Stakeholder expectations of the accountability of Malaysian State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCS): to whom and for what?

Purpose - This paper aims to examine stakeholders’ expectations of accountability in non-profit organisations (NPOs) in general, and State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs) in particular. Design/methodology/approach - An online survey was used to collect data, which was then analysed descriptively. Furthermore, the differences between stakeholder groups were evaluated using the Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Findings - The findings indicate that NPOs generally and SIRCs specifically need to clarify the meaning of accountability to meet the expectations of their stakeholders, especially the public, and to address accountability inquiries. Research limitations/implications - The research method was a limitation of this study. The data was collected using a survey. Generally, surveys contain restricted numbers and types of questions that the authors have outlined. Consequently, respondents might be constrained in their choice of how they perceive accountability. So, surveys used to collect respondents’ opinions may have an adverse effect on their responses. In addition, a number of respondents may also give superficial answers, particularly if they are required to answer a number of questions over a long period of time. Finally, the data collected using surveys might show what respondents think about accountability, but they do not show the actual practice. Practical implications - Owing the highest accountability to the Board of Directors is akin to the practices of corporations. The findings of this study could assist their top officials to understand the accountability chain within SIRCs. This is consistent with the findings regarding accountability within SIRCs, whereby they perceived that they are responsible to their board for performance. Therefore, this should encourage the reporting of performance to both internal and external stakeholders. Originality/value - Overall, perceptions on accountability are an ongoing debate, and they depend on the role of the organisation and expectations of stakeholders. Identifying a clear accountability chain is essential to develop the best reporting practices for SIRCs. The paper contributes to the literature by addressing two questions on accountability for NPOs: to whom and for what.