Explore publications.

This study examines the factors influencing accountability practices in funds management of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Yemen. A total of 75 local NGOs operate in Yemen, receiving local and foreign funding. A structured online questionnaire was employed for data collection. This study found that accountability was not widely practiced among the NGOs in Yemen. The level of accountability practices of these NGOs was significantly influenced by funding competition and perceived motive. The results of the study offer important implications for both policymakers and NGOs. The relevant regulatory bodies must formulate policies to enhance the NGOs’ accountability for improved efficiency and transparency. The NGOs, on the other hand, are expected to be transparent in ensuring the resources are well managed, and services are delivered efficiently and effectively to the recipients.

Entrepreneurial orientation (ENO), social network ties (SOT) and market intelligence generation (MIT) are independently modeled as distinct antecedents of entrepreneurial intention (EIN). However, the intervening variables for such models are typically under-explored in their applicability to university students in sub-Saharan Africa. Accordingly, drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the present study argues that ENO impacts EIN, primarily explained by SOT and MIT. Using cross-sectional data gathered from university students in Ghana, a sub-Saharan African country, our findings reveal that ENO has both direct and indirect relationships with EIN. Thus, this relationship is mainly mediated when students build and develop social network ties (SOT) instead of gathering marketing intelligence (MIT).

The increase of scandals involving non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has provoked concerns from the public for their accountability. In the case of Yemen, the NGOs receive financial support from both local and international donors. These organisations, however, are not obliged to disclose how they manage the donation funds, although the donors usually outline specific requirements on how the funds should be utilised. At the same time, the success of projects undertaken by the NGOs funded by the donors can help to enhance the organisation’s reputation and legitimize its activities to secure more funds. This study investigated the level of accountability practices in the Yemeni local NGOs. A questionnaire survey was sent to 75 active local NGOs. The findings show that the level of accountability practices among local NGOs is moderate. Most of these organisations evaluated the impact of their projects at their completion. However, they tend to avoid an independent assessment of any third party. They also restricted the local communities’ involvement in determining where and how the money of the project should be spent. This suggests that the local NGOs are more likely to be “seen” as being accountable rather than being accountable. A further improvement perhaps through policymaking is thus necessary to ensure effective accountability practices in funds management of the NGOs.

Despite official crime figures showing a continuous decline in the rate of crime, the perception of the high level of crime by many Malaysians suggests other factors are affecting their perception of safety from crime. The objective of this study is to identify and understand these factors through a qualitative study that employs online focus group discussions. This study argues that the perception of safety from crime is the result of interactions of a number of factors such as the experience of victimisation, crime information, neighbourhood conditions as well as the perception of law enforcement and government crime reduction policy. The sense of safety from crime is also contextual as it may fluctuate according to time, place, activities and situations. Analysis of the data from the focus group discussions found that participants generally have a high perception of safety from crime. However, participants felt less safe when they were in public places and when interacting with online services. In most circumstances, participants' sense of safety is affected by the pressure to be vigilant and to avoid criminal victimisation. This pressure is exacerbated by low-quality information on crime that is often received through social media. Crime information on social media has a significant impact on participants’ perceptions of crime. The overall analysis of the findings suggests that the most important factor which affects the perception of safety from crime among these selected Malaysians is their sense of safety in their homes and their neighbourhood.  Hence, efforts to increase the sense of safety among Malaysians should focus on this context.