Contextual Pressures Research Articles

Teacher digital identity divergences: From teacher education to classroom

AbstractDespite high‐quality initial teacher education (ITE), a notable proportion of newly graduated teachers encounter a stark reality shock upon entering the profession, facing burnout and suboptimal teaching performance. While internships during ITE are often seen as a potential solution to bridge the gap between theory and practice, their effectiveness is questioned. This multiple‐case study (N = 38) delves into the ideals and attributes of teacher identities as perceived by preservice teachers in both ITE and internship contexts, with a specific focus on the role of digital technology in education. The interview findings highlight an expectation gap and a susceptibility to succumb to contextual pressures, even within the sheltered environments of internships. This study advocates for closer collaboration between ITE and internship settings to uphold the development of a sound teacher identity and sustain teacher resilience in the increasingly digitalised educational landscape.

Navigating Threats of Wildfires and Individual Rights to Adopt 100% Tobacco-Free Policy in Rural California Community Colleges.

In California, all four-year public colleges have adopted 100% smoke-/tobacco-free policies (TFP) whereas community colleges (CCs), particularly rural CCs, are less likely to have tobacco-free environments. This raises concerns about health equity, particularly because smoking prevalence is higher in rural areas compared to urban. We examined policy adoption barriers and facilitators for rural California CCs with the aim of providing lessons learned to support TFP adoption by rural CCs and improve conditions for student health and well-being. A multiple case study of four CCs in California with (n = 2) and without (n = 2) TFPs was conducted. Semi-structured interviews with 12 campus and community stakeholders, school administrative data, and policy-relevant documents were analyzed at the case level with comparison across cases to identify key barriers, facilitators and campus-specific experiences. All four CCs shared similar barriers to policy adoption including concerns about wildfires, individual rights, and fear of marginalizing people who smoke on campus. These CCs have experienced serious wildfires in the last ten years, have high community smoking prevalence, and fewer school resources for student health. For the two tobacco-free CCs, long-term wildfire mitigation efforts along with leadership support, campus/community partnerships and a collective approach involving diverse campus sectors were essential facilitators in successful TFP adoption. Study results underscore contextual pressures and campus dynamics that impact tobacco control efforts at colleges in rural communities. Strategies to advance college TFP adoption and implementation should recognize rural cultural and community priorities.

Beyond a technological tool: How a platform as a meta-organization enables a successful public service project in China

Successful public service projects are few. An extreme case in this study shows that the performance of a public service project in Beijing adopting a platform not only meets but goes beyond the expectations of the policy designer. Existing studies on platforms focus on the impact of a platform from a static perspective in information systems studies, but have not investigated the transformational process where a platform was built and functioned. A platform development and governance model was developed. Our findings suggest that in a public service project, (1) working as a technological tool, the platform built through contextual pressures, authorized and technological capacities of multiple stakeholders affected the roles of the government and social sector entities, and then reorganized the services to reduce corruption risks and standardized actions to better serve the people; and (2) working as a meta-organization, the platform was built through the authorized and link-building capacities of stakeholders. It integrated multiple stakeholders to better serve the people and calmed conflicts and catalyzed innovations to build norms to regulate actions and offer better service. The above governance factors promoted the multi-oriented performance of the project. In the course of generating the grounded model, we clarify the key factors in the dynamic process of how a platform works.

Referendum as a policy instrument to enhance energy democracy in formulating energy transition path, agenda, and policies: A case study of Taiwan's referendums in 2018 and 2021

This study explores whether energy policy-related referendum initiatives in Taiwan can serve as effective policy instruments for the public to participate democratically in the formulation of energy policy and transition. Taiwan's conventional energy policy-making process is top-down, determined by the government, politicians, and experts. This process was challenged by five bottom-up energy-related referendum initiatives in 2018 and 2021, demanding a reduction in coal-fired electricity generation, electricity generation from nuclear energy instead, and an end to the expansion of large-scale fossil fuel energy infrastructure. The preferences of the general public and government for the energy transition agenda were in conflict. The results show that referendum is an effective and socially integrated policy instrument for enhancing energy democracy and guiding governmental energy transition in Taiwan, particularly by resisting the government's dominant coal-based energy agenda and facilitating a restructuring of the energy sector against various social and contextual pressures on energy preferences and contested policy goals. This bottom-up, exogenous rather than endogenous, and forced rather than voluntary energy policy formulation model corresponds to the international discussion on how energy democracy can change traditional structural power relations between the government and citizens in energy policy formulation and transition.

