Editorial Issue 3/2021 – September/December 2021

Abstract

The production of scientific knowledge is surrounded by countless challenges and diverse emotions. We continue into 2021, still facing many sanitary challenges and experiencing remote work. We got to know new forms of investigation in the academic field and we observed new contributions from the field to the development of organizations. Also, with the same purpose of disseminating the knowledge produced, we once again gathered efforts from each volunteer collaborator to organize the issues of this journal. Here we leave our gratitude to each author, each reviewer, each associate editor, the University of Brasília and all readers.

In this last issue of 2021, we continue with the ethical commitment to present to the reader the result of the selection of the papers that make up this issue of the journal. 11 papers are presented here, of which we consider research papers, original papers, review papers, and an international paper. All these works are divided into 3 sections and aligned with the main theme: accounting, management and governance.

In the Management and Accounting of Private and Third Sector Companies section, the first paper in the section takes a look at the financial sector in Brazil, analyzing the quality of profits and the resilience of financial institutions. The work seeks to understand to what extent the regulatory instruments synthesized, through the basel index, have been robust in order to provide stability to the referred sector. In general, the results of this research demonstrate that the informational quality of the Basel Index does not follow any increases in estimated losses in the analyzed credit portfolios.

We selected one of the papers developed using the systematic review technique, which seeks to understand the relationship between accounting and intelligence. From the systematic analysis of 89 papers, the authors demonstrate that there is a predominance of four research focuses in this area: the use of a Business Intelligence system; the improvement of accounting provisions; monitoring the environment to identify aspects relevant to the financial life of organizations; and the automation of accounting processes through Artificial Intelligence and other technologies. Based on these approaches, the authors point to the need for organizations to make greater investments in intelligence processes in the field of accounting, with a view to improving their decision-making processes. This paper is organized under the title “Relationships between accounting and intelligence: research paths”

The paper "Effect of the Firm Life Cycle in the Relationship between Quality of Corporate Governance and Cost of Debt for Public Companies in Brazil" brings important reflections on corporate governance and the cost of debt, using the life cycle stage as a moderating variable, whose results are very interesting. Among them, it was found that corporate governance instruments significantly contribute to reducing the cost of debt in companies whose life cycle stage was classified as “turbulence” or “decline”. These results are especially important when they confirm that corporate governance instruments protect investors' interests and add economic value to companies, especially at times when their life cycle is unfavorable.

Complementing the contributions of this first section, the authors of the paper “A Proposal of a Conceptual Framework for Corporate Governance Research” make an in-depth reflection on a conceptual framework in governance from the perspective of improving contractual arrangements between companies and stakeholders.

In an attempt to identify fraud monitoring and mitigation mechanisms, the paper “Identifying Discretionary Actions Taken by Managers in Credit Unions: An Application of Benford's Law” analyzed data from Credit Unions in the period of 2006 to 2017. The results show that the use of this technique over long periods is not suitable for identifying possible fraud occurrences. However, when used in annual periods, it proved to be efficient in identifying the manager's discretionary actions when analyzing the accounts – Operating Revenue, Operating Expense, Cash and Estimated Loss for Clients/Doubtful Debts. Based on these results, the authors suggest the use of Benford's Law to improve the audit sample selection process, as well as to monitor the manager's discretionary choices with a view to mitigating earnings management or fraud.

The Management and Public Accounting section opens in this edition with a discussion on “Institutional Logic in Measurement and Cost Management in Accredited Hospitals”. Through a survey, the authors sought to understand "the influence of institutional logics in the adoption of measurement and cost management practices" and the results reveal the main reasons that lead the hospitals in the sample to carry out cost measurement and management: professional issues; of market; bureaucratic and community.

Using the Knowledge Development Process-Constructivist instrument, the paper “Performance Appraisal from the Perspective of Organizational Justice: Review and Research Agenda” brings important contributions on the theme of performance evaluation from the perspective of Organizational Justice. Among the findings, there is a “lack of research on the perceptions of interpersonal and informational justice”, as well as a gap regarding the development of “models adapted to the context, values ​​and preferences of decision makers”.

In order to analyze the norms and policies of integrity and anti-corruption, the third paper in this section had as its object of research the general controllerships of the state and Brazilian capitals. Due to the results presented, there is a lack of institutionalization of an inducing agenda on the theme of integrity and anti-corruption in a coordinated manner, in order to contribute to the advancement of this relevant issue in Brazil.

The qualitative paper “Transparency and Accountability: Analysis of Management Indicators of Federal Education Institutes”, seeks to understand the influence of indicators that contribute to promoting accountability. The results point to several challenges that reveal the formalism in the existence and use of these indicators, such as: incipient disclosure, absence of targets for the indicators, absence of the use of these indicators as a management tool. It is also noteworthy the fact that such indicators were established through regulatory imposition, which in a way explains the research results, as well as the fact that no Federal Education Institute fully met the assessed requirements.

The last paper in this section “Governance Assessment of Basic Education in Brazil”, presents contributions both in the methodological field of assessment of governance in basic education, as well as showing how this process has been able to guarantee and promote inclusive, equitable and quality education to Brazilians. In the methodological field, the authors validate an assessment instrument containing 4 main assessment factors. As main results, the study pointed out that the governance process in Brazilian education presents problems, the most harmful being the asymmetry of information between educational actors and the absence of a national education evaluation system, both essential for the exercise of governance and, consequently, for the fulfillment of the directives regarding the promotion and guarantee of an inclusive, equitable and quality education.

In the International Section, we have the reflections of the qualitative paper “Principles of the Administrative Procedure Code and their Contributions to Accountability: the Portuguese Case”. The authors analyzed the contributions arising from the Code of Administrative Procedure for the exercise of accountability and the strengthening of the Democratic Rule of Law. The results show that the institutionalization of the aforementioned legal diploma brought contributions to the improvement of constitutional values ​​and their implementation in light of the dimensions of accountability. This result demonstrates the adherence of the aforementioned device in the search for responses by the Public Administration to the new and complex challenges and demands of Portuguese society.   

This issue, therefore, was marked by the effort of each of the researchers to advance in the construction of knowledge in our field. This is seen in the numerous submissions we received. It is a demonstration of a restart in the midst of the restart of life, of a new way of thinking about the world. May 2022 be a new time and one of great achievements.

Good reading.

The editors,

Rodrigo de Souza Gonçalves

Andrea de Oliveira Gonçalves