Revista Digital Del Instituto Internacional De Costos, 2011
Nos últimos 30 anos as organizações públicas em geral, e os municípios em particular, têm sido fo... more Nos últimos 30 anos as organizações públicas em geral, e os municípios em particular, têm sido fortemente pressionados no sentido de reduzirem a despesa pública e aumentarem a qualidade dos serviços prestados à comunidade. O alcance deste trade-off exigia um novo modelo de gestão pública assente em informação sobre o desempenho alcançado. Neste contexto de mudança a contabilidade de custos e de gestão surge para satisfazer as necessidades de informação dos gestores públicos ao produzir informação útil ao processo de decisão e, consequentemente, à melhoria do desempenho organizacional. Tendo por base a importância da informação de custos para a melhoria da gestão autárquica, pretende-se com este artigo estudar o uso e a utilidade da informação de custos para a gestão autárquica. Os dados foram obtidos através da aplicação de um inquérito por questionário a todos os municípios portugueses. Os resultados mostram que o uso da informação de custos, a nível interno e externo, é ainda reduzido, o que reforça as nossas expectativas em relação à maior primazia que tem sido dada à informação patrimonial e orçamental, em detrimento da informação de custos. Por outro lado, os respondentes consideram que esta informação é extremamente útil para a gestão autárquica, reforçando assim o seu papel para a melhoria do desempenho organizacional. Palavras-chave: contabilidade de custos; gestão autárquica; uso da informação; utilidade da informação; estudo empírico; municípios portugueses.
International Journal of Public Administration, 2015
This paper investigates the reform of public accounting in Portugal through the IPSAS adoption hi... more This paper investigates the reform of public accounting in Portugal through the IPSAS adoption highlighting the perception of different stakeholders. Two competing theories (NPM and the institutional theory) are used to understand public accounting changes within the Portuguese context. In general, different stakeholders agree with the favorable moment and the context of the reform. The context of financial crises and the great external pressures to cut public deficits and to improve the quality of financial information seem to be the most important factors to stimulate changes in public accounting. In addition, stakeholders recommend the use of different strategies to ensure success.
... con-tabilidade de gestão (Ryan et al., 2002), introduzindo novas metodologias e perspectivas ... more ... con-tabilidade de gestão (Ryan et al., 2002), introduzindo novas metodologias e perspectivas de investigação ainda em crescimento. A influência da pers-pectiva institucional e de outros factores políticos e culturais, na mudança do sistema de contabilidade dos municípios ...
International Journal of Public Sector Management, 2009
PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to assess the state of performance management within the publi... more PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to assess the state of performance management within the public sector and suggest areas for further research.DesignThis is a theoretical paper based on a literature review.FindingsThe expected improvements in performance, accountability, transparency, quality of service and value for money have not yet materialised in the public sector. There are three classes of problems with performance management in the public sector – technical, systems and involvement. Externally imposed restructurings and reorganisations restrict the successful implementation of performance management.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is theoretical, and empirical research to test the results is required.Practical implicationsThe findings can be used to enhance performance management systems within both the public and private sectors.Originality/valueThe paper provides an overview of the state of performance management and measurement within public sector organisati...
: This paper explores the main determinants of the use of the cost accounting system (CAS) in Po... more : This paper explores the main determinants of the use of the cost accounting system (CAS) in Portuguese local government (PLG). Regression analysis is used to study the fit of a model of accounting changes in PLG, focused on cost accounting systems oriented to activities and outputs. Based on survey data gathered from PLG, we have found that the use of information in decision-making and external reporting is still a mirage. We obtain evidence about the influence of the internal organizational context (especially the lack of support and difficulties in the CAS implementation) in the use for internal purposes, while the institutional environment (like external pressures to implement the CAS) appears to be more deterministic of the external use. Results strengthen the function of external reporting to legitimate the organization's activities to external stakeholders. On the other hand, some control variables (like political competition, usefulness and experience) also evidence some explanatory power in the model. Some mixed results were found that appeal to further research in the future. Our empirical results contribute to understand the importance of interconnecting the contingency and institutional approaches to gain a clear picture of cost accounting changes in the public sector.