An inequity assessment framework for planning coastal and marine conservation and development interventions

Sustainable development should promote equity with benefits for coastal communities. Many conservation and development initiatives promise to contribute to an equitable future without being designed to do so. Here, we promote an assessment tool to help interventions plan to promote equity through forecasting and evaluating the risks of contributing to inequities, in order to plan against them. Building from rich literatures of impact assessment, procedural justice, postcolonial studies, critical race theory, and fields in sociology studying the accrual of advantage and disadvantage among different groups, we propose the assessment framework follow key principles that center on understanding how interventions affect marginalized people, and assess how planning, implementation, and outcome decisions build on each other and reflect (or work against) broader systemic contextual pressures that perpetuate inequities. In forecasting and monitoring potential inequities, coastal communities and proponents of interventions should be able to plan against the realization of these adverse impacts. We show how the framework can be used in three case studies: 1) a climate adaptation project; 2) marine protected areas; 3) a debt relief program. Sustainable development is about promoting equity, but only with methods employed to confront and understand inequitable consequences can interventions do so.

From qualified to conspirative Euroscepticism: how the German AfD frames the EU in multiple crisis

ABSTRACT Research on Euroscepticism tends to portray parties opposing European integration or criticising the European Union (EU) as a family of Eurosceptic parties (either hard or soft). Recent literature, however, offers empirical evidence on the ambivalence and diversity of the EU critique. What is still unclear are the reasons behind the chameleonic nature of Euroscepticism and the implications that this may have for the EU critique and the changes proposed about EU policy or institutions. The present article addresses this question exploring the role of EU crises to capture the changing nature of Euroscepticism and suggests that it is related to contextual pressures on the political debate around the EU. The paper develops this argument and illustrates it through the analysis of the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany, covering the EU crises of the last decade, including the recent period of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine invasion. Drawing on a corpus of party manifestos and speeches between 2013 and 2022, this study shows that there are three main frames used by the party to criticise the EU. It also concludes that these frames involve distinct political implications for the EU critique and the alternative proposals presented by the party.

Teological overview Choan-Seng Song about Jesus suffering

Choan-Seng Song is an Asian theologian who is quite determined to think about how to apply biblical values in an Asian context. Song tried to theologize not based on Western theology but instead he formulated Asian theology, which took the area not only in the church but more broadly in Asian society. Shoki Coe, a theologian from Taiwan - together with Song - who is also Director of the Theological Education Fund, wrote in the introduction to Song's book titled Christian Mission in Reconstruction: An Asian Analysis: First, Song's challenge to theologize in an Asian context is very heavy and Song with enthusiasm who overflowed trying to answer it. Second, Song reflects his theology well and consistently. Song corrected the mission of Western Christians who had lost the dynamics of the incarnation. His theological strength was to reject Western values and Song found God's incarnation in the lives of Asians. The author uses the approach of exegesis research methods and apologetics to examine the extent to which the concept of Jesus - which is central to Song's theology - as a figure of "suffering" is applied to the phenomena that occur in society. The essence of the contextual pressures is how Song used to break through the values of the suffering Jesus. The purpose of this writing is divided into three parts, namely: the first part contains the concept of Song about Jesus suffering, which is seen from the biblical aspect, the symbol of the cross, Jesus as the center of the mission of suffering in the world, theology of the people, the suffering messiah, and the politics of the cross. The second part, to look for the biblical basis of Jesus who suffered (for aesthetics), the author executes Mk 8:31; 9:31; and 10: 33-34 and to find the biblical basis Suffering is a characteristic of Christians, the writer executes 1Pet 4: 12-19. The third part is evaluating (apologetics) Song's thoughts with the author's exegesis from positive and negative aspects.

