While research on accounting in cartel contexts has largely focused on money laundering, limited attention has been given to how accounting both shapes and is shaped by broader organisational and symbolic dimensions. Informed by postcolonial theory, this study critically examines the role of accounting in structuring practices and shaping representations of violence within cartel activities. Drawing on interviews with individuals exposed to cartel activity in Mexico, as well as a wide range of news articles, the analysis reveals that accounting is systematically embedded in cartel activities, delineating the boundaries between legitimacy and illegality through framing and routinising. The findings also show that mimicry is used to adopt and subvert dominant organisational forms, while the blending of formal accounting language and local practices gives rise to hybridity, complicating conventional interpretations of violence and economic order. Adopting a postcolonial lens deepens the understanding of accounting in illicit settings, highlighting its central role in shaping contested identities and selectively determining the visibility or invisibility of violence.

The growing emphasis on sustainability in the retail sector, driven by regulatory frameworks, market trends and consumer demand, has placed management control at the forefront of facilitating sustainability practices. Despite increasing academic interest in this area, the literature is fragmented and provides limited sector-specific insight into how management control systems are configured to support sustainability. This systematic literature review develops an integrated contingency-informed framework that categorises types of management control for sustainability in retail. The framework illustrates how control systems can advance sustainability beyond mere compliance by linking different control types and configurations to retail-specific contextual conditions and sustainability outcomes. By providing a structured synthesis of existing research and outlining future research directions, this study contributes to contingency-based management control theory and offers insights for both academic research and managerial decision-making.

Emancipatory accounting education encourages learners to critically analyse the broader societal impact of accounting, promoting social accountability and ethical responsibility beyond the traditional technical focus. Despite efforts to make accounting education emancipatory, there remains a significant gap in understanding what enables or obstructs such a process. This study addresses this gap by exploring key barriers and facilitators in two distinct settings, comparing two universities in Mexico and Sweden through a qualitative approach informed by critical pedagogy. The findings show that while interdisciplinarity is essential to address real-world issues, accounting education often remains rooted in technical aspects, reinforcing neoliberal and capitalist norms. Challenging the dominant view in theory and practice, the findings also suggest that structural educational challenges can, in fact, serve as catalysts for innovative and emancipatory practices. With an emphasis on democratisation, the evidence supports a more inclusive curriculum that integrates diverse societal issues. In addition, the framework presented illustrates the interrelated themes identified, highlighting the complexity of implementing emancipatory education initiatives.

With travel restrictions easing post-COVID-19, it is pertinent to assess whether International Online Visits (IOVs) significantly influence the global mindset development of accounting and finance students amidst cancelled international academic activities in business schools. This study uses a mixed method approach, including survey data and interviews with students who chose whether to complete an IOV or not in an accounting and finance course at a university in Mexico. The quantitative results of this study show that IOVs positively affect the development of a global mindset in students and that the development of their professional aspirations mediates the effect. Moreover, the qualitative findings demonstrate that IOVs allowed students to develop their network and impacted their personal lives. Furthermore, the low cost of IOVs proved to be relevant for students. This article contributes to the literature by investigating the link between International Online Visits (IOVs), professional aspirations, and global mindset development.

Purpose - This study explores the relationship between innovation and tradition in family firms. By examining how these firms manage the potential tension between these two elements, the study aims to understand better how innovation and tradition coexist and support long-term survival across generations. Design/methodology/approach - This study has a constructivist standpoint and follows a qualitative methodology. By conducting a comparative case study, the data are collected from semi-structured interviews with 10 participants in 4 case companies located in Sweden. The data are analysed using thematic analysis. Findings - This study found that managing the tension between innovation and tradition is carried out through four mechanisms: forward thinking through heritage, paradoxical thinking, operational control and governance. Moreover, the study further shows the great importance of the concept of intergenerational learning in family firms in managing tension. Originality/value - The findings from this study contribute to the existing literature in family firms concerning managing tradition and innovation by providing a novel conceptualisation of the mechanisms embedded in this process. Moreover, the article proposes a grounded model, which could be used in research and practice when dealing with similar issues.

Although internships are widely recognised for bridging theoretical knowledge with practical skills, prior research has inadequately addressed their effectiveness, particularly within technologically advanced business contexts. This study aims to address this gap by exploring critical aspects perceived by students during high-tech business administration internships, thereby contributing insights that inform the improvement of internship program designs. This article adopted a qualitative content analysis approach to systematically examine the content of 76 internship reports submitted by students within business administration programs in a Swedish University. The analysis revealed that technological competencies are perceived not only as important to students’ preparedness but also as relevant to solving businesses’ challenges. The investment in digital approaches and new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, was considered essential by the interns. These findings contribute to research on educational and business literature by revealing unique insights into the perceived business challenges encountered by students during high-tech internships, including nuanced operational challenges related to digital transformation. This article also adds to existing literature regarding the integration of technology in internship experiences, as it shows how technological competencies are essential to operational procedures and interns’ professional development. Additionally, this study proposes a conceptual framework which can be used in both research and practice when dealing with high-tech business administration internships.

Research in managerial cognition has proved the influence of managerial perceptions in strategic renewal. Moreover, contingency theory argues that strategic renewal is an organisational reaction to perceived contingencies. Nevertheless, previous literature has rarely examined the interaction of these two theoretical approaches in the context of perceived gender issues. This paper explores how managers' perceptions of gender issues and stakeholder pressure, independently and in combination, influence organisations’ strategic renewal.

This systematic literature review synthesizes and maps existing research on auditing in family firms across multiple areas of study. The review includes 71 systematically selected academic articles published through to 2023. Our findings suggest that many audit-related issues, such as audit fees, audit quality, and auditor choice, differ significantly among family and nonfamily firms. Our review suggests that the positioning of the issues across different disciplines adds complexity and, to some extent, hinders the development of the field. This complexity, resulting from the intermixing of multiple concepts from different disciplines, pushes the majority of the reviewed articles toward theoretical singularity rather than a leap forward in terms of empirical relevance or theoretical plurality. By developing a field map that identifies gaps in current knowledge, our review not only suggests improvements to the status quo, but provides future research directions inspired by recent developments in family business and auditing.