Purpose This paper aims to understand the role that accounting inscriptions play in mediating uncertainties between a central company and other supply chain actors in anticipation of a novel geopolitical risk. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory comparative analysis is conducted on three large multinational food companies, each of which faced significant supply chain challenges arising from the threat of Brexit. Brexit refers to the United Kingdom's (UK's) decision to leave the European Union (EU), following a referendum, resulting in negotiations and substantial changes in trade relations between the UK and the EU. Findings The findings reveal three distinct supply chain risk management pathways, shaped by the calculative cultures of the central companies and the actors they aim to engage with through mediation. When the central company prioritises mediating actions from suppliers and the government, and is sceptical of calculations, risk talk is primarily used. When mediation involves various supply chain actors, and the central company adopts a pragmatic approach to calculations, risk tools are integrated with risk talk to enable cohesive discussions. Finally, when the focus is on internal mediation between the finance and supply chain procurement functions, and the central company adopts a calculative idealist approach, familiarity with risk tools makes these tools central to the mediation process. Originality/value The authors adopt a comparative ex-ante field study perspective to (1) contextualise central company decisions within this uncertainty setting, illustrating how calculative cultures shape adjustments in mediating instruments and (2) theorise how a broad set of accounting inscriptions, including both risk tools and risk talk, can be used and combined in stimulating inter- and intra-organisational mediation under supply chain uncertainty.

Purpose This paper examines the extent, quality, and tone of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) disclosures by UK FTSE 100 firms, assessing whether these reflect genuine commitment or serve impression management purposes. Design/methodology/approach A meaning-oriented content analysis of SDG-related disclosures from 75 FTSE 100 company reports is conducted. Drawing on the SDG Compass and KPMG's SDG reporting criteria, we develop a multidimensional analytical framework to assess disclosure scope, quality (semantic attributes and managerial orientation), and tone (thematic manipulation and structural emphasis). Findings SDG reporting is widespread but predominantly symbolic. Most firms emphasise a narrow set of high-profile goals (notably SDGs 8, 12, 13), with disclosures often framed in overly optimistic language, reinforcing favourable corporate narratives. Crucially, our targeted analysis reveals that many SDG sub-targets are poorly aligned with existing sustainability reporting frameworks, limiting their operational relevance. We demonstrate that these structural deficiencies, coupled with managerial apathy, foster superficial engagement and constrain meaningful accountability. Practical implications The paper calls for the development of more specific, business-relevant SDG sub-targets and performance indicators, enhanced assurance practices and stronger alignment of post-2030 frameworks with established sustainability reporting standards. Originality/value This study reframes symbolic SDG engagement as the outcome of both managerial choices and structural limitations within the SDG architecture. It contributes to SDG disclosure literature by developing a composite framework that integrates disclosure scope, quality and narrative tone–offering a multidimensional lens for evaluating sustainability reporting. By extending the analytical lens beyond headline goals, it offers fresh insights into the institutional and managerial conditions that legitimise symbolic reporting. These insights are particularly salient as deliberations on the post-2030 sustainable development agenda gather momentum.

