PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between a firm's internal audit function (IAF) and the quality of its financial reporting. Since regulations on corporate governance were introduced, numerous national and international bodies have emphasized the fundamental role of the IAF in the financial reporting process, especially since it generally leads to higher quality reporting.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses questionnaires sent to internal audit directors of Spanish banks.FindingsBanks with high quality financial reporting have greater collaboration between internal and external auditors in the annual audit. Greater involvement of internal audit in reviewing financial reporting leads to improved quality financial reporting.Research limitations/implicationsBesides the usual caveats of survey research, there are limitations to this study. First, the problem of response bias may exist. Second, the 66 per cent survey response rate may mean that respondents have larger or better‐developed internal audit functions, affording them more opportunity or motivation to respond to the survey. Hence, the results obtained through the survey may not be generalizable to non‐respondents.Practical implicationsThe findings are relevant for bank regulators, management, boards of directors, and investors. In the current discussion on transparency, integrity and quality of financial reporting, these findings help define the issues.Originality/valuePrevious empirical studies analyse the quality of financial reporting with actors in the corporate governance mosaic (board of directors, audit committee and external audit), but they do not do so directly with the IAF. This paper extends prior banking literature that analyses quality financial reporting along with other variables, but not internal audit.

For more than two decades, knowledge management (KM) has been examined in the literature and considered a basic factor in business management. The purpose of this article is to explore the ability of knowledge management to achieve small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) innovation and business performance. Data analysis procedures of PLS-SEM was used to analyze the data based on responses from the owners of 903 companies in industry, construction, services, and trade in the Region of Murcia (Spain) through a self-directed survey. The results show that KM has a significant influence on innovation but the influence on the level of performance of SMEs is insignificant. However, training employees as part of KM showed no significant influence on innovation in SMEs. It is important for leaders and managers to have greater openness to changes in the implementation and proper execution of KM. This work contributes primarily to the development of the literature on knowledge management and its relationship with innovation and business performance.

Este trabajo analiza el efecto de la actividad innovadora sobre el crecimiento y el rendimiento de las Mipyme de los países de la Alianza del Pacífico (AP). Para ello se realizó un estudio empírico con una muestra de 386 empresas de Chile, Colombia, México y Perú. Para verificar las relaciones planteadas se utilizan regresiones lineales múltiples por mínimos cuadrados ordinarios (MCO). Los resultados muestran que la  innovación en productos, en procesos y engestión impacta positivamente el crecimiento del empleo y las ventas, y así mismo a las utilidades. Estos resultados son especialmente relevantes para los países de la AP y pueden ayudar a los empresarios, a los gobiernos y a la academia para impulsar acciones que favorezcan la innovación de las empresas y su competitividad.

Purpose This study aims to empirically identify the relationship between gender diversity and organizational leadership. Design/methodology/approach A multifactor questionnaire, Form 6-S, developed by Bass and Avolio (1992), is used to measure leadership. The results are derived from univariate and multivariate analyses conducted through ordinary least square linear regression. This study uses a base consisting of 142 small and medium enterprises in Cali (Colombia); men manage 111 of which, whereas women manage 31. The data came from a project performed by the Humanism and Management research group of the Administration Sciences Department of Valley University (Universidad del Valle). Fieldwork was conducted between November 2013 and April 2014. Findings The results show that companies with greater gender diversity (mostly women on the board of directors and in management) develop a transformational organizational style orientated towards organizational change through the transformation of followers. Originality/value There is no previous study combining these variables in Colombian context.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the internal and external barriers experienced by university students of the Technological Institute of Sonora (ITSON) for the development of entrepreneurship. The study is focused on a sample of 733 students from the areas of engineering, administrative sciences, and social sciences. The field work was carried out during the months of May to September 2018. The controlled statistical technique for data analysis was the structural equation model (SEM) with the support of SMARTPLS software version 3.2.8. The results have revealed that internal creativity barriers are the ones that most negatively impact the entrepreneurial passion of ITSON university students. This research contributes to the development of entrepreneurship literature from the area of psychology and business sciences through planned behavior theory, cognitive theory, and self-determination.

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La creación de empresas constituye una de las principales fuentes de generación de riqueza de cualquier entorno geográfico; de ahí la importancia de referirnos al tema de la creación de empresas de base tecnológica y en particular a las spin-offs académicas.<br />Las spin-offs académicas son empresas que se basan en el conocimiento científico y tecnológico desarrollado por docentes e investigadores o estudiantes de doctorado de las universidades. Se consideran el mejor instrumento para la transferencia de la investigación a la sociedad, por ser innovadoras, altamente competitivas y de gran aceptación en el mercado (ANCES, 2003). El contexto mundial de competitividad en el que estamos inmersos demanda cada vez mejores productos y hace que los países tengan la urgente necesidad de generar riqueza y lograr su mejor distribución (Ortín, Salas, Trujillo y Vendrell, 2007). En este sentido, la creación de spin-offs académicas constituye un importante motor para el desarrollo de la economía (von Graevenitz, Harhoff y Weber, 2010), al favorecer la generación de empleo, la transferencia de conocimiento, la innovación, el valor agregado y el desarrollo del tejido empresarial. <br /><br />