Os princípios contabilísticos dos planos públicos: análise comparativa do POCP Português e do PGCP Espanhol

Princípios contabilísticos, pressupostos subjacentes ou hipóteses básicas são um dos elementos da estrutura conceptual cuja aplicação é indispensável para que a informação transmita uma imagem fiel da situação financeira, económica e orçamental da entidade pública. Tanto o POCP português como o PGCP espanhol seguiram de perto os princípios contabilísticos definidos nos planos empresariais, atendendo contudo às particularidades da Contabilidade Pública, nomeadamente aos aspectos caracterizadores das entidades às quais estes se aplicam. Não obstante, estes planos públicos apresentam diferenças quanto aos princípios contabilísticos apresentados, nomeadamente diferenças em termos de denominação, de redacção, e de número de princípios referidos.

Organizational and accounting change within the context of the environmental agenda: evidence from Portugal

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of organizational change undergone by a large Portuguese business group within the context of the environmental agenda and the role of accounting as a mechanism for change. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports the results of a case study conducted between 2006 and 2009. Information was obtained from semi-structured interviews and secondary sources. Organizational changes were analyzed using Laughlin’s model in order to identify which category reflected most of the changes introduced to address environmental matters. Findings – This paper offers evidence that change is not a homogeneous phenomenon. Additionally, it confirms previous studies’ findings which found that accounting did not play a significant role in the process of organizational change within the context of the environmental agenda. Originality/value – This paper seeks to complement the research in this area by integrating observations from a case study into an existing model of levels of organizational change according to how a Portuguese business group incorporated environmental issues into its processes, policies and corporate culture.

Portugal’s Minho-Lima region as a tourist destination: tourism operators’ attitudes towards its management and promotion

The success of tourism development depends on the capacity of a region’s tourism agents to establish and sustain networks, involving both private-sector companies and the public sector. Creating an attractive destination able to compete with others that are better positioned and consolidated requires cooperative behaviour among the various agents involved. This behaviour will facilitate both external and internal competition, which in turn will assure better product quality, continuous product renewal, a strong offer of unique experiences and the efficient use of endogenous resources. In this paper, the authors discuss the results of a survey of restaurant owners and of interviews conducted with the main institutional agents concerned with tourism promotion and the economic development of the Minho–Lima region. Such an approach, the authors argue, can be valuable in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the area in question with regard to future tourism development. The authors work from the premise that the commitment of tourism agents constitutes a precondition for the success of the strategy to be defined. This is especially applicable to Minho–Lima, which to date has suffered from an absence of commitment and coordination on the part of those agents.