Browsing by Author "Mbelwa, Latifa"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Adoption and Implementation of New Public Management Accounting Reforms in the Public Sector Organisations of Developing Countries (Motive, Nature and Theoretical Philosophy)
    (The Addis Ababa International Conference on Business and Economics (AAICBE), 2017-12-17) Mbelwa, Latifa
    The paper reviews motives, nature and theoretical philosophy along the adoption and implementation stages of New Public Management (NPM) - accounting reforms in the Public sector of developing countries. The paper finds the main motive along the stage of adoption and implementation of NPM accounting reforms is characterized with an aspect of gain legitimacy of accessing the financial support from donors of different levels who create coercive and normative pressure of increasing efficiency in public sector operations. Among others the nature of NPM reforms which undertaken by public sector of developing countries is mostly focused to the accounting and at most accrual accounting systems. The theoretical philosophy pertains the adoption and implementation of NPM reforms in the sector is focused on New institutional theory which argues that adoption and implementation is contributing more by external environment pressures with coercive, normative and mimeticmechanisms; in which public sector of developing country organizations tend to respond them in order to gain financial resources. This resulted intoo little internal efficiency due to manipulation and loose coupling practices by the public sector actors in daily operations. Therefore, in order to effectuate implementation and success of the practices of NPM accounting reforms in the developing country public sectors, the adoption motive should be developed from internal structure and demand for efficiency with political will and coexisting of pressure from both internal and external institutionalized environments.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE MANAGEMENT RELIANCE ON INTERNAL AUDIT FUNCTION: EVIDENCE FROM OIL AND GAS COMPANIES OPERATING IN TANZANIA
    (Business Review Management Journal, 2019-03) Mbelwa, Latifa; Munyangabi, Lenatusi
    The study investigated factors that influence reliance by senior management over internal audit function in the Tanzanian oil and gas companies. The research applied positivism paradigm, and it involved 17 oil and gas companies operating in Tanzania Mainland. Forty-two (42) questionnaires were returned out of fifty one (51) which had been administered to Chief Executive Officers (15), Chief Finance Officers (10) and Members of Audit Committee (17). Data analysis was performed specifically to identify the modelling and relationships of both dependent variable (reliance of internal audit function) and independent variables (communication, independence, objectivity, competence, work performance). The study found that the senior management personnel (CEOs, CFOs and Members of the Audit Committee) were seen to have overall reliance on works of their internal audit functions whereas some differences were revealed between propositions on competence requirements in the oil and gas sector and non-oil sectors. The study further revealed lack of significant independence of internal auditor’s function and interference of senior management in day-to-day operations of the internal audit department. The study generally recommends re-examination of the position of internal audit function in the studied oil and gas companies.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Critical External Institutional Pressures towards Effective Implementation of IFRS in the Tanzanian Private Hospital Sector
    (2020-01-20) Mbelwa, Latifa; Mahangila, Deogratius Ng‘winula
    Critical External Institutional Pressures towards Effective Implementation of IFRS in the Tanzanian Private Hospital Sector Latifa Hamisi Mbelwa16 Deogratius Ng‘winula Mahangila17 Abstract This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated the critical external institutional pressures-related factors in emerging economies that influence the effective implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards in the private hospital sector. The study had employed an explanatory research design that entailed the collection of 72 questionnaires from ten major private hospitals in Tanzania. The data were then subjected to multiple linear regressions. The study established four critical external factors to influence the effective implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards. These factors are pressure from successful hospitals; pressure from lending and financial institutions; International Financial Reporting Standards requirements; and the National Board of Accountants and Auditors’ pronouncements. In the meantime, pressure from donors and the Tanzania Revenue Authority seemed to have moderate and weak influences, respectively. In a broad sense, the findings revealed the role of New Institutional Sociology in advocating for the influence of coercive pressures associated with financial resources dependence from lending institution; and normative institutional pressures associated with the role of local and international accounting boards in issuing pronouncements. However, the strong influence comes from memetic pressures associated with the modelling of successful organisations practices through employees transfer and turnover in such competitive and private natural environment, which result in the shaping of the private hospital sector towards effective implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards. On the whole, the paper highlights critical external institutional pressures for International Financial Reporting Standards effective implementation in an emerging economy using the case of Tanzania in which the private hospital sector is backing the public hospital sector. Keywords: International Financial Reporting Standards, Institutional Pressures, Private Hospital Sector and New Institutional Sociology
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Factors Influencing the Use of Accounting Information in Tanzanian Local Government Authorities (LGAs): An Institutional Theory Approach
    (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2015) Mbelwa, Latifa
