Drawing on literature from finance and strategic management, eight likely factors associated with the profitability and growth of unquoted, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are identified and evaluated. These factors are: leverage, liquidity, education, industry performance, low cost, differentiation, product focus and customer focus. The sample comprises 134 unquoted SMEs aged five years or more, operating in different sectors throughout the main districts of Portugal. Data are collected through face-to-face interviews and these are supplemented with secondary sources. Twenty-one independent variables are identified and LISREL is used to produce measurement equations relating the variables to factors. Hypotheses concerning the factors’ impact on profit and growth are tested through structural equation modelling using LISREL. The results show that low debt, effective liquidity management, operation in a profitable sector, differentiation, the avoidance of low cost and customer focus favour SMEs’ profitability. For high growth, although effective liquidity management and differentiation remain as key factors, they are joined by a product focus. These results carry a number of important implications for SME strategy most notably that there may not be one set of strategies that maximise both profitability and growth.

This paper explores the extent to which International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)-wide support (regardless of the institutional context) is warranted. Drawing from an institutional theory framework, it investigates the extent to which practitioners in a code-law-rooted country perceive the materialization of claimed benefits of IFRS and the institutional forces that may hinder the IFRS’s institutionalization process. An interpretative approach based on qualitative research was adopted. Longitudinal evidence was gathered from 34 in-depth semi-structured in-person interviews with Portuguese preparers conducted in 2009 (just before an IFRS-based accounting system was adopted) and 2017 (at a post-implementation mature stage). Qualitative data analysis was carried out using a thematic coding scheme derived from the adopted theoretical framework: legitimacy and economic (operational and financial) benefits and institutional contradictions (IFRS’s in-country adequacy). The main results highlight that, while legitimacy benefits have been broadly recognized, economic benefits were scantly perceived due to the enduring code-law institutional logic embedded in the Portuguese context. Consistently, a high possibility of decoupling and manipulating accounts was acknowledged, which in turn casts reservations not only about the material consequences of the international convergence process to IFRS but also about its contribution towards sustainable development. Given that a major academic debate persists on whether accounting harmonization is beneficial, this research’s findings fill this gap and provide valuable insights for future research, practice, and regulation. Particularly, our findings enhance the urgency of developing institutional adjustments, such as changing national culture, on behalf of the Anglo-Saxon-based institutional approach of IFRS.

This research sought to explore self-reported satisfaction levels of mature students enrolled in the virtual financial accounting course of the first online-only bachelor’s degree in Portugal. While doing so, it attempted to generate understanding of which factors may affect undergraduate mature students’ engagement—herein measured in terms of overall satisfaction—with online learning, particularly, of financial accounting. Thereby, this research addresses several research gaps. First, unlike most recent empirical research, it provides evidence from a post-pandemic period, in 2022. Second, responding to calls for further education research in different contexts, Portugal poses a highly relevant, unexplored research setting since it was only in 2019 that the Portuguese government approved a legal regime to frame distance education at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Third, this research focuses on the overlooked, and yet growing, population of adult mature students. The research evidence emerges from 32 valid responses to a structured electronic questionnaire circulated to students at the end of a financial accounting module (in July 2022). Satisfaction rates from students’ own perspectives were derived in terms of (i) overall satisfaction, (ii) learning outcomes, (iii) e-learning process, and (iv) pedagogical practices adopted. The assessment of satisfaction levels was determined through Likert-type items with responses ranging from a minimum score of 1 to the highest score of 5. Data gathered were subject to quantitative analysis: descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, statistical tests, principal component analysis, and linear regression. High levels of satisfaction with distance education were uncovered. We found that pedagogical practices constitute the dimension that contributed the least (though, still importantly) to overall satisfaction as compared with learning outcomes and e-learning process. The results of this research offer the potential to contribute to the implementation of training offerings of online courses at other Portuguese HEIs as well as abroad.

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the implementation process of Project Sophia, a robotic process automation (RPA) initiative at Águas do Norte S.A., a Portuguese multi-municipal water supply and sanitation company. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting institutional theory and recent trends in public sector accounting, this qualitative and interpretive case study is based on semi-structured interviews with key Project Sophia actors, internal and external and documentary analysis. Interviews involve those implementing or using the new tech-related practices. Findings: The results demonstrated a strong external influence on the decision to adopt the technology, with evidence of isomorphic mechanisms. Also emphasized is the role of institutional actors in shaping the pace of RPA development and implementation within a public sector organization. Originality/value: This study contributes to an in-depth knowledge of RPA projects, providing evidence on technology implementation’s best practices and benefits. It highlights institutional theory’s relevance in exploring macro- and micro-level institutional dynamics, capturing how internal activities of individual actors within public sector organizations are interconnected with broader institutional forces.