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This study explores how introducing a permissioned blockchain in a supply chain context impacts accountability relationships and the process of rendering an account. The authors explore how implementing a digital transformation impacts the governance of network transactions.

The authors mobilize 28 interviews and documentary analysis. The authors focus on early blockchain adopters to get an insight into how implementing a permissioned blockchain can transform information sharing, coordination and collaboration between business partners, now converted into network participants.

The authors suggest that implementing a permissioned blockchain impacts accountability across three levers, namely through the ledger, through the code and through the people, where these levers are interconnected. Blockchains are often valued for their ability to enable transparency through the visibility of transactions, but the authors argue that this is an incomplete view. Rather, transparency alone does not help to satisfy a duty of accountability, as it can result in selective disclosure or obfuscation.

The authors extend the conceptualizations of accountability in the blockchain literature by focusing on how accountability relationships are enacted, and accounts are rendered in a permissioned blockchain context. Additionally, the authors complement existing work on accountability and governance by suggesting an integrated model across three dimensions: ledger, code and people.

Tunisia has been living a decade of democratic transition since 2011. In this new context, the civil society has been fervently expressing claims for democracy and social justice through creating thousands of non-for-profit organisations (NPOs) (23,456 NPOs in 2020 against 9,000 established in 30 years up to 2010). However, this shift seems to be misleading, as only 3,000 NPOs are actually active, indicating that NPOs are struggling to sustain their activities and ensure their survival. The purpose of this study is to uncover the factors hindering NPOs’ activities and survival.

Semi-structured interviews were carried out using a purposive sample of 32 NPOs members in two main economic and touristic cities – Tunis and Sousse – selected using the snowball method. A considerable amount of qualitative data was produced (400 pages of text). This seems representative of Tunisian citizens’ inclination to protest in the new prevailing political and social context. The data collection benefited from the freedom of speech gained after the 2011 civilian uprising as interviewees were enthusiastic in voicing their opinions.

Two main categories of inhibitors were identified. First, endogenous inhibitors including inhibitors under the control of the NPO (i.e. use of illegal and foreign sources of funding, limited financial resources, unavailability of NPOs’ members, short term planning, conflicts between managers, autocratic leadership, organisational support, activities diversification and organisational justice, leadership and communication skills, “NPO culture”, members’ opportunistic behaviour and generation gap), inhibitors related to NPOs inter-relationships: stiff competition, unfair and dishonest competition, lack of collaboration, trust and communication between NPOs. Second, exogenous inhibitors i.e. perceived unethical practices and image transfer, economic crisis, foreign funding sources and the media.

This study has some limitations mainly due to the sample size and characteristics of the selected interviewees. In addition, data was collected in only two regions (Tunis and Sousse). Therefore, the results may lack generalisability.

The findings highlight the critical impact of the inhibitors under the control of NPOs compared to those out of their control. NPOs in a crisis context could overcome these inhibitors by ensuring congruence between the NPOs’ mission, objectives and activities and designing suitable marketing strategies.

This study contributes to elucidating this complex circular system of exchange and its inhibitors in a challenging and understudied context. It offers support to Bagozzi’s (1974, 1975, 1994, 2011) calls for uncovering the factors constraining or facilitating exchanges that have an impact going beyond the relationship between three or more partners and the conditions that govern these exchanges. Moreover, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical attempt to support Bagozzi’s (1994) conceptualisation. It also brings an update to NPOs’ data and marketing strategy in a region near the crossroads of Middle Eastern, North African and Western influences.

The purpose of this chapter is to assess the importance of individual social capital characteristics in determining wages, both directly through their valuation by employers and indirectly through their impact on individual occupational choice. We find that a person’s level of sociability and care for others works through both channels to explain wage differences between social and nonsocial occupations. Additionally, expected wages in each occupation type are found to be at least as important as a person’s level of social capital in choosing a social occupation. We make use of restricted 2000 Decennial Census and 2000 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey.

This cross-border study’s main purpose is to examine whether there is a significant association between political institutions and the cost of debt. In addition, it also investigates whether this association is moderated by the country’s corruption levels.

This study uses a unique cross-border data set comprising 45,848 firms from 117 countries from 2002 to 2017 to investigate these research questions. Further, the authors use the two-stage least squares method to mitigate issues of endogeneity.

This study finds that political institutions are significantly associated with cost of debt. Specifically, the cost of debt is lower in countries with stronger democratic institutions, smaller government bureaucracies and higher adherence to the rule of law. Further, this association is strengthened by low corruption levels.

This study provides new insights into the relationship between political institutions and the cost of debt. Overall, the results reveal that democratic institutions, government bureaucracy and the rule of law are significantly associated with cost of debt. This association is stronger in countries with low levels of corruption and consistent with Transparency’s International notion that accountability and transparency by government political institutions promote sustainable economic growth.

Interest in employee mindfulness has increased dramatically in recent years, fueled by several important conceptual articles, numerous studies documenting the benefits of mindfulness for employee outcomes, and the adoption of mindfulness-based practices in many Fortune 500 organizations. Despite this growing interest, the vast majority of research on employee mindfulness has taken an intrapersonal focus, failing to appreciate the ways in which mindfulness may enhance work-related relational processes and outcomes. The authors explore possible associations between mindfulness and relationally oriented workplace phenomena, drawing from interdisciplinary scholarship examining mindfulness in romantic relationships, child–parent relationships, patient–healthcare provider relationships, and student–teacher relationships. A framework is proposed that links mindfulness to three distinct relationally oriented processes, which are expected to have downstream effects on work-related relational outcomes. The authors then take the proposed framework and discuss possible extensions to a variety of unique workplace relationships and discuss critical next steps in advancing the relational science of mindfulness.

This chapter examines one vocational high school's response to a state exit exam. Many states now require high school students to pass an exit exam before graduating, a key element of standards-based accountability reforms. Little is known about how educators and students inside vocational schools respond to these exams which typically emphasize literacy and academic skills. We examine how one such school attempted to respond to demands linked to the exit exam and the state's labeling the school as underperforming. While teachers reported support for state intervention and placing stronger demands on the school, one remedy involved becoming more selective in terms of new students admitted. As a result, tensions arose between academic subject and vocational teachers. Deep frustrations were voiced by several teachers and students about whether preparation was sufficient to ensure a reasonable pass rate. We employ a critical public policy framework to illuminate how this policy shock spurred positive action while penalizing students for years of insufficient preparation in the public schools.