationality and profitability – were statistically significant. Moreover, our findings emphasise prioritising use of the internet as a way to disclose teaching and research activities, as well as to monitor university bodies.

The most valuable output from this paper has to do with the content of the information disclosed online by Spanish universities and with the analysis of the factors that explain the disclosure of information through Spanish universities' websites.

Open innovation is an issue that has aroused great interest in recent years. The need to create an environment that facilitates the creation of ideas is essential for the implementation of a series of changes in organizational practices and routines that lead to the launch of new products. However, due to the more behavioral nature and the lesser externalization of these changes introduced in the company's internal processes, how this process occurs has not been studied in depth. The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of an open innovation climate on both incremental and radical product innovation. Moreover, it specifically analyzes the mediating role played by hidden innovation in this relationship.

The methodology used in this study was based on a survey of 213 Spanish SMEs, subsequently applying the structural equation methodology to contrast the results.

The results indicate that open innovation climate offers significant competitive advantages to SMEs. First, the open innovation climate in SMEs favorably influences product innovation (both incremental and radical). Secondly, it is observed that hidden innovations are essential to obtain product innovations. Finally, evidence of the mediating effect of hidden innovation has been obtained.

Although the literature often focuses on visible innovation, materialized in product development, this study demonstrates the importance of other types of innovations that are necessary to launch new products. This is especially relevant for SMEs that, with limited resources, must be creative enough to involve their personnel in introducing changes that will lead to new products. This paper attempts to strengthen the previous literature on hidden innovation by contributing to the understanding of how SMEs improve their innovative processes. However, the study has the limitations derived from using a single informant to obtain data, using subjective-type scales and being a cross-sectional research.

Managers of SMEs involved in innovation processes should favor the creation of an open innovation climate and invest in organizational innovation. Governments should promote policies to support hidden and open innovation.

The main interest of this work is based on the importance of hidden innovation for the development of innovations. This study shows how organizations must make a series of organizational changes prior to the implementation of more visible innovations materialized in products. For this task, the creation of a favorable climate for the development of new ideas becomes a fundamental task. On the other hand, this study has focused on SMEs, which tend to have fewer means for the development of the right conditions for innovation and are often more neglected by scientific research.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether the major international audit firms reach collusive agreements in Spain, in order to exercise market power and impose higher prices than those of competitors. According to the traditional theory of oligopoly, the ability to achieve these agreements is dependent primarily on the high level of market concentration, so that multiple studies have analysed the relationship between concentration and prices. However, the concentration has serious limitations to infer collusion and therefore the exercise of market power (Dedman and Lennox, 2009).

Based on an alternative current of the theory of industrial organisation, the authors use measures of industrial mobility as a measure of collusion or rivalry of firms in oligopolistic markets.

The results reveal that international audit firms do not reach collusive agreements to limit competition between them.

According to the empirical evidence obtained, the measures taken by the regulatory bodies to avoid market concentration would not be necessary or efficient and they would have significant costs for the audit market (GAO, 2003, 2008; FRC, 2009; European Commission, 2010; Competition Commission, 2013).

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to introduce mobility measures to explain market collusion and the exercise of market power in the audit market.

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar si las Grandes Firmas Internacionales de auditoría alcanzan acuerdos colusivos en España con la finalidad de ejercer poder de mercado e imponer precios superiores a los de los competidores. Según la teoría tradicional del oligopolio, la capacidad para alcanzar estos acuerdos se hace depender fundamentalmente del alto nivel de concentración del mercado, por lo que múltiples estudios han analizado la relación entre concentración y precios. Sin embargo, la concentración presenta serias limitaciones para inferir la colusión y, por tanto, el ejercicio del poder de mercado (Dedman y Lennox, 2009).

Basándonos en una corriente alternativa de la teoría de la organización industrial, utilizamos medidas de movilidad industrial como medida de la colusión o rivalidad de las empresas en mercados oligopolistas.

Nuestros resultados revelan que las firmas internacionales de auditoría no alcanzan acuerdos colusivos para limitar la competencia entre ellas.

Según la evidencia empírica que obtenemos, las medidas adoptadas por los organismos reguladores con la finalidad de desconcentrar el mercado, las cuales presentan importantes costes para el mercado de auditoría, no resultarían ni necesarias ni eficientes (GAO, 2003, 2008; FRC, 2009; Comisión Europea, 2010; Competition Commission, 2013).

Hasta donde conocemos, éste es el primer estudio que introduce medidas de movilidad del mercado para explicar la colusión y el ejercicio del poder de mercado en el mercado de auditoría.