Resumo A IAS 38 (International Accounting Standard 38), emitida em 1998, e revista em Março de 20... more Resumo A IAS 38 (International Accounting Standard 38), emitida em 1998, e revista em Março de 2004, visa a harmonização no tratamento dos intangíveis de modo a tornar mais claro e uniforme o entendimento sobre estes activos fixos. O estudo e análise dos activos ...
This paper aims to examine the role of internal audit department (AI) in public Higher Education ... more This paper aims to examine the role of internal audit department (AI) in public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The methodology used to develop this study was an online survey of the Portuguese public HEIs. As a result, a response rate of 43% was obtained. This study concludes that most HEIs do not have an internal audit department although their usefulness is recognised. In fact, this study found that there is a long way to go for HEIs and their management bodies to introduce and apply effective internal audit practices. Although it has some limitations, with this paper we hope to contribute to enrich the knowledge and the scant academic literature in this field, by emphasising the usefulness of AIs, particularly in the HEI context, and by alerting policy makers and public managers to the role of AI in the increasing the levels of transparency, efficiency, effectiveness and quality of service delivered.
A introducao da contabilidade de gestao no setor publico e a preocupacao com a medida e a avaliac... more A introducao da contabilidade de gestao no setor publico e a preocupacao com a medida e a avaliacao do desempenho estao na base das principais mudancas ocorridas, nos ultimos 20 anos, no sistema de contabilidade publica como consequencia das reformas da New Public Management. Neste contexto de mudanca as organizacoes publicas tem sido pressionadas a aumentar os niveis de eficiencia, eficacia e qualidade dos servicos prestados atraves de uma maior racionalizacao no uso dos recursos disponiveis. Em contextos de elevada crise financeira e restricoes orcamentais esta preocupacao com o controlo e a racionalizacao de recursos aumenta, o que leva a necessidade de um sistema de informacao contabilistica que permita obter informacao sobre custos por atividades, bens e servicos e indicadores de eficiencia e eficacia. Com este trabalho pretende-se analisar as mudancas recentes da contabilidade de custos na Administracao Publica e explorar a evolucao futura deste sistema no caso Portugues, com ...
Global Perspectives on Risk Management and Accounting in the Public Sector
Performance measurement is seen as a main pillar of public management reforms. However, prior res... more Performance measurement is seen as a main pillar of public management reforms. However, prior research did not mitigate the level of ambiguity on PMS development and use and many questions left unanswered. Our findings provide knowledge on the design and use of PMS in the public sector answering to calls for a complementary approach among institutional and contingency factors. The authors find that the design of PMS and the use of performance information for external purposes are increased to legitimate the organizational' work and to obtain external support. Moreover, structural variables such as type of agency and management autonomy are also determinants on the organizational responses. Finally, the authors find some coupling between the design of PMS and outcomes. So, both contingent and institutional approaches play an important role on the empirical model.
Este estudo visa conhecer as razões que levam à escolha de um curso de formação para a docência e... more Este estudo visa conhecer as razões que levam à escolha de um curso de formação para a docência em Educação Física e identificar os agentes de socialização para esta profissão. Na componente extensiva foi aplicado um questionário a todos os estudantes do primeiro ano do segundo ciclo de estudos da Faculdade de Desporto da Universidade do Porto e na intensiva uma entrevista semiestruturada a 10 estudantes. Na análise utilizou-se estatística descritiva e análise de conteúdo. Nas razões invocadas para a escolha da profissão prevalecem as intrínsecas, seguidas das extrínsecas e, por último, as altruístas. A família emergiu como o principal agente de socialização para a prática desportiva e o professor de Educação Física para a docência. Palavras-chave: socialização antecipatória; professor; educação física.