Purpose The purpose of this research is to characterise governance in the education domain, examining the Australian school sector. In addition to investigating the role of accounting at a distance in programmes of governance, as has been the case in extant accounting research, we also seek to understand how so-called intimate accountings (Asdal, 2011) act on distance through the instantiation of situationally meaningful, local and embodied forms of calculation permeating everyday practices. In so doing, we highlight that governance is more than a top-down hierarchical process, relying also on everyday actors producing local calculations that help “align” (Miller, 2014) various calculative infrastructures of (educational) governance. Design/methodology/approach A case study design is employed, focusing on Australian schools. Data collected include 35 semi-structured interviews, field observations and archival documents. Our case study explores how accounting practices and calculative tools for managing school performance are implemented across different schooling contexts, and how these tools are understood by individuals interacting with them. Data analysis examines how accounting systems and everyday practices of accounting and calculation play a role in governance, culminating in the typification of the notion of cascading governmentality. Findings We find that MySchool, a prominent tool for educational accountability in Australia, is situated in cascading translations of governmentality, involving global, national and local actors, constitutive of, and constituted by, processes of accounting intimacy. We find that processes of governmentality require a multiplicity of actors and intimate accounting (Asdal, 2011) calculations – the “nitty-gritty”, everyday accounting practices of government agencies, schools, parents, school children and members of the community – making the programmatic reform of the Australian education sector (the so-called “the education revolution”) “fit” and work. Practical implications Our study calls for policymakers to consider the relational impacts of accountability systems, suggesting that local-level actors are not mere subjects of policy but also active participants in constructing governance. We also emphasise a need for more awareness of the emotional and relational consequences of accounting systems, particularly in domains such as education shaping family life and local communities. Originality/value We make four contributions to the extant literature. First, we challenge the traditional view of governmentality as a top-down, state-initiated policy agenda (Ahrens et al., 2020; Neu, 2000; McKinlay and Pezet, 2010), proffering instead the notion of cascading governmentality. Second, we demonstrate how governmentality is enacted locally through intimate accounting practices. Third, we show the unintended effects of accounting intimacy, contributing to ongoing discussions concerning accounting’s role in acting from and on distances (Corvellec et al., 2018; Quattrone and Hopper, 2005; Robson, 1992). Fourth, we empirically contribute to the small but growing body of accounting research focused on education (Cutler and Waine, 2004; Edwards et al., 1999; Edwards et al., 2000; Groff et al., 2010; Levacic, 1990; Neu, 2006; Rubin, 2004; Unda et al., 2023), encouraging further comparative, cross-national research exploring the intersections of accounting practices and educational governance.

Purpose This paper examines the gap between idealized accountability and governance realities during crises, focusing on Sri Lanka’s mandatory cremation policy amid COVID-19. It shows how states exploit crises to entrench informality, evade accountability and marginalize vulnerable groups. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on Ananya Roy’s concept of state informality, the paper traces how the Sri Lankan state bypassed legal and scientific norms, framing an exclusionary directive as public health policy. A qualitative case study approach analyses government statements, legal texts, media and social media to examine how the cremation mandate was constructed, contested and overturned. Findings The policy enabled authoritarian consolidation through informality, disproportionately targeting Muslim and Christian minorities and deepening existing inequities. However, civil society mobilized counter-accounts – via protest, legal action and transnational advocacy – reclaiming democratic space and prompting the policy’s reversal. Practical implications Policymakers must recognize the dangers of informal rule during emergencies. Transparent, inclusive governance is vital to preventing discriminatory crisis responses. Social implications The case highlights civil society’s role in resisting authoritarianism and reasserting accountability in times of crisis. Civic voice and solidarity are key to defending democratic values. Originality/value The paper theorizes dissonant accountability to show how crises both dismantle and provoke new forms of accountability, especially in postcolonial contexts.

Purpose This paper examines the use of intra-organizational impression management (IOIM) by internal units in a governance structure which does not rely on formal bureaucracy alone. We examine if and how these units use rhetorical IOIM to potentially ensure their internal legitimacy in a context where such legitimacy is not formally assured. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on several decades of internal reports of two cooperative banks and utilizing the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count semantic analysis software, we conduct an explorative quantitative study to identify instances of IOIM and their relation to internal units’ alternative sources of influence. Findings We provide evidence for IOIM and identify several rhetorical IOIM profiles, which are complementary or supplementary to alternative sources of internal influence, such as bargaining power and religious and cooperative discourse. Our findings suggest that IOIM may be attuned to audience characteristics. Consequently, we consider IOIM a “soft control” – a source of informal influence for internal units that lack the formal authority associated with more traditional governance forms. Originality/value To our knowledge, no form-oriented studies of IOIM, focusing on linguistic style characteristics, have been conducted. It is important to address this lacuna in our understanding of the informal ways in which organizational units can influence their internal legitimacy, considering the current interest in “soft” controls, alternative organizational forms and intra-organizational accounting communication.