High‐commitment HRM practices during the financial crisis in Portugal: Employees' and HR perspectives

AbstractOver the recent decades, organizations have had to face a number of major external shocks and crises. Acquiring a better understanding of how human resources are managed under such critical conditions constitutes the main purpose of this study. We conducted a study triangulating different sources (employees, HR managers, and secondary data) and types of data (quantitative and qualitative) to explore how employees in Portuguese organizations perceived the HR practices' implementation during the years of the financial crisis (2011–2014) and how HR managers explained it. Longitudinal evidence from 53 organizations attests to perceived decreasing trends, particularly in training and development and performance management. HR managers legitimize these trends, embracing conventions and revealing the impact of coercive and normative pressures. Our findings highlight the need for renewed attention to be paid to the contextual pressures on HR managers' decision‐making and actions that could severely endanger their role as strategic partners and their embrace of sustainable HRM.

How state influence on project work organization both drives and mitigates gendered precarity in cultural and creative industries

AbstractThis article develops an understanding of gendered precarity in project work by considering how the transfer of risk from employer to worker is shaped by the contextual pressures of state policy and the organization of the industrial field. The focus is the organization of project work as a condition underpinning the shifting of this risk in a mature field of precarious employment, the cultural and creative industries (CCIs). Our empirical exploration in Film/TV in the UK and Germany, and Dance in Sweden and the Netherlands, examines the dynamic interplay between state policy domains (cultural, social and regulatory), industry‐level funding bodies or ‘transaction organizers’ and the cultural processes of CCI project networks. We argue that state‐led influences both drive and mitigate the transfer of risk in project work as gendered, racialized and classed. Our framework contributes to broadening employment literature on risk and the disadvantaging capacity of networks to hoard opportunities in project‐based labour markets.

Caravaggio’s The Crucifixion of St. Peter

This paper explores conflations of martyrdom, spectatorship, and image theory in Caravaggio’s Crucifixion of St. Peter (1601). It argues that Caravaggio employs an “iconic” visual formula as a response to the pressures of a post-Tridentine poetics. Through these strategies, an iconography of immediacy and presence is paired with a sacrificial subject-matter. This merging united witness and visual experience in the shape of the sacred image. Martyrdom, as both a historical and representational phenomenon of early modern sociality and culture, invoked the act of spectatorship. In connecting the Crucifixion of St. Peter with the cultural and aesthetic paradigms of post-Tridentine Italy, the article argues that Caravaggio’s image re-imagines the codes of iconic repre­sentation. While not a novel academic context for Caravaggio scholarship, I will read this image less as the expression of stylistic tensions in the Roman artworld than as the result of overlapping frameworks—martyrdom, Petrine iconography, and a Counter-Reformation aesthetic. Reenergized as part of the visual rhetoric of Tridentine politics, the icon reflected a new propensity for paleochristian cultural revival. Discussing both the contextual pressures of this new aesthetic regime as well as intertwining it with the increasing presence of Catholic image treatises, the article suggests an “iconic” space for reading Caravaggio’s Crucifixion. This “iconic” framework is built into the charged discourse surrounding the image itself.

