University hospitals (UHs) need to pay attention to diverse stakeholders' interests when reporting their performance information, to meet different knowledge expectations concerning the activities they have performed and the outcomes they have achieved. In the existing literature, the level of consideration of UH performance reports reserve for a broad variety of stakeholders interested in UH outcomes, each with different information needs, has not been analyzed. To contribute to fill this gap, this study offers an empirical examination of the Italian experience by investigating whether and to what extent all the thirty-two public university hospital authorities (UHAs) involve stakeholders in their annual performance reports (APRs). First, sixteen key stakeholder groups with an interest in the performance reporting of UHAs were mapped, and the related accountability relationships were described. Subsequently, the APRs for 2017 were examined by employing the content analysis method and common descriptive statistics. Findings reveal that only one UHA involved all sixteen stakeholder groups in its performance report; sixteen UHAs involved at least ten stakeholder groups; and the remainder showed a weak, scarce or even absent involvement for stakeholders. Moreover, it emerged that three stakeholder groups were singled out for greater attention in UHA performance reports (patients, managers and regional government) over others. Involving stakeholders in performance reports needs to be encouraged, as it is an essential prerequisite for developing suitable integrated performance reporting systems.

Social enterprise (SE) can involve any legal form of private organization, from nonprofit organizations to company forms within the business sector. This article aims to outline the entrepreneurial identity of SE, arguing that it has unique features that are independent from the organizational forms it can take. By performing crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis, this study compares the Italian legal model of SE to that of five other European countries, where national laws propose a broader institutional approach to SE. It is argued that SE, at the level of the organization, has its own entrepreneurial identity which is defined by a joint combination of five distinctive and interconnected elements that respectively connote its mission, activity, governance, performance and accountability. By systematizing these elements, it is possible to highlight how the social identification of the organization SE is the result of the interrelationship between its entrepreneurial intentions, processes and outcomes. This social identification can help to explain the crucial role that SE plays in promoting development and change in society.

Purpose This paper aims to study the disclosure of information about city hospitality within municipal popular reporting documents, by conducting a photo-thematic analysis of the photographic imagery contained therein. These documents have great potential for integrating supplementary information in a simplified, short and attractive form. Supplementary disclosure by means of pictures, such as that concerning city hospitality, has not previously been researched. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research uses visual data, specifically photographs, as a data source. To capture city hospitality disclosure, a photo-thematic analysis was conducted on a total of 495 photographs contained in a sample of 30 US municipal Popular Annual Financial Reports singled out for best practice. Photographs were inductively thematized using the qualitative data analysis software “QDA Miner”. Findings The photo-thematic analysis yielded an array of themes and sub-themes important to an overall understanding of municipal government disclosure about city hospitality. Going far beyond hosting the hospitality industry segment, city hospitality proved to be a complex area involving city livability and sustainability; it encompasses environmental and landscape resources, facilities, services, activities, events, culture, history, sociability, innovation and much more. Photographs were able to suitably provide supplementary nonfinancial disclosure in popular reports, conveying a welcoming image to the city’s guests – including both its citizens and visitors – in a timely and appealing way. Originality/value This study is the first to examine information disclosure via photographs in popular reporting, focusing on municipal government disclosures about city hospitality. It, therefore, offers new knowledge in both the areas of city hospitality and popular reporting, using an innovative qualitative research approach which gives insight into the power of pictures to generate and convey information beyond textual data.

Given their proximity to citizens, Decentralized Governments (DGs) need to perform and report their activities from a citizen-centered perspective to improve transparency and accountability. The literature addressing reporting for citizens is piecemeal, and there is a dearth of studies that systematically analyze country experiences of popular reporting. To contribute to bridging this gap, this article provides an assessment of popular financial reporting practices in 370 Italian DGs from different perspectives. The authors evaluated the accessibility and readability of popular reports using simple, yet insightful quantitative measures. The results highlighted that Italian popular financial reporting practices are at an early stage of implementation. Popular reporting appears to be more difficult to implement in smaller municipalities than other levels of government. This research emphasizes citizen-centered reporting to support citizen-centered governance and accountability, suggesting that popular reporting practices in DGs need to increase; an improvement of the accessibility and readability of documents is also advisable to foster their usage. Greater and better popular reporting practices in DGs are needed to encourage citizen participation in the democratic processes of public governance in order to allow for better government performance results.

Purpose Adopting a public-management perspective, this study aims to conduct a meta-ethnography to discern local government’s role in city hospitality in terms of promoting the welcome the city gives its guests, filling a gap in research into the subject. Design/methodology/approach The authors used the seven-step iterative approach of Noblit and Hare’s meta-ethnography. By conducting a systematic search in the major bibliographic databases, ten qualitative studies on city hospitality were identified that met the criteria to be included. Concepts alluding to a local government’s role in city hospitality were coded in NVivo 11 software, translated and interpreted through the lens of public management. A total of 14 semi-structured interviews with experts were also conducted to further validate the meta-ethnography findings. Findings Six interrelated, third-order constructs were developed and conceptualized into an articulated model describing local government’s role in city hospitality from a public-management perspective: advocating, co-creating, strategizing, planning and implementing city hospitality, and promoting it into a sustainable tourism development. The model, also substantiated by expert feedback, describes local government actions to promote city hospitality and achieve sustainable tourism. It highlights a responsive, proactive and collaborative role for local government as a key actor responsible for the strategic management and co-creation of city hospitality. Research limitations/implications The study introduces public governance cues into a city hospitality context, with theoretical and practical implications for hospitality and tourism researchers, businesses, politicians, public managers, city officials and destination marketing/management practitioners. Originality/value The study proposes an original conceptual model that serves as an overarching framework and operative tool for understanding and practicing city hospitality in a contemporary public-management perspective. This lays the foundations for the development of a broadened notion of hospitality management, extended from the traditional context of the hospitality industry to that of the city or place. The study also showcases how meta-ethnography can be an effective methodology in business, management and accounting research, within which it is still a novelty.