Accounting as a tool for communicating relevant information to multiple users must overcome issues and barriers of presenting such information. One of the issues is its understandability, once lack of understanding can impact decisions. However, understandability is not easily measured. Previous studies use readability metrics as proxies for understandability. They understand that these concepts are related to some extent, but while readability focuses on the text, understandability includes the reader characteristics. Thus, the main purpose of this research was to verify how readability impacts the understandability of the information from the notes to the financial statements. I also verified whether the distance between them was due to reporting language. The specific goals were: (i) to verify whether different readability levels have impact on the notes to the financial statements\' understandability; (ii) to verify whether the understandability levels are due to accounting specific terms; (iii) to verify if those notes\' understandability and readability are different for different languages; and (iv) to verify if the levels of readability and understandability changed after OCPC 07. I performed two different types of research methods, archival and experimental research. The archival research applied mean tests to 44 firms that presented their notes both in Portuguese and in English from 2012 to 2015. I studied the notes of Financial Instruments and Provisions. I used indexes of intelligibility as proxies to understandability, calculated by a linguistic software. I found that, for most indexes where firms had worse levels of readability, they showed better levels of intelligibility, which goes against the expected. My results also show that with few exceptions, the readability and intelligibility indexes are different for Portuguese and English. Moreover, I found that there was no change after the adoption of OCPC 07 on both readability and intelligibility indexes. In the experimental research, I applied a self-created instrument based on the MIT test to 112 students in Brazil of graduate and undergraduate courses related to business, to verify how readability impacts on understandability, by manipulating readability components of the Flesch index (number of words per sentence and number of syllables per word). I controlled for some characteristics of each participant and the technicality of accounting language. I used an ANCOVA to test the difference between treatments and a Mediation Analysis to verify the impact of the glossary. I found no difference in understanding through different levels of readability, while some participant\'s characteristics - such as previous understanding skills, level of education, courses and the type of school - showed relevance in explaining understandability. The evidence also suggests that using a glossary to assist the reader affected understandability, but mostly for those who have less prior knowledge regarding notes to the financial statements. These results allow me to conclude readability metrics are not good proxies to measure understandability in Accounting, glossary assists on reader\'s understandability, language has an impact over readability and understandability, and readability and understandability did not change with the OCPC 07. / A Contabilidade como ferramenta para comunicar informação relevante a múltiplos usuários, deve superar problemas e barreiras na apresentação dessa informação. Um dos problemas é sua compreensibilidade, dado que a falta de compreensão pode impactar as decisões. Contudo, compreensibilidade não é mensurada facilmente. Estudos anteriores usam métricas de legibilidade como proxies de compreensibilidade. Eles entendem que esses conceitos estão relacionados em certa medida, mas enquanto legibilidade foca no texto, compreensibilidade inclui características do leitor. Assim, o objetivo principal dessa pesquisa foi verificar como a legibilidade impacta na compreensibilidade das informações das Notas Explicativas. Foi verificado também se a distância entre elas se deve à língua do relatório. Os objetivos específicos eram: (i) verificar se diferentes níveis de legibilidade impactam a compreensibilidade das notas explicativas; (ii) verificar se os níveis de compreensibilidade dependem de termos específicos contábeis; (iii) verificar se a compreensibilidade e a legibilidade das notas são diferente em diferentes línguas; e (iv) verificar se a compreensibilidade e a legibilidade das notas mudaram depois da OCPC 07. Realizaram-se dois métodos de pesquisas diferentes, um de arquivo e outro experimental. A pesquisa de arquivo aplicou testes de média em 44 empresas abertas que apresentaram suas notas em português e em inglês de 2012 a 2015. Foram estudadas notas de Instrumentos Financeiros e Provisões. Utilizaram-se índices de inteligibilidade como proxies para compreensibilidade, calculados por um software linguístico. Os resultados mostram que a maior parte das empresas que possuíam os piores níveis de legibilidade, apresentaram os melhores níveis de inteligibilidade, o que é contrário ao esperado. Os resultados também mostram que, com algumas exceções, os índices de legibilidade e compreensibilidade são diferentes em português e inglês. Ademais, descobriu-se que não houve mudança após a adoção da OCPC 07 em ambos os índices de legibilidade e compreensibilidade. No experimento, foi aplicado um instrumento criado pela autora, baseado no teste MIT, a 112 estudantes no Brasil de cursos relacionados a negócios de graduação e pós-graduação, para verificar como a legibilidade impacta na compreensibilidade, manipulando os componentes de legibilidade do índice Flesch (número de palavras por frase e número de sílabas por palavra). Controlou-se algumas características de cada participante e pela tecnicidade da linguagem contábil. Usou-se a ANCOVA para testar a diferença entre tratamentos e a Análise de Mediação para verificar o impacto de um glossário. Não foram encontradas diferenças de compreensão entre os diferentes níveis de legibilidade, enquanto que algumas características dos participantes - como habilidades de compreensão prévias, nível educacional, curso e tipo de universidade - se mostraram relevantes para explicar compreensibilidade. Os resultados também sugerem que o uso de um glossário para ajudar o leitor afetou compreensibilidade, mas mais para aqueles que possuíam menor conhecimento prévio sobre Notas Explicativas. Os resultados permitem concluir que as métricas de legibilidade não são boas proxies para mensurar compreensibilidade em Contabilidade, o glossário auxilia na compreensibilidade do leitor, a língua impacta legibilidade e compreensibilidade e legibilidade e compreensibilidade não mudaram com a OCPC 07.

