If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of external auditing to accountability in the Tanzanian local government authorities (LGAs). Design/methodology/approach -This paper uses content analysis of the external audit reports of the LGAs for the past ten years. Corroborative evidence was gathered through interviews with external auditors, councillors, Parliamentary Committee members and selected internal auditors of the LGAs. Findings -The study finds that external auditing had marginally contributed to the enhancement of accountability within the LGAs. This is mainly attributed to the limited scope and failure of the responsible officials to address audit recommendations. In the light of agency theory, the findings suggest that external auditing has not sufficiently enabled the stakeholders to hold LGAs' officials accountable. Practical implications -The findings indicate that external auditing can enhance accountability when the scope is widened to provide relevant information and also when audit recommendations are implemented by responsible officials. Originality/value -Most studies of external auditing and accountability have focussed on the developed countries; this is one of the few papers which explores the phenomenon in the context of emerging economies.

Purpose The study aims to explore specific motivations, rationalizations and opportunities that are involved in the occurrences of both employee and management fraud in the context of an emerging African country, Tanzania. It builds and extends from the fraud triangle theory. Design/methodology/approach A survey was developed and administered to 114 participants who had witnessed, had examined or had been involved in fraud resolutions. The participants included fraud examiners, business managers and owners, victims, auditors, lawyers, and law enforcement agents. The data collected were analysed using descriptive analysis, principal component analysis and correlation analysis. Findings The results revealed six motivation factors that incentivize employees and managers to engage in fraudulent behaviours. These are business financial strain, social incentives and pressure, greed, operating problems, internal pressures and malevolent work environment. In addition, fraudsters rationalized their behaviour through five significant neutralization techniques identified as social weighting, transferring of blame, denial of injury, attitude and prior fraud history. Lastly, victim organisations were identified to have three main fraud opportunities: poor control environment, inadequate control activities and circumstances that allowed collusive behaviour among fraudsters. Research limitations/implications While the study attempted to explore the motivations, opportunities and rationalizations from the perspectives of the fraud-fighting professionals and witnesses, their views and suggestions might be different from the actual known fraudsters or incarcerated individuals. Practical implications Business organisations, fraud-fighting professionals and general community must understand the factors behind fraud occurrences, so proper measures may be taken to limit the frequency and amount of fraud losses. Social implications Creation of public awareness and dialogue necessary for the prevention, fighting and deterrence against all forms of fraud. Originality/value Despite the occurrences of many scams in both public and private sectors, limited studies exist as to the triggers behind fraud occurrences in the context of the developing countries and whether these triggers are the same as in other contexts. This study is an attempt to fill this gap.

PurposeThe paper aims to investigate how the governance practices of public-sector entities (PSEs) in Tanzania are shaped by competing institutional logics and strategies used to manage the logics.Design/methodology/approachIn the paper, empirical evidence was gathered through documentary sources, non-participant observations and in-depth interviews with members of boards of directors (BoDs), chief executive officers (CEOs), internal and external auditors, senior executives and ministry officials. The data were analyzed using thematic and pattern-matching approaches.FindingsThe paper shows that bureaucratic and market logics co-exist and variations in governance practices within and across categories of PSEs. These are reflected in CEO appointments, multiple roles of CEOs, board member appointments, board composition, multiple board membership, board roles and evaluation of board performance. External audits also foster market logic in governance practices. The two competing logics are managed by actors through selective coupling, compromise, decoupling and compartmentalization. Despite competing logics, the bureaucratic logic remains dominant and is largely responsible for variations between the underlying logics and governance practices.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that public-sector reforms in emerging economies (EEs) must account for the fact that governance practices in PSEs are shaped by different institutional logics embedded in socioeconomic, political and organizational contexts and their corresponding management strategies.Originality/valueFew previous studies explicitly report relationships between institutional logics and the governance practices of PSEs in EEs. The current study is one of few empirical studies to connect competing institutional logics and the associated management strategies, as well as governance practices in EEs in the context of public-sector reforms.

PurposeThis paper investigates the relationship between accounting and accountability practices in Muslim secondary schools in Tanzania using Bourdieusian perspective. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews were conducted with school owners, teachers, accountants, an imam and leaders of Muslim organizations. Corroborative evidence was gathered through review of documentary sources. The data were analyzed using a mapping approach.FindingsThe findings show that powerful actors in the schools studied proactively selected accounting practices that supported their particular doxa of survival, access or legitimacy. Also, Fiisabilillah is identified as an existential doxa, and this was found to be more influential than individual accountability doxa and responsible for adherence to work among weak agents despite an inappropriate environment. As a result, accounting practices become “rhetoric” and play a minimal role in discharging both “sacred” and “secular” accountability to both human beings and God.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that accounting practices must be understood in the context of the socioeconomic and political settings in which the organization operates.Originality/valueMost studies of accounting and accountability have focused on developed countries. This is one of the few studies to explore the phenomenon in the context of Muslim schools in a developing country.