Measuring ‘Islamic accountability’ in Islamic social enterprise (ISE)

Purpose - This study aims to present an effort to construct a measurement instrument to capture Islamic accountability from “accountability for what” aspect. These measurement instruments are developed by considering both social and economic natures in Islamic organisations. Design/methodology/approach - This study defined the concept of Islamic accountability from the perspective of “accountability for what”. It is decomposed into specific items that suit an Islamic social enterprise (ISE). Next, these items are operationalised into scale items and re-composed empirically through factor analysis on data obtained from ISE stakeholders in Malaysia. Findings - This study successfully developed an Islamic accountability measurement instruments from the “accountability for what” perspective for ISE. A total of 25 items are recognised and validated under four accountability dimensions, namely, accountability for input, accountability for output, accountability for procedural and accountability for Islamic principles and values. Research limitations/implications - Not all measurement instruments are fit for every Islamic organisation type because of the different characteristics of Islamic organisations. Practical implications - Developed items can be used as part of Islamic accountability index, especially by ISE and other similar organisations to measure their accountability practices. Besides, these developed items can also be adopted for reporting purposes. In the case of Malaysia, respective government agencies, such as the Companies Commission of Malaysia , the Registry of Society, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development as well as the Malaysia Institute of Accountant, should have a look at the developed items to be considered into their respective guidelines or standards. Originality/value - This study is believed to be a pioneering study in developing measurement instruments of Islamic accountability specific for ISE. It proposes measurement instruments of Islamic accountability that can be re-used for future research and is among the few studies of ISE.