Review: The Demise of Religion: How Religions End, Die, or Dissipate, edited by Michael Stausberg, Stuart A. Wright, and Carole M. Cusack

The Demise of Religion offers scholars of new religious movements a theoretical toolbox for analyzing the nexus of factors that contribute to the decline and end of these groups. Drawing critical attention to an understudied aspect of new religions’ lifecycles, the volume’s contributors reflect on internal difficulties and external oppositions that are faced while raising questions of legacy and persistence.Sidestepping debates regarding religion’s demise, the volume focuses on individual religious organizations to demonstrate demise’s frequency as “part of ordinary religious history” (4). To conceptualize such occurrences, the editors present nine analytical categories in which decline can occur, including endogenous issues (such as failed prophecy) and exogenous factors (such as government policy). The book’s contributors efficiently demonstrate how these forces impact and exacerbate one another, coalescing to catalyze demise. Even seemingly straightforward ends are revealed as multifaceted processes of internal difficulty and external pressure. Erica Baffelli’s chapter on Aum Shinrikyō’s termination following the group’s 1995 attacks on Tokyo subways, for instance, places the attacks in a trajectory of declining membership, police raids, absentee leadership, government legislation, and doctrinal/ritual dysfunction.There is some predictability to the religions examined and the conceptual categories applied. The predictability of topics like the Family International’s struggles in the wake of child sexual abuse investigations, however, does nothing to diminish the contributors’ deft analyses and insightful findings. In fact, it seems that the most challenging question to answer is not how or why new religious movements end, but when it is appropriate to label one as having ended. Joel Robbins begins his chapter on indigenous Urapmin religion in Papua New Guinea by asking “How do we know when it makes sense to declare a religion officially dead,” and his query echoes throughout the book (31).Contributors repeatedly refer to organizational schisms, theological adaptations, and renovations of religious function when plotting end dates of new religious chronologies, complexifying demise. Alastair Lockhart explains that the trust of the Panacea Society continues applying the group’s resources to philanthropic ends even though the Society’s final member died in 2012. Eileen Barker aptly demonstrates the Family International’s steep decline but notes that the group persists as an online community. Michael Stausberg’s chapter on Rajneesh’s seemingly unequivocal closure of Rajneeshpuram in 1985 concludes with a coda: Rajneesh—re-branded as Osho—re-opened his ashram at Poona in 1989. Only groups referenced as ending by “direct actions of the state” and “mass murder, mass suicide, or a combination of both” escape the slipperiness of ascertaining expired status (170, 176).These persisting traces of ostensibly defunct new religions showcase The Demise of Religion as a tool for interrogating the ways that these groups respond to contextual pressures utilizing an ever-changing pool of political/cultural mechanisms and sentiments. The Family International’s retreat to online existence, the Panacea Society’s afterlife as philanthropic trust, and Rajneesh’s revival as Osho all demonstrate the creative adaptations that comprise new religious existence. In this sense, the book investigates the mechanics of new religious change in addition to decline.The Demise of Religion is a robust contribution to new religions studies. The book effectively deploys a broadly applicable set of analytical categories to examine how these movements end without encouraging single-variable analyses or creating formulaic depictions. Moreover, the array of organizations covered speaks to this approach’s versatility. Beyond elucidating specific groups’ terminations, each case study showcases and broadens the editors’ arsenal of endogenous and exogenous factors that contribute to decline. In doing so, the volume establishes a theoretical foundation for normalizing new religious decline and fall, pointing the way for future studies of new religious demise.

De-centring Populism: An Empirical Analysis of the Contingent Nature of Populist Discourses

Multiple voices warn about an analytical deadlock in the field of populism studies mainly due to an excess of description and a lack of contextualisation. Reflecting on the current responses to this impasse, this study presents a framework for contextualising populism and seeks to enrich and expand the potential of populism research. The main argument of this article is that a more dynamic and interactive analytical framework is necessary to show the contingent and fragile nature of populist discourses and complement existing research. To illustrate this approach, the case of Podemos is analysed to show how the populist discourse varies over time for the same populist actor and to what extent this variation responds to contextual pressures. The study concludes that the contingent nature of populism can be related to two main conditions: the variable power over discourse of populist mobilisation and the normative pressures within the political sphere.