This paper presents a qualitative study that aims to investigate whether and how local politician... more This paper presents a qualitative study that aims to investigate whether and how local politicians use perform ance info rmation to evaluate top managers’ performance. The main goal is to contribute to knowledge on perform ance manag ement in the political sphere. Based on semistructured interviews, findings show that the organizational climate determines the willingness to use information. There is an internal culture embedded in public agencies, like municipalities, that lead politicians to be more or less concerned about the use of performance in formation. In this paper we find that politicians have a greater orientation towards the ‘implicit’ and the ‘operationscon scious’ styles rather than to the ‘outputconstrained’ and the ‘outcomeconscious’ styles. In general, politicians failed to implement a culture focused on the use of performance information. The institutional approach helps us to identify political responses to institutional pressures and understand the reasons...
Many public organisations have been under great pressure in recent years to increase the efficien... more Many public organisations have been under great pressure in recent years to increase the efficiency and transparency of outputs, to rationalise the use of public resources, and to increase the quality of service delivery. In this context, public organisations were encouraged to introduce the New Public Management reforms with the goal of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the performance organisation through a new public management model. This new public management model is based on measurement by outputs and outcomes, a clear definition of responsibilities, the transparency and accountability of governmental activities, and on a greater value for citizens. What type of performance measurement systems are used in police services? Are they multidimensional models with an integration of financial and non financial measures? Based on the literature review, we see that multidimensional models, like the Balanced Scorecard, are important in many public organisations, like munic...
As a result of reforms brought about by the New Public Management (NPM) movement, public organiza... more As a result of reforms brought about by the New Public Management (NPM) movement, public organizations have felt the need to develop adequate information systems to improve the policy process decision-making and to introduce resource allocation based on outputs and outcomes. The objective is to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and the quality of the public service with improved management costs. What is the role of the BSC in the performance measurement of the Portuguese Police System? And to extent are police agents willing to comply with BSC requirements? The first study of its kind in Portugal, this paper proposes to analyze the BSC ́s place in the police management and police predisposition to apply the BSC as a performance measurement system in the Portuguese Police. Using a unique data set assembled by way of a nationwide survey sent to all the police chiefs of the four branches of the Portuguese police, we estimate an ordered logit regression model. We find that prior know...
This paper seeks to help clarify the public performance consequences of performance measurement (... more This paper seeks to help clarify the public performance consequences of performance measurement (PM) practices, based on a holistic approach. There is growing support on the argument that organizations will improve their performance by employing performance measurement systems (PMS) and strategic techniques to measure performance. The basic argument of this paper is that the fit between PMS and public organizational performance is contingent upon the appropriate fit between PMS and government agencies' characteristics such as the level of competition, size and strategies oriented to innovation and citizens. Using a multivariate analysis, we study performance consequences of PM practices and the fit between PMS and context, with evidence from Portuguese central government. Based on the survey data administered to Portuguese government agencies, we find that the extent to which agencies use PMS as well the use of strategic performance techniques (quality and internal managerial te...
This article analyses the Portuguese government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, discussing t... more This article analyses the Portuguese government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, discussing the main financial and non-financial measures, the successes and the future challenges. Findings show...
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of performance measurement systems (PM... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of performance measurement systems (PMS) on organizational performance in public sector. In addition, it investigates the moderating effects of the organizational context. Design/methodology/approach Using a multivariate analysis, the authors investigate the extent of PMS used among Portuguese Government agencies and their effects on organizational performance. Data were gathered from the only survey (based on their Comparative Public Organization Data Base for Research and Analysis survey) applied to the Portuguese Government agencies. Findings The authors find that the extent to which agencies use PMS is positively associated with the organizational performance (in a multidimensional perspective). Moreover, the organizational performance is contingent upon the fit between PMS and the agency’s context in light of the contingency theory (especially the orientation to citizens and the level of competition). Originality/value ...
