Image and performance of a professional council: The case of CRC -RJ

Resumen

In Brazil some professions are publicly regulated through nationwide control systems operated by a federal council and several regional councils. For legal reasons, students preparing to receive one of those professional grades constitute a sort of captive target for overall councils’ actions and activities. This study elaborates and applies an empirical methodology to assess whether image may be related to performance and, to that extent, be seen as a public governance tool. Data were collected through a convenience sample of about 300 undergraduate students in Accounting throughout the state of Rio de Janeiro. Starting from an initial scale of 23 items suggested in the reviewed literature, the repeated application of Cronbach’s Alfa to improve reliability yielded a final scale of 16 items. Data were iteratively factor-analyzed and a final solution containing two factors has been retained. This solution may be seen as an empirical test of a model proposed by Folland et al. (1991). Regression analysis showed that there is a positive and significant association between image and perceived performance of the selected professional organization, supporting the potential role of institutional image as a public governance tool.

Key words: professional council, institutional image, multivariate analysis.