Myxomycetes associated with three different types of Neotropical urban landscapes

Urban ecology is a research field gaining momentum due to contextual pressures to study macroecological effects on biodiversity. Herein, we evaluated the occurrence of myxomycetes in three urban Neotropical environments representing different levels of conurbation within different life zones. We used the moist chamber technique set up with ground litter collected by public roads for such evaluation. Results showed that 79% of the 420 moist chambers yielded myxomycetes and the same number of samples generated 570 records. The highest number of records and species were found in the cornurbated widespread city of the premontane moist forest life zone; and fewer records and species were recorded in the two non-conurbated compact cities. The lowest number of records was associated with the lowland dry forest life zone, whereas the lowest number of species was recorded in the desertic context. In general, more records and more species were observed in the outer zones relative to the urban centre but no significant differences were observed in either case. It is unlikely that the life zone characteristics could have primarily determined the results and highly likely played a secondary role. Also, previous geographical analyses in cities have reported no differences in myxomycete abundance or species richness in relation to the central parts of the urban landscape. The results presented herein support the latter idea, but also suggest that the presence of inter-conurbated green spaces and availability of substrates might play a role in the occurrence of sporocarps of myxomycetes in urban environments.

Subsidiaries’ behavioural responses to volatile local contexts in emerging African markets: evidence from Nigeria

PurposeThis paper aims to explore subsidiaries’ behavioural responses to volatile institutional pressures in the local context of the emerging Nigerian market.Design/methodology/approachThe authors built on institutional and contingency theory to analyse previous literature on developed markets and apply it to African contexts. The authors used a context-specific volatile local context model to show how porous formal and strong informal institutions constitute international business (IB) as a contested terrain in the host country. The authors also used a qualitative methodology, involving multiple actors, to investigate this phenomenon in practice.FindingsThe findings indicated different types of institutional pressures shaping volatile local contexts, which together or separately impact subsidiaries, depending on their degree of exposure. Subsidiaries behaviourally respond to cope with these pressures through inclusive negotiations involving their home and host countries’ networks.Originality/valuePrevious research has imposed developed markets’ norms on emerging African markets, regardless of their volatility. As subsidiaries’ responses to local contexts in emerging African markets are poorly understood, the authors developed a volatile local context model, showing how IB becomes a contested terrain in host countries and the authors proposed a model that differentiates between informal institutions. The authors highlighted the impact of contextual pressures on subsidiaries, according to their levels of exposure to the local context. The authors concluded that committed alignment with a local context is necessary for presenting an effective contingent response to its volatilities.

Coexistence Praxis: The Role of Resource Managers in Wolf-Livestock Interactions on Federal Lands

In resource management, new terms are frequently introduced, reflecting ongoing evolution in the theory and practice of ecology and governance. Yet understandings of what new concepts mean, for whom, and what they imply for management on the ground can vary widely. Coexistence—a prominent concept within the literature and practices around human-wildlife conflict and predator management—is one such term: widely invoked and yet poorly defined. While for some coexistence is the latest paradigm in improving human-wildlife relations, the concept remains debated and indeed even hotly contested by others—particularly on the multiple-use public lands of the American West, where gray wolf conservation, livestock production, and the claims of diverse stakeholders share space.The multiple meanings of coexistence present serious challenges for conservation practice, as what the concept implies or requires can be contested by those most central to its implementation. In this study we examine wolf-livestock management—a classic case of human-wildlife conflict—by focusing on the experiences and perspectives of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) managers. We reviewed coexistence's multivalence in the literature, complementing semi-structured interviews conducted with USFS employees on case study forests from across the western states. Through this, we highlight the complexity and multi-dimensionality of the concept, and the unique yet under-explored perspective that resource managers bring to these debates.This work draws on insights from political ecology to emphasize the situatedness of manager practice—taking place within a broader set of relations and contextual pressures—while extending political ecologists' traditional focus on the resource user to a concern with the resource manager as a key actor in environmental conflicts. Through our engagement with the experiences and perceptions of USFS managers, who must balance conservation aims with long-established land uses like livestock grazing, we hope to clarify the various dimensions of coexistence. Our hope is that this work thus increases the possibility for empathy and collaboration among managers and stakeholders engaged in this complex socio-ecological challenge.