    Abstract Purpose This paper seeks to establish the influence of several types of factors on the use of accounting information in the public sector within a developing country context. Institutional theory with its branches NIS and OIE underlies the theoretical framework for explaining the factors influencing the use of accounting information. The analysis was based on structural equation modelling to test nine hypotheses. The data were collected by administering 208 questionnaires to the Tanzanian Local Government Authorities’ political and administrative actors. Findings At large, the findings of this study comprehend the role of institutionalised social and legal rule with professionalism in shaping actors to use accounting information instrumentally and symbolically in budget decision-making processes. Furthermore, the findings establish the importance of education and experiences on accounting and financial aspects of the actors who are involved in the public sector budget decision-making process. The findings also provide an understanding of the differences between political actors and administrative actors in terms of the factors influencing the symbolic use of accounting information in LGA’s decision-making processes. Practical implication Our findings challenge development partners (i.e. donors), reformers such as Central Government and National Accounting professional board such NBAA in Tanzania to coerce pressure by adoption of implementation of NPM techniques, which can lead to positive change in LGAs to influence instrumental rather than symbolic use of accounting information in the budgetary decision-making processes. For example, adoption of accrual basis accounting should also concur with the improvement of accounting information systems, legal and regulatory frameworks together with creation of trainings that increase skill and knowledge of using accounting information by the actors. This might ensure financial sustainability to LGAs that can increase provision of service with relevant quality to citizens. Moreover, the findings need the political parties to take responsibility of building capacity of their candidates. It might ensure that their representatives in the council are capable of making appropriate use of the accounting information at their disposal to improve the quality of budget decision making and their representation of the population for the benefit of their organisation and eventually of their political parties. The citizens are needed to be sources of professional behaviours to both councillors and administrators by making closer follow up and demands of quality services from their LGAs through budgeting processes. Research limitations The generalisation of this study’s findings can be limited because they were obtained only from LGAs operating in Tanzania Original/value This is the first paper that establishes the factors influencing the instrumental–conceptual use and the symbolic use of accounting information in LGAs’ budgetary decision-making processes in developing country context, in particular, in Tanzania.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    INVESTIGATION OF BUDGETARY PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT PRACTICES AND USE OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION IN TANZANIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES (LGAS) DECISION MAKING PROCESS
    (Business Management Review, 2016-12) Mbelwa, Latifa
    The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between budgetary performance measurement assessment practices and the use of accounting information in the Local Government budgetary decision making processes. The paper specifically seeks to establish relationship between the assessment of Local Government Capital Development Grant (LCDG) and symbolic and instrumental use of accounting information in LGAs’ budgetary decision making process. The motivation of the research objective is based on the peculiar role of performance measurement as New Public Management techniques for achieving efficiency and ensures financial legitimacy in LGAs of developing countries. The paper is informed by New Institutional Theory in which, assessment of LCDG is perceived to have coercive and normative pressures that have direct relationships with symbolic and instrumental use of accounting information in budgetary decision making. Moreover, the assessment of LCDG is expected to have indirect relationship with organizational budgetary performance in term of efficiency and legitimacy. The studies in public sector are dominated with case study strategy whose findings lack generalisability even within the studied context. The paper employed survey strategy and it administered 208 questionnaires to Tanzanian LGAs, political actors and public officials that included executive directors and heads of departments. The selection of such units of analysis is based on the role of Councillors and public officials in the LGAs budgetary decision making and their role in adoption and implementation of NPM techniques that include performance measurement practices. The data were analyzed by using structural equation modelling (SEM) in order to test six hypotheses in which four attested direct relationships and two attested indirect relationships. The analysis through SEM revealed the role of performance measurement techniques in enhancing the budgetary performance by coercing and professionalizing instrumental use of accounting information in budgetary decision making by both political actors and public officials. At large, this paper informs stakeholders such as Central Government who adopt, coordinate, control and implement the assessment of LCDG to ensure that the assessment is conducted efficiently and effectively manner because it leads to positive change in the LGAs’ decision making processes through the use of accounting information.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    INVESTIGATION OF STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY IN TANZANIA
    (University of Dar es Salaam Business School, 2018-06) Mbelwa, Latifa
    The purpose of this paper is to advance knowledge of stakeholders’ identification, stakeholders’ Salience, and Companies’ Stakeholders Management Strategies in Oil and Gas Industry in Tanzania. The paper employed exploratory case study strategy. The data were obtained from two Oil and Gas companies’ websites and were analyzed using content analysis. Stakeholder theory was used to interpret the data. The principal research findings reveal the role of the sustainability reporting, good governance, stakeholder engagement, risk management and corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and strategies in stakeholder management by both local and international oil and gas companies in Tanzania. Moreover, the findings indicated the existence of nine key stakeholders in the oil and gas companies in which local community scored the highest. Their stakeholder salience falls from definitive to expectant and few latent who likely to turn to expectant. This is due to the fact that the nature of the industry, that it is much regulated, has a long time span and more riskier; in a way it gives the stakeholders the latent chance to gain another stakeholders’ attributes, that is either power, urgency or legitimacy. This justifyies why Oil and Gas companies are managing their stakeholders using CSR practices and strategies that touch both stakeholders and non-stakeholders. The nature of the industry allows a non-stakeholder at first place to gain stakeholder’ attribute and becomes a stakeholder. Generally, the study revealed the effort of international oil and gas companies to strongly manage and communicate with a wide range of stakeholders through their websites compared to local companies. Moreover, both companies are managing their stakeholders to create shareholder’s long term value, risk management, engagement and dialogue that shape regulative framework and for sustainable oil and gas operations. The study is recommending that the national oil and gas local content should be constructed after understanding the nature, demand and interest of stakeholders and their inter-relations for proper management of the industry and to control resources curse. Moreover, the local and international oil and gas companies and local management should understand the nature and demand of their stakeholders and set a clear stakeholder management strategies that can result to attractive local content and firms’ longterm value. The future research can broaden the findings by conducting the survey to get a conclusive understanding of stakeholder management in Oil and Gas Industry in Emerging Economies.