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The purpose of this paper is to critically explore the implementation of cost accounting systems (CAS) using content analysis. In particular, it aims to examine the impact of Sri Lankan cultural and local characteristics on the adoption of CAS. In particular, it examines the factors that facilitate or hinder the adoption of CAS in Sri Lanka.

Primary data for the research were obtained by interviewing selected respondents from Sri Lanka’s manufacturing and service sectors. They were shortlisted using maximum variation sampling to obtain a representative cross-section of the national population. A total of 16 respondents were interviewed, which resulted in 57 interview paragraphs to be coded. Several theories were used to analyse them, namely, the theory of institutional isomorphism (homogeneity) and the theory of heterogeneity, as well as Clifford Geertz’s cultural theories.

A cross-comparison between the findings and relevant literature indicates the existence of complete institutional isomorphism and partial institutional heterogeneity in Sri Lanka. Heterogeneity exists in organisations such as foreign multinationals, which have adopted unique and sophisticated CAS. In addition, inadequate access to information and the orientation of the local culture has affected the implementation of CAS in Sri Lanka, with a lack of awareness of the importance of CAS, a sluggish approach to costing and cultural values forming prominent barriers to its implementation. These findings are plausible in light of the relationship between a sluggish approach towards costing (a low cost awareness), and local attitudes towards the implementation of more efficient accounting practices such as CAS.

This research is invaluable as a tool for Sri Lankan policymakers and practitioners, enabling the public and private sectors to provide education and training to enhance staff understanding and promote a positive attitude towards costing. With more efficient institutional CAS, the country’s economy will be more competitive internationally. As well as policymakers and practitioners, this research could be used by academicians for advancing theoretical development around the cultural triggers and barriers for adopting more innovative and fresher CAS in Sri Lanka.

The originality of this research can be justified on two counts. Firstly, although a wealth of research exists that examines the influence of culture on behaviour, this research specifically evaluates the impact of cultural factors on attitudes towards costing. These factors could be facilitators or obstructions for implementing CAS. Secondly, this research aims to combine both earlier and recent theories of institutionalism with Clifford Geertz’s cultural theory, to investigate how people and institutions in Sri Lanka adopt CAS. Earlier studies have focused merely on earlier theories of institutional homogeneity.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the development and implementation of Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) and environmental management at the level of a firm in the hotel sector in Sri Lanka.

Case study method was used in the study. The primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews supported by observations of various facility centers (on-site assessment). Accounting records such as the Green Book, daily and monthly material and energy records, online resources and various other documents were content analyzed as sources of secondary data.

The study observed that the hotel had reinvigorated some of its environmental management and EMA practices in an urgent, cost-saving bid when faced with a financial crisis. Having realized their cost-saving potential and strategic benefits, the management developed these selective practices over time into comprehensive practices that are integrated into the daily management process supported by all stakeholders. The development stages of EMA reflect how the hotel moved from a survival phase to an integration phase.

The paper attempts to apply an integrated eco-control approach in an emerging South Asian country, Sri Lanka. Because eco-control of EMA is a new approach in developing countries, this paper provides important insights into the development of eco-control and EMA.

This study aims to investigate four internal (organisational structure, quality of information technology, business strategy and market orientation) and two external (competition intensity and perceived environmental uncertainty) contextual factors affecting the use of production planning and control accounting techniques (PPC), as well as the impact of PPC usage on organisational competitiveness.

Seven major PPC techniques were investigated, namely: attribute costing, lifecycle costing, quality costing, target costing, value-chain costing, activity-based costing and activity-based management. By deploying a multi-informant strategy, a structured questionnaire was used to gather survey data from 129 senior accounting, finance and production personnel of publicly quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria.

The results, using structural equation modelling, show that market orientation is the strongest determinant of PPC usage. The inability of competition intensity and perceived environmental uncertainty to notably affect PPC usage suggests that external environmental pressure to use PPC is weak. Although PPC can engender organisational competitiveness, their interactive usage yields optimal results.

The study contributes to knowledge by: (i) presenting evidence that although PPC techniques can engender organisational competitiveness, it is their interactive usage that yields optimal results; (ii) empirically demonstrating that contextual factors influence PPC usage in line with the contingency theory; and (iii) validating the diffusion of innovation theory that organisations will typically deploy PPC techniques because of their relative advantage of improving organisational competitiveness.

Focusing on the Agri-Food and Beverage sector, the paper investigates the direct effect of worldwide mandatory non-financial disclosure on several financial dimensions as well as its moderating effects on the relationship between sustainability and financial performance.

The authors performed fixed-effect regressions on a sample of 180 global listed companies, considering a period of eight years. The authors also tested the moderating effects of non-financial disclosure regulation on the relationship between sustainability and financial performance.

The authors found a positive direct impact of mandatory non-financial disclosure on Operating Return on Asset, Return on Equity and Return on Sales. The analysis also highlighted the negative moderating effects of non-financial reporting regulation on the relationship between sustainability issues and financial performance. As for the Cost of Debt, the authors found mixed results.