Field validity of Static-99R and STABLE-2007 with 4,433 men serving sentences for sexual offences in British Columbia: New findings and meta-analysis.

Many forensic assessment measures are developed and validated under research conditions but applied in the field, where professionals or paraprofessionals have varied training, unknown fidelity to administration procedures, and contextual pressures related to their institutions or legal system. Yet few studies examine the generalizability of psychometric properties of these scales as actually applied in field settings. This study examined 4,433 individuals assessed by probation officers on the Static-99R or STABLE-2007 sexual recidivism risk scales in British Columbia, Canada. Sexual, violent, and any recidivism were examined. Static-99R and STABLE-2007 had moderate accuracy in discriminating recidivists from non-recidivists, and both scales added incrementally in predicting all three outcomes (with Static-99R demonstrating higher accuracy). Organizing the items into constructs, sexual criminality, general criminality, and youthful stranger aggression incrementally predicted all three outcomes. For violent and any recidivism, the incremental effect of sexual criminality was in the negative direction (i.e., high sexual criminality was associated with relatively lower rates of violent and any recidivism). Calibration analyses indicated that recidivism rates were lower than what would be predicted by the norms for the scales. The current study also presented a meta-analysis of 15 field validity studies of Static-99R and 4 field validity studies of STABLE-2007. Results of the current study and meta-analysis support the field application of Static-99R and STABLE-2007, while emphasizing the importance of training and proper implementation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Social impact measurement in social housing: a theory-based investigation into the context, mechanisms and outcomes of implementation

PurposeEnglish social housing providers are increasingly turning to social impact measurement to assess their social value. This paper aims to understand the contextual factors causing this rise in the practice, specifically within this sector; the mechanisms that enable it to be effectively implemented within an individual organisation and the outcomes of successful implementation for individual organisations and more widely across the sector and beyond.Design/methodology/approachA realist theory-based approach is applied to the study of a small number of social housing organisations and leaders within the sector to explore the use of social impact measurement. The paper addresses three questions: Why is social impact measurement being adopted in this sector? How is it successfully implemented? And what happens (outcomes) when it is successfully implemented? Addressing these questions necessitates deeper insight into the contextual pressures that have brought to the fore social impact measurement within the sector and the beneficial outcomes the practice provides (or is anticipated to provide) to social housing providers. The methodological approach of Realist Evaluation (Pawson and Tilley, 1997, 2004) is used to structure and analyse the empirical data and findings into a programme theory for social impact measurement. Realist Evaluation provides a programme theory perspective, seeking to answer the question “what works, for whom and in what circumstances?”. In this research, the “whom” refers to English social housing providers and the circumstances are the contextual conditions experienced by the sector over the past decade. The programme theory aims to set out the links between the contextual drivers for social impact measurement, the mechanisms that bring about its implementation and the outcomes that occur as a result. Within this, greater detail on the implementation perspective is provided by developing an implementation theory using a Theory of Change approach (Connellet al., 1995; Fulbright-Andersonet al., 1998). The implementation theory is then embedded within the wider programme theory so as to bring the two elements together, thereby creating a refinement of the overall theory for social impact measurement. In turn, this paper demonstrates its importance (the outcomes that it can achieve for organisations and the sector) and how it can effectively be implemented to bring about those outcomes.FindingsSocial housing providers use social impact measurement both internally, to determine their organisational priorities and externally, to demonstrate their value to local and national governments and cross-sector partners then to shape and influence resource allocation. The practice itself is shown to be an open and active programme, rather than a fixed calculative practice.Research limitations/implicationsThe intensive nature of the research means that only a limited number of cases were explored. Further research could test theories developed here against evidence collected from a wider range of cases, e.g. other types of providers or non-adopters.Practical implicationsThe research makes a strong contribution to practice in the form of a re-conceptualisation of how social impact measurement can be shown to be effective, based on a deeper understanding of causal mechanisms, how they interact and the outcomes that result. This is of value to the sector as such information could help other organisations both to understand the value of social impact measurement and to provide practical guidance on how to implement it effectively.Social implicationsAs the practice of impact measurement continues to develop, practitioners will need to be aware of any changes to these contextual factors and consider questions such as: is the context still supportive of impact measurement? Does the practice need to be adjusted to meet the needs of the current context? For instance, the recent tragedy at Grenfell Tower has led to a reconsideration of the role of social housing; a new Green Paper is currently being drafted (Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2018). This may have a number of implications for social impact measurement, such as a rebalancing of emphasis on outcomes relating to environmental improvements, towards outcomes relating to the well-being of tenants.Originality/valueExisting literature is largely limited to technical guides. This paper links theory-based evaluation to practice contributing to social housing practice.