Essa tese foi desenvolvida com vistas a responder ao seguinte problema de pesquisa:as heurísticas e os vieses influenciam o processo decisório dos indivíduos quando confrontados com demonstrações financeiras e contábeis publicadas pelas empresas? Baseando-se na Prospect Theory de Kahneman e Tversky, buscou-se verificar como as heurísticas da ancoragem, representatividade e disponibilidade geravam vieses e influenciavam o modo como os usuários tomam suas decisões utilizando informações de cunho contábil e financeiro. Para tanto, foram submetidos questionários contendo situações de decisão junto aos estudantes de graduação da Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade da Universidade de São Paulo e aos analistas profissionais de uma grande instituição financeira brasileira. 369 estudantes e 55 analistas responderam o questionário proposto. Para evitar com que os resultados pudessem não ser confiáveis, nenhum dos respondentes sabiam que o questionário buscava identificar vieses no processo de tomada de decisão. Para os colaboradores, foi exposto que a pesquisa versava sobre o processo de tomada de decisão com base na divulgação de informações contábeis e financeiras, sem fazer qualquer menção ao estudo das finanças comportamentais ou vieses. Os resultados obtidos divergiram quando foram comparados os dois públicos estudados nessa tese: analistas de mercado de capitais e estudantes de uma das melhores faculdades de negócio do Brasil. Os resultados sugeriram que o uso da heurística da ancoragem não se mostrou significativa nem para os analistas e nem para os estudantes. Entretanto, o uso da heurística da disponibilidade se mostrou estatisticamente significativa, assim como a presença da noção de correlação ilusória e o efeito isolamento. Por sua vez, o efeito reflexão e a não observação da regressão à média foram percebidos somente na amostra composta pelos analistas profissionais da instituição financeira. Finalmente, o uso da heurística da representatividade só teve efeito estatístico na presença dos alunos. / This thesis has been developed in order to answer the following research problem: the heuristics and biases influence the decision-making process of individuals when faced with financial and accounting statements published by the companies? Based on the Prospect Theory of Kahneman and Tversky, this research sought to determine how the heuristics of anchoring and adjustment, representativeness and availability generated biases and influenced how users make decisions using accounting and financial nature information. To this end, questionnaires containing decision situations were submitted to undergraduate students of the School of Economics, Business and Accounting of the University of São Paulo and the professional analysts of a large Brazilian financial institution. 369 students and 55 analysts answered the proposed questionnaire. To avoid that the results could not be trusted, none of the respondents knew that the questionnaire sought to identify biases in the decision-making process. It was explained that the survey questionnaire was about the decision-making process based on the disclosure of accounting and financial information, without making any mention of the study of behavioral biases. The results diverged when both public studied were compared in this thesis: capital market analysts and students of one of the best business schools in Brazil. The results suggested that the use of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic was not significant neither for the analysts and neither for the students. However, the use of the availability heuristic was statistically significant, as the presence of the concept of illusory correlation and the isolation effect. In turn, the reflection effect and no observation of regression to the mean were perceived only in the sample of the professional analysts of the financial institution. Finally, the use of the representativeness heuristic only had statistical effect in the student\'s sample.