Purpose We extend theorizing of the travel of ideas and the encountering of institutional voids. We explore the translation of EU accounting laws to a member state, Sweden, including coverage of outcomes, focusing upon translation of mandatory disclosures from 2016 whereby large and/or listed extractives (extractives industry companies) produce Reports on Payments to Governments (RPGs). We illuminate problematic and progressive (including some unintended) dimensions/manifestations of the translation. Design/methodology/approach A case study of Swedish/EU law-making focuses on the travel, entailing interpretations/impacts, of accounting laws from transnational to national level, mobilizing the travel of ideas and the encountering of institutional voids. Data was collected through interviews and interactions with regulators/experts involved (good access being attained) and potential RPG users, with evidence from publicly available documents and contextual appreciation. Findings Developments reflect displacement at the transnational–national/local interface. Swedish regulators/experts placed the RPGs’ section in a large national legislative package. Visibly, regulators mostly attended to the package’s promoted focus, SME accounting. RPGs were marginalized. RPGs came to be considered neither “financial” nor “nonfinancial” accounting, encountering the site of an institutional void vis-à-vis Sweden’s institutionalized accounting perspectives. There was a tendency to downplay relevance and potentiality of the RPGs locally: a missed opportunity to debate and build identification with ostensibly progressive accounting legislation. Concurrently, we uncover some local outcomes, unintended vis-à-vis regulators’ official rationale, including outcomes suggesting more progressive potential. Originality/value This lies in the analysis of the Swedish accounting regulatory process focused on EU laws, highlighting translation/travel of accounting constructions (entailing impacts on reception/usage), including local encountering of institutional voids.

Emerald Publishing is committed to the realization of a research and publishing environment built upon transparency, accessibility, and integrity.Accordingly, we have signed the Declaration to #DefendResearch, which aligns with our core values and long-standing mission to contribute to positive change in research and society more broadly. Support for academic freedomDuring this time of geopolitical instability, research and higher education face unprecedented challenges.In the United States, recent executive orders are disrupting research, education, and library programs, removing federally funded initiatives that support diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as green energy, climate, health, and other research domains.These measures have led to the termination of critical research grants and created uncertainty for researchers, faculty, librarians, and others who carry out and rely upon the benefits of research itself.

PurposeDespite broadening acceptance in society of the need to prioritise social and environmental sustainability, individuals and groups who dispute its relevance represent a grand challenge. Universities are uniquely placed to institutionalise the idea that pursuing sustainability is the “right thing to do”. As universities that prioritise sustainability themselves are more likely to be effective in promoting sustainability more broadly, this study explores what drives universities’ sustainability performance.Design/methodology/approachWe combine external rankings data and internal sustainability performance data from the top 700 universities globally, using a regression model to explore the key determinants of sustainability performance. Drawing upon institutional theory, we critically examine the drivers shaping sustainability performance within higher education.FindingsOverall, we find that large universities with greater access to resources and strong academic reputations are associated with better sustainability performance. The findings reveal the following characteristics to be drivers of sustainability performance: faculty–student ratio, international student ratio, number of students, public university, university ranking, academic reputation, citations per faculty member, international research network and employment outcomes, legal tradition, academic freedom and political stability.Practical implicationsPolicymakers and university administrators should recognise the importance of economic and geopolitical factors in shaping sustainability performance within the higher education sector. Greater public funding, growing international student enrolments at higher tuition fees, as well as growing domestic enrolments, allow greater access to resources that positively influence sustainability performance. By leveraging regional sustainability initiatives and international research networks, universities can enhance their sustainability performance and contribute meaningfully to institutionalising the notion of sustainability globally.Originality/valueThis study contributes to a deeper understanding of the transformative potential inherent in universities as agents of societal change and sustainability advocacy to overcome the grand challenge of groups and individuals who resist and promote ignoring social and environmental sustainability. By elucidating the mechanisms through which universities embrace and perpetuate sustainability, this research contributes to informed policy interventions and strategic initiatives aimed at fostering a more sustainable and equitable future.