Examining Patterns of Mexican Immigrant Spouses’ Contextual Pressures and Links with Marital Satisfaction and Negativity

Previous research examined links from economic and cultural adaptation pressures to marital satisfaction and marital behavior. Results generally suggested a negative association between these sources of pressure and marital outcomes. However, the extant research is lacking given its inattention to the extent to which husbands and wives experience varying patterns of interrelated pressures and the differential links between patterns of economic and cultural adaptation pressures and marital outcomes. Using latent profile analysis, we identified four distinct patterns of economic and cultural adaptation pressures, underscoring the diversity in experiences among a seemingly homogeneous population of low-income Mexican immigrant couples. Furthermore, differences in marital satisfaction and marital negativity were identified, highlighting how varying patterns of pressures are differentially linked to marital quality.

La fabrication sous tension de rapports judiciaires : le cas de l’évaluation socio-pénale des mineurs

Au Québec, le rapport prédécisionnel est un outil d’évaluation qui permet d’éclairer la magistrature avant qu’une peine ne soit ordonnée à l’égard d’un mineur déclaré coupable d’un acte infractionnel. Au Québec, les artisans de ces rapports sont des intervenants sociaux. Cet article discute de la confection des rapports prédécisionnels qui se situe au confluent de deux logiques d’action antagonistes. L’une est portée par des stratégies organisationnelles d’uniformisation des rapports prédécisionnels et l’autre par des contraintes contextuelles pesant sur leurs auteurs. L’affrontement de ces logiques génère des signaux discordants chez les « artisans » de ces rapports, pouvant culminer en une tension non discutée. En réponse à cette tension, les intervenants-artisans tenteront des réconciliations ouvrant la voie à une pratique créative.

Legitimating accounting change in charities: when values count more than regulation

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore the way charity accountants understand, interpret and legitimate or delegitimate the introduction of accounting and reporting changes (embedded in the extant charity statement of recommended practice), before these are actually implemented.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on 21 semi-structured interviews with accountants in large UK and Republic of Ireland charities, the manner and extent to which forthcoming changes in charity accounting are legitimated (justified) or delegitimated (criticised) is explored.FindingsAcceptance of accounting changes in the charity sector by formal regulation may not be necessary for future required adjustments to practice to be legitimated. Using interviews carried out before the implementation of required changes, the results suggest that other factors, such as national culture, identity and mimetic behaviours, may play a major role in the homogenisation and acceptance of accounting and reporting rules. In particular, it is argued that mimetic pressures can be much more influential than regulative pressures in legitimating change in the charity sector and are more likely to lead to the embedding of change.Originality/valueThe contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it explores rhetoric and legitimation strategies used before changes are actually implemented. Second, it contributes to filling a gap in charities’ research related to intra-organisational legitimation of managerial and accounting changes, illustrating institutional-field identity at work to preserve shared organisational values and ideas. Finally, the research illuminates the importance of particular contextual pressures and individual legitimation arguments during accounting-change processes.