Esta tese investiga a influência do ambiente competitivo, medido pelo grau de competição, na qualidade das demonstrações contábeis. Para medir a qualidade dos números contábeis divulgados, foram utilizadas quatro métricas distintas que capturam diferentes propriedades da informação contábil: relevância, tempestividade, conservadorismo e gerenciamento de resultados. Estudos que investigaram a qualidade da informação contábil identificaram que firmas com mecanismos mais rígidos de governança corporativa divulgam números contábeis com qualidade superior e que a contabilidade pode exercer função contratual (LOPES, 2009). Por outro lado, a competição no mercado exerce efeito disciplinador na discricionariedade dos executivos (FAMA, 1980) e firmas com melhor desempenho e menores custos de agência teriam preço das ações mais altos (MANNE, 1965). Dessa maneira, a competição no mercado poderia ser um canal de influência na qualidade da informação contábil. Ainda incipiente na literatura, pesquisadores identificaram a influência da competição em duas das propriedades contábeis aqui analisadas: gerenciamento de resultados (MARCIUKAITYTE; PARK, 2009; TINAIKAR; XUE, 2009) e conservadorismo (DHALIWAL et al, 2008). Considerando-se que a competição no mercado pode melhorar a qualidade da informação contábil divulgada, com base nos fundamentos da Organização Industrial e na perspectiva de Stiglitz e Nalebuff (1983) sobre avaliação comparativa, o grau de competição de uma indústria aumentaria o fluxo de informações sobre as firmas e facilitaria a comparação entre seus pares, disciplinando as escolhas contábeis dos executivos. Para a execução deste estudo, utilizou-se uma amostra com base nos dados das companhias abertas listadas na BM&FBOVESPA, no período de 1996 a 2006, para construir as variáveis dos modelos de relevância, tempestividade, conservadorismo e gerenciamento de resultados, além das demais variáveis consideradas nos modelos (governança corporativa, ADR, tamanho, oportunidades de crescimento, endividamento e o índice de Herfindahl que mede o grau de competição). Como a estrutura dos dados (painel não balanceado) e da variável de interesse, a competição, capturam fatores das indústrias (setoriais), foram utilizadas regressões com erros-padrão robustos clusterizados nas indústrias. Os resultados obtidos, em geral, indicam que firmas em ambientes com alta competição não aumentam a relevância dos números contábeis; por outro lado, aumentam a tempestividade das informações contábeis, aumentam o grau de conservadorismo, mas não reduzem as práticas de gerenciamento de resultados. Por outro lado, observou-se que a interação do ambiente de alta competitividade em que as firmas estão inseridas com a adoção de práticas diferenciadas de governança corporativa, produzem efeitos sobre a discricionariedade contábil proporcionando incentivos (ou disciplinando as escolhas contábeis) para que as firmas divulguem números contábeis de qualidade superior. / This thesis investigates the influence of firms competitive environment, measured by the degree of competition, on the quality of financial statements. To measure the quality of the accounting numbers, I used four metrics that capture different properties of accounting information: value relevance, timeliness, conditional conservatism and earnings management. Studies of the quality of accounting information have identified that firms with enhanced corporate governance practices (strong mechanisms) disclose more reliable accounting numbers (LOPES, 2009). Furthermore, market competition exercises a disciplinary influence on executives discretionary power (FAMA, 1980) and firms with better performance and lower agency costs tend to have higher share prices (MANNE, 1965). Therefore, market competition can influence the quality of accounting information. Although the literature is still incipient, researchers have identified the influence of competition on two of the accounting properties analyzed here: earnings management (MARCIUKAITYTE; PARK, 2009; TINAIKAR; XUE, 2009) and conservatism (DHALIWAL et al, 2008). Since competition can improve the quality of the accounting information disclosed based on the tenets of industrial organization and the perspective of Stiglitz and Nalebuff (1983) on comparative valuation, a higher level of competition in an industry should increase the flow of information on firms and facilitate comparison with peers, disciplining the accounting choices of executives. To investigate this conjecture in the Brazilian setting, I used the accounting data from a sample of companies listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa, now BM&FBovespa) in the period from 1996 to 2006 to construct the variables of the models to measure value relevance, timeliness, conservatism and earnings management, along with other variables considered in the models (corporate governance, dual-listing through ADRs, size, growth opportunities, leverage and the Herfindahl index, which measures the level of competition). Since the structure of the data (unbalanced panel) and the variable of interest competition capture factors of industries (sectors), I used clustered regressions with robust standard errors in the industries. The results obtained in general indicate that firms in highly competitive industries do not have more relevant accounting numbers, while they are more timely in their disclosures and more conservative in the accounting practices followed. The results also indicate there is no effect of competition on earnings management. Finally, the interaction of high competitiveness and the adoption of enhanced corporate governance practices appears to reduce the discretion of management in disclosing accounting numbers, thus improving the quality of firms accounting figures.

