PurposeThis study aims to explain the implementation of Cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and underlying factors and challenges that might be practiced by the users. It also provides a comparison between traditional and Cloud ERP systems.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses qualitative case study and analyzes the primary evidences from in-depth interviews. It conducts a thematic analysis of the interviews' findings. Furthermore, the current study uses three groups of factors (technological, management and environmental) that are expected to be best determinants of the Cloud ERP implementation.FindingsThe findings provide an evidence that using the Cloud EPR system, as alternative to on premise traditional ERP system, is constructive to the success of organizations and improve the quality of their decision-making process. The findings also reveal that effectiveness of implementing Cloud ERP is reliable on the provider's professionalism; hence resulting in issues related to minimize organizational independence.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is subjected to case studies limitations, as it lacks rigor and generalization. The paper has important implications for practitioners and decision-makers alike as it presents real-life example about Cloud ERP implementation. It thus enhances decision-makers' ability to make a relevant reporting process in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Originality/valueThis study can be considered as a one of very few case studies that discusses Cloud ERP implementation in UAE organizations particularly SMEs. It also provides three groups of factors (technological, management and environmental) that are influenced by the Cloud ERP implementation.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend the knowledge claim of management accounting research using qualitative research methods, in particular, the interpretive case study, and its evaluation using “convincingness” criteria demonstrating the textual authenticity, plausibility and criticality of case study findings.Design/methodology/approachQualitative research in the management accounting field considers both context and function (Burchell et al., 1980). This study sets out the rationale for adopting qualitative methodologies such as interpretive case studies in which rich, contextual and detailed data were collected and analyzed (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Mason, 2002). Methodological issues related to research design, analysis and evaluation are discussed by drawing on frameworks of social science research design. The paper sets out the procedures of an interpretive case study essential to ensuring the procedural validity of research which can be evaluated more accurately using the criteria of “convincingness” rather than positivist measures of the reliability, validity of data and the generalization of results. Textual authenticity, plausibility and critical interpretation, and how these hallmarks of “convincingness” can reflect the procedural validity of accounting research are described.FindingsQualitative research strategies such as the interpretive case study, which consider the complex settings of accounting change and practice, are found to offer deep understandings and convincing explanations of accounting change. Affirming that accounting is firmly established as a social science, the paper finds that the authenticity, plausibility and criticality of research in this field.Research limitations/implicationsThe relevance of qualitative research to contemporary accounting research is considered as an effective method to explicate theory and inform practice, which suggests that new measures to evaluate related research are required to develop the potential of selected qualitative research methodologies in accounting domains.Originality/valueQualitative research in management accounting focuses on the interpretation of meanings found in people and organizations that are subject to the influence of contextual variables. Human attributes underpin accounting conventions and change resulting from continuous technological and regulatory advances. This paper’s comprehensive account of interpretive case study research emphasizes the significance of evaluative criteria that relate, beyond reliability, to the richness of the text. This, thus, encourages and supports new and emerging researchers to seek qualitatively coherent and critical interpretations in management accounting research.

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is one of the models describing the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between economic growth and the two environmental indicators (SO 2 emissions, CO 2 emissions) in 22 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. Based on a country level analysis and by using time series data, the study revealed that there is an evidence for SO 2-EKC for Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen, Morocco, Turkey and Libya. Our findings for CO 2 emissions also support an inverted U-shape pattern associated with the EKC hypothesis for Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey and Jordan. The results also showed that MENA region as a whole did not show EKC for SO 2 emissions and CO 2 emissions. Stricter policy measures and higher demands for the adoption of best environmental practices are required in order to generate an inverted U shaped curve relationship between GDP per capita and environmental degradation.