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Investigation of the institutional and decision-usefulness factors in the implementation of accrual accounting reforms in the public sector of Tanzania
    (Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, 2014-03-12) Mbelwa, Latifa; Adhikari, Pawan; Shahadat, Khandakar
    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that have resulted in the effective implementation of accrual accounting reforms in the Central Government of Tanzania. Design/methodology/approach The paper relies on the ideas of institutional theory and some aspects of decision-usefulness so as to delineate the external pressures enforcing the Government of Tanzania to embrace accrual accounting and the factors complicating its implementation at organisational level (within government entities). The authors draw on quantitative techniques and the explanatory and cross-sectional survey research strategies and methods for data analysis. Findings Our findings suggest that the coercive pressures from donors and auditors along with the normative pressures surfaced by the training of employees generate a significant impact on designing the effective administrative model of accrual accounting. In a lesser extent, pressures from the National Board of Accountants and Auditors and cultural factors are positively correlated to the implementation of accrual accounting in the Tanzanian context. Of the factors the authors examined, the management changes are proved to be least effective. Unawareness of the key stakeholders has caused weak political and regulatory commitments. Accrual accounting implementation is further exacerbated by inadequate technical and personnel competence. Ultimately, the implementation of the accrual accounting has increased significant managerial accountability though a major segment of such behaviour is unexplained by the factors the authors employed in the study. Practical implications The effective implementation of accrual accounting relies on improvements in cultural and human-related issues. What is important to understand is that accrual accounting is more of a management reform incorporating changes in broader aspects of institutional and accountability mechanisms, rather than just an adoption of particular accounting technologies. Without such broader changes, accrual accounting reforms can be detrimental providing the technocrats and government officials with a space for manipulating financial information, Tanzania serving as an example. Originality/value The study highlights the case of an emerging economy in which accrual accounting is actually in effect and has impacted on managerial accountability, but is struggling to engender intended results and outcomes at organisational level.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Use of Accounting Information in Public Sector Budget Decision-making Processes
    (https://wbiworldconpro.com/pages/paper/dubai-conference-2014/1174, 2014-01-06) Mbelwa, Latifa
    The Use of Accounting Information in Public Sector Budget Decision-making Processes Latifa Mbelwa Since the 1980s, public sector entities have been exposed to accounting reforms under an umbrella of New Public Management (NPM). The main purpose behind the adoption of accounting reforms is to increase efficiency in decision-making by producing useful accounting information. However, it has been generally argued that the adoption of these accounting reforms by the public sector entities in developing countries is attributed to seeking to establish financial legitimacy rather than to increase organisational efficiency (Mzenzi, 2013; Mkasiwa, 2011; Adhikari and Mellemvik, 2011; Tambulasi, 2007; Sarker, 2006). Therefore, research on the use of accounting information by the public sector entities in the developing countries is vital. This study deployed an interpretative approach and an exploratory case study strategy involving twin cases of Local Government Authorities (LGAs). The institutional theory—and its three theoretical frameworks which are Old Institutional Economics (OIE), New Institutional Sociology (NIS) and New Institutional Economics (NIE)— has been used in the process of developing the model and in the overall interpretation of the study findings. This study establishes a model for determinants of the use of accounting information in the budgetary decision-making processes based on the study of LGAs in Tanzania. The model explains the linkage of cause-and-effect of variables influencing the use of accounting information in the budget decision-making processes for external financial legitimacy and organisation efficiency. The study findings have established instrumental-conceptual use and symbolic legitimating use as the main dimensions of the use of accounting information in the budgetary decision-making processes of the LGAs under study. It has further identified four categories of factors that influence instrumental-conceptual use and symbolic legitimating use of accounting information in the budget decision-making processes. These are (i) external institutional pressure, (ii) internal institutional and contingent, (iii) individual actors’ characteristics and (iv) processing of accounting information-related factors. The study also has also established that instrumental-conceptual use of accounting information increases both the organisation’s budget efficiency and external financial legitimacy in the LGAs under review. On the other hand, the symbolic legitimacy use of accounting information was found to decrease the organisation’s budget efficiency but increase the external financial legitimacy. This is mainly attributed to external institutional pressures that result in decoupling behaviour in the use of accounting information in budgetary decision-making processes. The model suggest that the external financial legitimacy should be an outcome of the internal organisation budget efficiency if there is a coupling of the actual instrumental use rather than symbolic use of accounting information and the use of accounting information designed to impress upon development partners or funders such as the CG and donors.