El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo determinar El Régimen Mype Tributario y su impacto Financiero en las empresas del sector peluquería del distrito de Miraflores, año 2017, para esto es imprescindible realizar un análisis a la Ley y su reglamento, en este sus requisitos, obligaciones, el pago de sus impuestos y su impacto financiero. Este trabajo se encuentra conformado en 5 capítulos que son: Capítulo I Marco teórico, se realiza una investigación de fuentes primarias, donde se desarrollan conceptos del código tributario, regímenes tributarios y otros donde se contextualice la Ley, y la relación e impacto que origine a la información financiera de la empresa. Capítulo II Plan de investigación, se plantea la situación problemática de la tesis, el problema principal, problemas específicos, objetivo general y objetivos específicos, la hipótesis inicial e hipótesis específicos. Capítulo III Metodología de investigación, se definió la población, la muestra para las investigaciones cualitativas y cuantitativas de esta tesis. Capítulo IV Desarrollo de investigación, se realiza la investigación a través de la entrevista a profundidad a expertos en el tema tributario y financiero en asesorar empresas consideradas Mypes, el cual va dirigido este trabajo de investigación; encuestas a empresas de este rubro y el desarrollo práctico de ésta. Capítulo V Análisis de resultados, se realiza el análisis de los instrumentos y caso práctico; se concluye con la validación de la hipótesis general y específicas en base a los resultados obtenidos en las tablas cruzadas y Chi cuadrado, luego que hayamos realizado este análisis se concluye según las hipótesis planteadas, de acuerdo a la hipótesis general que el Régimen Mype Tributario impacta Financieramente en las empresas del sector peluquería en el distrito de Miraflores, año 2017, también se concluye según las hipótesis específicas que el acogimiento, las obligaciones formales y la declaración y pago de impuestos del Régimen Mype Tributario impactan Financieramente en estas empresas; todas estas afirmaciones se confirman en el análisis de los ratios financieros que varían según el régimen tributario al que se pertenece. / The objective of this research work is to determine the Mype Tax Regime and its impact on the financial statements of companies in the hairdressing sector of Miraflores district, 2017, for this it is essential to carry out an analysis of the Law and its regulations, in this their requirements, obligations, the payment of their taxes and their financial impact. This work is made up of 5 chapters that are: Chapter I Theoretical framework, an investigation of primary sources is carried out, where concepts of the tax code, tax regimes and others are developed where the Law is contextualized, and the relation and impact that originates to the financial information of the company. Chapter II Research plan, the problematic situation of the thesis, the main problem, specific problems, general objective and specific objectives, the initial hypothesis and specific hypotheses are presented. Chapter III Research methodology, the population was defined, the sample for the qualitative and quantitative investigations of this thesis. Chapter IV Research development, research is carried out through an in-depth interview with experts in the tax and financial field in advising companies considered Mypes, which is aimed at this research work; surveys to companies of this heading and the practical development of this one. Chapter V Analysis of results, the analysis of the instruments and practical case is carried out; we conclude with the validation of the general and specific hypothesis based on the results obtained in the crossed tables and Chi square, after we have made this analysis, we conclude according to the hypotheses, according to the general hypothesis that the Mype Tax Regime has an impact In the Financial Statements of the companies of the hairdressing sector in the district of Miraflores, year 2017, it is also concluded according to the specific hypothesis that the reception, the formal obligations and the declaration and payment of taxes of the Mype Tax Regime have an impact on the Financial Statements of These companies; All these statements are confirmed in the analysis of the financial ratios that vary according to the tax regime to which they belong. / Tesis

Being a teacher is not an easy job. There is an increased emphasis on evidence-based methods. Teacher praise is an effective classroom management tool. Behavior specific praise statements is a low intensity teacher delivered strategy where teachers say or write the precise behavior exhibited and how it met an expectation or affected academic/social achievement. This study aimed to increase Behavior Specific Praise Statements among three teachers in Mathematic, English and Social subject studies on student’s social behavior as a group. An intervention consisting of an hour of counseling, post-it notes, and self-registration was given. The teachers decided their own pre-set criteria. Two teachers sat a criterion of three and one teacher sat a criterion of six. The results showed that the intervention had an effect on the teachers use of BSPS. However, one teacher did not reach the pre-set criteria. Practical implications are discussed.