This study considers a short-term perspective focusing on a limited sample composed of companies playing a key role in the global agri-food system.

The paper identifies which financial performance dimensions are positively or negatively affected by mandatory non-financial disclosure. Accordingly, managers can rearrange corporate activities to deal with further reporting normative requirements concurrently preserving financial performances and fostering corporate sustainability.

This study recommends fostering mandatory non-financial disclosure to increase corporate transparency fostering the sustainability transition of the Agri-Food and Beverage industry.

The paper highlights global mandatory non-financial disclosure effects on financial performance considering a sector that is cross-cutting impactful on plural sustainability issues.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of different types of networking, namely, business networking, financial networking and political networking, on the performance of new ventures and the extent to which competitive advantage influences the process.

Data were collected through a structured questionnaire using sample size of 319 newly established ventures in Pakistan – an emerging economy. The hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling by using AMOS 21.

Results of the study indicate that business networking, financial networking and political networking significantly and positively contribute to new ventures performance and competitive advantage. Results also show that competitive advantage is a strong mediator between financial networking and new venture performance, as well as between business networking and new venture performance, respectively. However, in case of relationship between political networking and new venture performance, competitive advantage plays only a partial mediating role.

The study suggests that the owners and managers of new ventures should devote considerable efforts to developing all the three types of networks; in particular these networks are important for newly established ventures operating in emerging markets to access resources and to enhance performance.

Extensive review of available literature indicates that this is the first paper to assess the impact of networking on new ventures’ performance with a mediating role of competitive advantage. This study contributes to the existing literature through empirical evidence.

With the rapid development of technology in the 21st century, an ever-growing number of organisations are adopting digitalised technologies. The global economy connected with digitalisation is moving towards sustainable development. Individual firms adopt innovative technological strategies to consolidate their position in the competitive market. The study aimed to examine the management perception of the impact of E-commerce adoption (EC) on business performance (BP) – the moderating role of using artificial intelligence (AI).

A quantitative study using the deductive approach and the data collected from senior managers of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka, and 389 samples were collected using a simple random sampling method. EC, BP and AI were named as the independent, dependent and moderating variables in the model. Porters' generic strategies and resource-based views (RBVs) were applied as the foundation of the study.

The independent and moderating variables significantly influenced the BP. Managers' age, gender, education level and job position affect their perception.

The global economy is moving towards sustainable development using digitalisation. The firms should blend their strategies with digitalised platforms to survive in the competitive market.

The peer review history for this article is available at the following link: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2021-0752

This paper proposes an integrated approach of genetic algorithms, Tabu search and simulated annealing for multi‐stage (dynamic) transmission network expansion planning. The proposed algorithm integrates the most interesting and best features of the above individual algorithms. The efficiency and reliability of the proposed algorithm is proved with the modified Garver's six‐bus network. Finally, a real‐world application (Sri Lankan transmission network) of the integrated algorithm is presented for multi‐stage transmission expansion planning.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between different types of team goal orientations (team learning orientation, team prove orientation and team avoid orientation) and team performance in new product development (NPD) and how these relationships are mediated by team absorptive capacity.

Data were collected through two surveys from 71 NPD teams and analyzed by the confirmatory factor analysis, correlation and hierarchical regression analysis methods.

The authors find that both teams’ learning and prove orientations are positively related to their absorptive capacity, which leads to increasing team performance in NPD. Further, the authors find support for the mediating role of team absorptive capacity in connecting team learning orientation and team prove orientation with team performance in NPD.

For practitioners, this paper suggests that to benefit from their NPD team efforts, firms with innovative aspirations should consider their existing and desired access to external knowledge sources and particularly the extent to which they can successfully integrate external knowledge with their internal knowledge structure.

The explication of team absorptive capacity is as a key mechanism through which different goal orientations of NPD teams inform the ability to successfully develop new products. By integrating the concepts of team goal orientations, team absorptive capacity and team performance in NPD, the authors seek to gain a better understanding of why some firms are more likely to do better than others in NPD. Findings of this paper extend concept of the nomological network on how absorptive capacity may serve as a direct outcome of different goal orientations. This paper responds to how Chinese firms can increase their innovative performance by infusing their current knowledge bases with external knowledge and extends the literature on knowledge management and managerial ties on innovation.

The purpose of this study is to use a portfolio-time-series approach to examine the impact of five important political events on the value of politically connected firms in Sri Lanka.

This study examines five major political events to test if political connections affect market value of listed companies in Sri Lanka. Results show that despite numerous news articles and public perception suggesting otherwise, there is no convincing evidence which indicate that political connections increase firm value in Sri Lanka.

The empirical results provide no evidence that political connections increase firm value in Sri Lanka. Further tests indicate that the government is not biased towards politically connected firms when granting major projects. The authors also fail to find a relation between Tobin’s Q and the level of political connection after including several common control variables.

This study contributes to the literature on the value of political connections by using a robust event study methodology and a novel setting: Sri Lanka in the period around the end of the civil war.