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This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a strategic performance management tool in Moroccan public hospitals. It aims to identify key variables of the performance model and assess how these align with real-world hospital practices. Conducted in 2023, this qualitative study sampled six public hospitals in the Souss region. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with ten hospital managers, including directors and department heads. The analysis, performed using Nvivo 10, explored the relationship between BSC dimensions and overall hospital performance. Results indicate a strong positive correlation between patient satisfaction indicators and hospital performance, highlighting the crucial role of patient care. Financial and internal process indicators were also closely linked, suggesting that effective process management supports financial objectives and enhances overall performance. However, the correlation between organizational learning indicators and hospital performance was weaker, indicating that additional efforts are needed to strengthen this dimension. The findings underscore the BSC’s value as a comprehensive framework for integrating multiple performance aspects, providing a holistic view of hospital management. Practically, the BSC helps align strategic goals with measurable outcomes, enhancing hospital accountability and transparency, particularly in economic, environmental, and social areas. This study contributes to performance management literature by showcasing the BSC’s potential to drive sustainable improvements in healthcare. It offers practical insights for hospital administrators aiming to adopt integrated strategies that enhance overall performance and meet stakeholder demands.

Keywords: Hospital performance, Balanced Scorecard, hospital establishment, Morocco.

Narcissism is one of the fundamental personality traits that affects chief executive officer’s (CEO) behaviour and business strategies. A key policy that has a significant impact on the interests of numerous groups, including shareholders, investors, stakeholders, and society at large, is tax avoidance. However, the supervisory components of the organization’s corporate governance may work against these policies. The audit committee, a crucial part of corporate governance, can act as a check on these policies and possibly limit how they are implemented. Therefore, the primary objecitve of this study is to investigate how the narcissistic traits of the CEO affect corporate tax evasion. The efficacy of the audit committee’s characteristics, such as its independence and the gender of its members, is next evaluated. Based on an unbalanced panel of 1128 firm-year observations from companies registered on the Tehran Stock Exchange for the seven-year period 2015–2021, the results show that more tax-aggressive policies are associated with narcissistic CEOs. As a result, it validates the study’s initial idea.

The audit committee’s increased independence, however, can help control this mental illness. In addition, gender-diverse audit committees with female directors are more perceptive of CEO conduct, keep a closer eye on their aggressive tax plans, and curtail them. Overall, it can be said that efficient audit committees are an important and helpful supervisory tool for managing managers’ tax evasion policy-related behaviour.

Keywords: CEO Narcissism, Tax Aggressive, Tax Avoidance, Audit Committee Independence, Audit Committee Gender Diversity.

Large data series collected over an extended period of time have a tendency toward conformity with Benford’s law in the first few digits. According to this law, the first digit in a group of more than 1,000 numbers is equivalent to 1 in 30.10% of cases, 2 in 17.60% of cases, with the probability of appearance logarithmically decreasing as the first digit increases This study details a straightforward yet effective audit procedure employed by a small accounting firm in an Argentinean provincial economy to identify mistakes and raise concerns about possible creative accounting by clients. Through this assurance procedure, the audit firm examines client- rovided data to determine whether Benford’s law is being followed. Excel spreadsheets’ automated features are employed for this. To illustrate the tool’s usefulness, the annual sales of three of the firm’s clients were examined. The findings indicate that every client has a distinct profile. Client 1 fully complies with Benford’s law, leading to an unqualified opinion in the auditor’s report; Client 2 continues to comply with Benford’s law but raises some concerns that should be discussed with management before issuing the audit opinion; and Client 3 exhibits low conformance and raises several red flags that require discussion with management. This work introduces granular data, which allows for the development of tenable hypotheses for the observed nonconformity, such as product mix and inflation.

Keywords: Audit of Financial Statements, Small-Accounting Firm, Audit Procedures, Audit Risk, Benford’s Law.

The introduction of integrated reporting, which combines financial and non-financial information, brought opportunities and challenges to the auditors as they carried out their work. This study sought to unpack such opportunities and challenges of assurance on non-financial reporting from the auditors’ perspective prior to the application of the new International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA 5000). Without the auditors’ assurance, the credibility and reliability of corporate reports would be compromised. The agency theory, the stakeholder theory and the signalling theory anchor this study. A qualitative approach was taken using open-ended questionnaires to collect data. The big four accounting firms in Zimbabwe were the target population, and two auditors from each firm formed the sample. The key themes that came from the study are that the assurance of non-financial information to a greater extent has an impact on corporate audit reports since it gives a balanced and reasonable representation of the entity’s sustainable performance. Opportunities that come because of auditing non-financial information are that understanding the entity is enhanced, the credibility of their audit reports is increased, there is an increase in audit scope and engagements, and there is more exposure for auditors. Measurement and verification of non-financial information were cited as challenges for assurance. Due to the broadness of non-financial information, a recommendation is made for more standards to be added to guide the process of varied non-financial audit assurances.

Keywords: Integrated reporting, Assurance, Bon-financial Information.

This study examines the impact of board composition, specifically board size (BS) and board diligence (BD), on financial statement fraud among Nigerian firms, using the Beneish M-Score as a proxy for fraud detection. The analysis incorporates firm size (FSIZ) and leverage (LEV) as control variables to account for their influence on financial reporting practices. Employing a Huber-weighted robust regression model to address issues of heteroscedasticity and outliers, the findings reveal that neither board size nor board diligence significantly affects financial statement fraud. Conversely, firm size exhibits a significant positive relationship with financial fraud, suggesting that larger firms face greater pressure to manipulate financial statements. Leverage demonstrates a significant negative relationship, highlighting the role of creditor oversight in reducing fraud risks. The results underscore the need for enhanced governance practices and stronger regulatory frameworks to improve accountability and transparency in Nigeria’s corporate sector. The study recommends focusing on board quality, strategic oversight, and aligning governance practices with global standards to mitigate financial fraud and foster a sustainable corporate environment.

Keywords: Board Composition, Board Size, Board Diligence, Financial Statement fraud, Beneish M-Score