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the impact of the use of foreign currencies, the euro by Czech companies on the accounting and analysis of the use of the euro in transactions. The first sub-objective is to determine the number of customers of the selected group who trade in the euro and the division of enterprises by size according to specified criteria. The second sub-objective is to determine the effect of the euro in the case of exchange rate differences and to be reflected in the financial statements. The work will evaluate the status and development of customers who use the euro as the transaction currency. The impact of the euro on society and the division of enterprises according to different criteria will be described. Part will be devoted to exchange rate differences. The last part of the thesis will deal with the impact of the euro on the financial statements

Many financial leaders lack strategies to make the timely fiscal reporting needed for business to obtain profitability, competitive advantage, and sustainability. The purpose of this single case study was to explore successful strategies used to complete efficient closing cycles to evaluate performance and support business decisions. The conceptual framework for this study was process improvement and the theory of constraints. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 5 purposively selected leaders; data were supplemented with information from the organization's website and print materials. Financial leaders who had developed successful strategies to complete timely financial statements were selected to participate in the study from a U.S. healthcare organization. Data were analyzed using Yin's 5-step approach, which included examining, categorizing, tabulating, creating a data display, and testing the data. Transcript review validated that emerging themes were in alignment with participant experiences. Four major themes emerged from data analysis: provide training and professional development, promote teamwork, engage in effective communication, and use information technology. Social change implications include potential process improvement in hospitals that could provide insight into specific system processes that contribute to the rising cost of global healthcare. Financial leaders achieving increased profitability through process improvement could enable administrators to make financial contributions to their communities, expand to new markets, and create new employment opportunities.

En consideración a las características de supletoriedad de la actividad empresarial del Estado y de las metas empresariales que se dirigen básicamente a ampliar la cobertura de los servicios públicos, con el único fin de lograr una mejor calidad de vida de los pobladores; el presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo, a través de un análisis normativo de la gestión de provisiones financieras en SEDAPAL que permita a las áreas contables y legales de las empresas públicas, contar con mayores criterios para la evaluación de los expedientes que se ventilan en sede arbitral, en el marco de la Norma Internacional de Contabilidad 37 – NIC 37. El presente trabajo de investigación plantea un enfoque cualitativo a través de un proceso inductivo, el tipo de investigación tiene un alcance descriptivo y explicativo, utilizando un análisis de naturaleza cualitativo con elementos cuantitativos. Se revisarán los estados financieros de una de las empresas más representativas del sector saneamiento – SEDAPAL (responsable de brindar el servicio de agua y alcantarillado al 30% de la población nacional) y una muestra de expedientes arbitrales reportados en el Documento de Información Anual 2017 de SEDAPAL. Es importante que los abogados en general se sensibilicen sobre las repercusiones que puede tener una calificación inadecuada de los expedientes, pues impactan negativamente en los estados financieros de una empresa. Los resultados permiten concluir que, si se provisiona como gastos los desembolsos que en el futuro formarán parte del activo fijo, habrá una distorsión del registro contable afectando directamente los resultados de la empresa. El registro de una provisión bajo NIC 37, debe contener un análisis acucioso, pues genera impactos financieros, tributarios y sociales. / Taking into consideration the proper role of private enterprise in supplementing public services in order to enhance the general welfare, the research project presented here aspires to join in this collaborative effort, offering legal and financial analyses which will supply the legal and accounting divisions of public enterprises with more suitable criteria for evaluating records resulting from arbitration within the framework of the International Norm of Accounting (NIC) 37. The following research is quantitative in its focus and correlational in scope, and entails an examination of the financial conditions of one of the firms most representative of the sanitation sector, SEDAPAL (responsible for providing water and sewerage for 30% of the nation’s population), as well as a sampling of arbitration records reported in SEDAPAL’s Annual Information Document for 2017. It is important for lawyers in general to develop greater awareness of the possible repercussions of inaccurately assessing arbitration records, which can adversely affect a company’s financial performance. The results of the research presented here support the conclusion that expenditures that will become fixed assets of a company should not be recorded as costs, since so doing distorts a company’s accounting record, adversely affecting its performance. Thus, registry of a provision under NIC 37 should be accompanied by a careful analysis of its financial, social and tax-related impacts. / Trabajo de Investigación