Revista Digital Del Instituto Internacional De Costos, 2011
Nos últimos 30 anos as organizações públicas em geral, e os municípios em particular, têm sido fo... more Nos últimos 30 anos as organizações públicas em geral, e os municípios em particular, têm sido fortemente pressionados no sentido de reduzirem a despesa pública e aumentarem a qualidade dos serviços prestados à comunidade. O alcance deste trade-off exigia um novo modelo de gestão pública assente em informação sobre o desempenho alcançado. Neste contexto de mudança a contabilidade de custos e de gestão surge para satisfazer as necessidades de informação dos gestores públicos ao produzir informação útil ao processo de decisão e, consequentemente, à melhoria do desempenho organizacional. Tendo por base a importância da informação de custos para a melhoria da gestão autárquica, pretende-se com este artigo estudar o uso e a utilidade da informação de custos para a gestão autárquica. Os dados foram obtidos através da aplicação de um inquérito por questionário a todos os municípios portugueses. Os resultados mostram que o uso da informação de custos, a nível interno e externo, é ainda reduzido, o que reforça as nossas expectativas em relação à maior primazia que tem sido dada à informação patrimonial e orçamental, em detrimento da informação de custos. Por outro lado, os respondentes consideram que esta informação é extremamente útil para a gestão autárquica, reforçando assim o seu papel para a melhoria do desempenho organizacional. Palavras-chave: contabilidade de custos; gestão autárquica; uso da informação; utilidade da informação; estudo empírico; municípios portugueses.
International Journal of Public Administration, 2015
This paper investigates the reform of public accounting in Portugal through the IPSAS adoption hi... more This paper investigates the reform of public accounting in Portugal through the IPSAS adoption highlighting the perception of different stakeholders. Two competing theories (NPM and the institutional theory) are used to understand public accounting changes within the Portuguese context. In general, different stakeholders agree with the favorable moment and the context of the reform. The context of financial crises and the great external pressures to cut public deficits and to improve the quality of financial information seem to be the most important factors to stimulate changes in public accounting. In addition, stakeholders recommend the use of different strategies to ensure success.
... con-tabilidade de gestão (Ryan et al., 2002), introduzindo novas metodologias e perspectivas ... more ... con-tabilidade de gestão (Ryan et al., 2002), introduzindo novas metodologias e perspectivas de investigação ainda em crescimento. A influência da pers-pectiva institucional e de outros factores políticos e culturais, na mudança do sistema de contabilidade dos municípios ...
International Journal of Public Sector Management, 2009
PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to assess the state of performance management within the publi... more PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to assess the state of performance management within the public sector and suggest areas for further research.DesignThis is a theoretical paper based on a literature review.FindingsThe expected improvements in performance, accountability, transparency, quality of service and value for money have not yet materialised in the public sector. There are three classes of problems with performance management in the public sector – technical, systems and involvement. Externally imposed restructurings and reorganisations restrict the successful implementation of performance management.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is theoretical, and empirical research to test the results is required.Practical implicationsThe findings can be used to enhance performance management systems within both the public and private sectors.Originality/valueThe paper provides an overview of the state of performance management and measurement within public sector organisati...
: This paper explores the main determinants of the use of the cost accounting system (CAS) in Po... more : This paper explores the main determinants of the use of the cost accounting system (CAS) in Portuguese local government (PLG). Regression analysis is used to study the fit of a model of accounting changes in PLG, focused on cost accounting systems oriented to activities and outputs. Based on survey data gathered from PLG, we have found that the use of information in decision-making and external reporting is still a mirage. We obtain evidence about the influence of the internal organizational context (especially the lack of support and difficulties in the CAS implementation) in the use for internal purposes, while the institutional environment (like external pressures to implement the CAS) appears to be more deterministic of the external use. Results strengthen the function of external reporting to legitimate the organization's activities to external stakeholders. On the other hand, some control variables (like political competition, usefulness and experience) also evidence some explanatory power in the model. Some mixed results were found that appeal to further research in the future. Our empirical results contribute to understand the importance of interconnecting the contingency and institutional approaches to gain a clear picture of cost accounting changes in the public sector.
Resumo A IAS 38 (International Accounting Standard 38), emitida em 1998, e revista em Março de 20... more Resumo A IAS 38 (International Accounting Standard 38), emitida em 1998, e revista em Março de 2004, visa a harmonização no tratamento dos intangíveis de modo a tornar mais claro e uniforme o entendimento sobre estes activos fixos. O estudo e análise dos activos ...
This paper aims to examine the role of internal audit department (AI) in public Higher Education ... more This paper aims to examine the role of internal audit department (AI) in public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The methodology used to develop this study was an online survey of the Portuguese public HEIs. As a result, a response rate of 43% was obtained. This study concludes that most HEIs do not have an internal audit department although their usefulness is recognised. In fact, this study found that there is a long way to go for HEIs and their management bodies to introduce and apply effective internal audit practices. Although it has some limitations, with this paper we hope to contribute to enrich the knowledge and the scant academic literature in this field, by emphasising the usefulness of AIs, particularly in the HEI context, and by alerting policy makers and public managers to the role of AI in the increasing the levels of transparency, efficiency, effectiveness and quality of service delivered.
A introducao da contabilidade de gestao no setor publico e a preocupacao com a medida e a avaliac... more A introducao da contabilidade de gestao no setor publico e a preocupacao com a medida e a avaliacao do desempenho estao na base das principais mudancas ocorridas, nos ultimos 20 anos, no sistema de contabilidade publica como consequencia das reformas da New Public Management. Neste contexto de mudanca as organizacoes publicas tem sido pressionadas a aumentar os niveis de eficiencia, eficacia e qualidade dos servicos prestados atraves de uma maior racionalizacao no uso dos recursos disponiveis. Em contextos de elevada crise financeira e restricoes orcamentais esta preocupacao com o controlo e a racionalizacao de recursos aumenta, o que leva a necessidade de um sistema de informacao contabilistica que permita obter informacao sobre custos por atividades, bens e servicos e indicadores de eficiencia e eficacia. Com este trabalho pretende-se analisar as mudancas recentes da contabilidade de custos na Administracao Publica e explorar a evolucao futura deste sistema no caso Portugues, com ...
Global Perspectives on Risk Management and Accounting in the Public Sector
Performance measurement is seen as a main pillar of public management reforms. However, prior res... more Performance measurement is seen as a main pillar of public management reforms. However, prior research did not mitigate the level of ambiguity on PMS development and use and many questions left unanswered. Our findings provide knowledge on the design and use of PMS in the public sector answering to calls for a complementary approach among institutional and contingency factors. The authors find that the design of PMS and the use of performance information for external purposes are increased to legitimate the organizational' work and to obtain external support. Moreover, structural variables such as type of agency and management autonomy are also determinants on the organizational responses. Finally, the authors find some coupling between the design of PMS and outcomes. So, both contingent and institutional approaches play an important role on the empirical model.
Este estudo visa conhecer as razões que levam à escolha de um curso de formação para a docência e... more Este estudo visa conhecer as razões que levam à escolha de um curso de formação para a docência em Educação Física e identificar os agentes de socialização para esta profissão. Na componente extensiva foi aplicado um questionário a todos os estudantes do primeiro ano do segundo ciclo de estudos da Faculdade de Desporto da Universidade do Porto e na intensiva uma entrevista semiestruturada a 10 estudantes. Na análise utilizou-se estatística descritiva e análise de conteúdo. Nas razões invocadas para a escolha da profissão prevalecem as intrínsecas, seguidas das extrínsecas e, por último, as altruístas. A família emergiu como o principal agente de socialização para a prática desportiva e o professor de Educação Física para a docência. Palavras-chave: socialização antecipatória; professor; educação física.