In December 2004, at the SoDIS® (Software Development Impact Statements) symposium in Auckland, an industry certification as a method of credentialing teachers and analysis of SoDIS was mooted. SoDIS, a process of ethics-based risk assessment and analysis of downstream risk to project and software stakeholders, including the public, is currently in the process of progressing from prototype to commercial product. Certification was proposed to ensure the integrity of the process and the quality of service to stakeholders.Certification sponsored by industry, commercial organisation, or professional association (collectively referred to as industry certification, or certification) has been a form of credentialing for over half a century. Industry certification was adopted by the IT industry when Novell, Inc. began testing and certifying IT industry and IT network professionals in 1986 (Cosgrove, 2004; Novell, 1996). Global certification testing centres were established in 1990 by Drake International (now Thomson Prometric) (Foster, 2005).During the 1990s, industry certification became a veritable juggernaut: a "multi-billion dollar business" (Cosgrove, 2004, p. 486), an industry that has arisen in its own right (Adelman, 2000) and driven by several dynamics (Hitchcock, 2005). In 2000 there were over 300 discrete IT certifications with approximately 1.6 million individuals holding approximately 2.4 million IT certifications (Aldelman, 2000). The total number of available certifications is impossible to quantify (Knapp & Gallery, 2003). Many academic institutions both at tertiary and secondary level are integrating industry certification, especially IT certification, into their curricula.Is industry certification, however, a pedagogically robust form of credentialing? Does it have value to its stakeholders? Is it an appropriate form of credentialing for the SoDIS process? This research, using both Phenomenography and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as a joint methodology, focuses on the experiences of actors with the phenomenon of industry certification and extracts both the essence of the understanding and perceptions of the value and validity of industry certification, and the essence of industry certification itself.Due to the vast amount of literature found describing industry actors' perceptions of and experiences within the phenomenon, the research is predominantly literature-based. Further data was collected from interviews with a small, purposive sample of industry certification holders and employers, with the research further informed by my own experiences within the domain which is the focus of the research. The methodology paradigm is interpretive: the research aims to interpret the social construction that is the phenomenon of industry certification.While this research does not attempt to single out specific industry certifications to determine their value or pedagogical robustness, the findings suggest that, in general, well designed and well administered certifications with integrity and rigour of assessment processes, are indeed pedagogically sound, with significant value. The research identifies both benefit and criticism elements of typical certifications, along with elements of the various certification programmes categorised into standard (typical), and more rigorous (less typical) certification programmes.The research develops and presents a paradigm for building an appropriate vendor specific or vendor neutral certification programme that is pedagogically sound with value for its stakeholders. The contrasts and complementary aspects of industry certification and academic qualifications are highlighted. It is therefore concluded, and supported by data from the interviews, that such a credential is indeed appropriate for teachers and analysts of SoDIS.

This study examines the articulated vision of a new Catholic primary school in order to describe and assess its developing organisational culture. The following questions provide the major focus of the study: I How and to what extent does the Vision Statement describe the developing Catholic school culture at St Clare of Assisi Primary School? 2. What are the common beliefs and values underlying the Vision Statement at St Clare of Assisi Primary School? A review of the literature reveals that many educational researchers stress the importance of schools developing a strong, coordinated, cohesive and positive culture. The need for this culture to be based on a clearly articulated vision, embodying shared values and beliefs is also indicated and this provides the rationale for the study. A number of frameworks for school culture are examined and adapted to develop a conceptual framework for the study. The resulting Model for Developing Catholic School Culture provides a structure which enables collected data to be sorted and analysed, so that the research questions can be addressed. This study utilises the methodology of ethnographic research. Data collection strategies include participant observation, interviews, surveys, and other sources including school records and documents, photographs, artefacts and memorabilia. The findings are organised under five headings, each of which represents a belief articulated in the school's Vision Statement. These beliefs are examined to see how they are enacted verbally, visually and behaviourally by the school community Conclusions are drawn as to the relevance of the Vision Statement to the school community Other significant values and beliefs evident from an examination of the data are also identified The study concludes that the Vision Statement effectively describes the developing culture of the school for there is congruence between its beliefs and actions. What emerges of particular significance from this study is the importance of a school community articulating a shared vision. A school's Vision Statement serves a dual purpose It is the filter which allows the shared beliefs and values of the school community to be articulated, while at the same time serving as a scaffold for checking if these shared beliefs and values are being enacted by the community.