This paper presents a qualitative study that aims to investigate whether and how local politician... more This paper presents a qualitative study that aims to investigate whether and how local politicians use perform ance info rmation to evaluate top managers’ performance. The main goal is to contribute to knowledge on perform ance manag ement in the political sphere. Based on semistructured interviews, findings show that the organizational climate determines the willingness to use information. There is an internal culture embedded in public agencies, like municipalities, that lead politicians to be more or less concerned about the use of performance in formation. In this paper we find that politicians have a greater orientation towards the ‘implicit’ and the ‘operationscon scious’ styles rather than to the ‘outputconstrained’ and the ‘outcomeconscious’ styles. In general, politicians failed to implement a culture focused on the use of performance information. The institutional approach helps us to identify political responses to institutional pressures and understand the reasons...
Many public organisations have been under great pressure in recent years to increase the efficien... more Many public organisations have been under great pressure in recent years to increase the efficiency and transparency of outputs, to rationalise the use of public resources, and to increase the quality of service delivery. In this context, public organisations were encouraged to introduce the New Public Management reforms with the goal of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the performance organisation through a new public management model. This new public management model is based on measurement by outputs and outcomes, a clear definition of responsibilities, the transparency and accountability of governmental activities, and on a greater value for citizens. What type of performance measurement systems are used in police services? Are they multidimensional models with an integration of financial and non financial measures? Based on the literature review, we see that multidimensional models, like the Balanced Scorecard, are important in many public organisations, like munic...
As a result of reforms brought about by the New Public Management (NPM) movement, public organiza... more As a result of reforms brought about by the New Public Management (NPM) movement, public organizations have felt the need to develop adequate information systems to improve the policy process decision-making and to introduce resource allocation based on outputs and outcomes. The objective is to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and the quality of the public service with improved management costs. What is the role of the BSC in the performance measurement of the Portuguese Police System? And to extent are police agents willing to comply with BSC requirements? The first study of its kind in Portugal, this paper proposes to analyze the BSC ́s place in the police management and police predisposition to apply the BSC as a performance measurement system in the Portuguese Police. Using a unique data set assembled by way of a nationwide survey sent to all the police chiefs of the four branches of the Portuguese police, we estimate an ordered logit regression model. We find that prior know...
This paper seeks to help clarify the public performance consequences of performance measurement (... more This paper seeks to help clarify the public performance consequences of performance measurement (PM) practices, based on a holistic approach. There is growing support on the argument that organizations will improve their performance by employing performance measurement systems (PMS) and strategic techniques to measure performance. The basic argument of this paper is that the fit between PMS and public organizational performance is contingent upon the appropriate fit between PMS and government agencies' characteristics such as the level of competition, size and strategies oriented to innovation and citizens. Using a multivariate analysis, we study performance consequences of PM practices and the fit between PMS and context, with evidence from Portuguese central government. Based on the survey data administered to Portuguese government agencies, we find that the extent to which agencies use PMS as well the use of strategic performance techniques (quality and internal managerial te...
This article analyses the Portuguese government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, discussing t... more This article analyses the Portuguese government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, discussing the main financial and non-financial measures, the successes and the future challenges. Findings show...
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of performance measurement systems (PM... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of performance measurement systems (PMS) on organizational performance in public sector. In addition, it investigates the moderating effects of the organizational context. Design/methodology/approach Using a multivariate analysis, the authors investigate the extent of PMS used among Portuguese Government agencies and their effects on organizational performance. Data were gathered from the only survey (based on their Comparative Public Organization Data Base for Research and Analysis survey) applied to the Portuguese Government agencies. Findings The authors find that the extent to which agencies use PMS is positively associated with the organizational performance (in a multidimensional perspective). Moreover, the organizational performance is contingent upon the fit between PMS and the agency’s context in light of the contingency theory (especially the orientation to citizens and the level of competition). Originality/value ...
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