Curtis Clements, John D. Neill and Paul Wertheim
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the industry relatedness of directors’ multiple directorships and corporate governance effectiveness. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the industry relatedness of directors’ multiple directorships and corporate governance effectiveness. The authors posit that a director gains “beneficial experience” by serving on outside boards of companies in related industries, with a resulting increase in governance effectiveness. Conversely, they predict a decrease in governance effectiveness when directors serve on outside boards of companies in unrelated industries.
Design/methodology/approach
Using publicly available data, a Tobit regression model is used to examine the effect of the industry relatedness of board members’ multiple directorships on corporate governance effectiveness.
Findings
The results demonstrate a significant positive correlation between the industry relatedness of directors’ multiple directorships and corporate governance effectiveness. It was found that this industry relatedness effect is stronger for directors of small companies than large company directors. The paper also documents a significant negative effect on governance effectiveness for small firms whose directors increase their board service on non-industry-related boards.
Originality/value
Prior research has examined the “Busyness Hypothesis” and the “Experience Hypothesis” as mutually exclusive hypotheses. This paper extends prior research by examining the possibility that the two hypotheses are not competing, but rather that both an experience effect and a busyness effect may be present for directors serving on multiple boards, and that one of the effects will dominate the other, based on certain company-specific characteristics.
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Alexandra L. Ferrentino, Meghan L. Maliga, Richard A. Bernardi and Susan M. Bosco
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in…
Abstract
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in business-ethics and accounting’s top-40 journals this study considers research in eight accounting-ethics and public-interest journals, as well as, 34 business-ethics journals. We analyzed the contents of our 42 journals for the 25-year period between 1991 through 2015. This research documents the continued growth (Bernardi & Bean, 2007) of accounting-ethics research in both accounting-ethics and business-ethics journals. We provide data on the top-10 ethics authors in each doctoral year group, the top-50 ethics authors over the most recent 10, 20, and 25 years, and a distribution among ethics scholars for these periods. For the 25-year timeframe, our data indicate that only 665 (274) of the 5,125 accounting PhDs/DBAs (13.0% and 5.4% respectively) in Canada and the United States had authored or co-authored one (more than one) ethics article.
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Sam McLeod, Carey Curtis and John Stone
Modelling has been a mainstay of conventional planning support tools (PSTs) since the 1960s and is instrumental in transport and land use planning decision-making. Numerous…
Abstract
Modelling has been a mainstay of conventional planning support tools (PSTs) since the 1960s and is instrumental in transport and land use planning decision-making. Numerous studies have been conducted to model the potential impacts of emerging vehicle automation and sharing technologies. A systematic review of recent modelling studies of autonomous and shared vehicles in the research literature examines the extent of their contribution to ‘smart’ mobility knowledge. The findings suggest a limited knowledge base from which to support future planning. PSTs that can offer more pluralistic, discursive, and transparent methods in order to understand and proactively shape a transition to a planned urban future are also needed.
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Megan Seymore, Neil Wilner and Mary B. Curtis
Outside influences affect the progression of research in any discipline, including accounting. These influences offer one explanation for problems of replicability or…
Abstract
Outside influences affect the progression of research in any discipline, including accounting. These influences offer one explanation for problems of replicability or comparability to previous studies, a common concern today. This article examines “who” participates in behavioral experiments and surveys involving accountants. This issue is important because of nontrivial differences in the composition of those in the accounting profession (and thus, participants in subject pools) over approximately 50 years of behavioral accounting research. Based on the theory of individual differences, we explore whether differences in the population of accounting research participants through the years could impact the replication or comparability of current-day research to earlier studies.
Our reading of available literature suggests that our profession has become more diverse in terms of gender and country of origin and that the oft-referenced characteristics of the millennial generation may also represent a distinct difference from previous generations of accountants. We discuss instances in which this changing nature of our profession, and thus our research population, could have implications for current-day behavioral accounting research.
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The author takes a comprehensive look at the accessibility of e-resources for all people, including those with disabilities, in the context of collection development (CD).
Abstract
Purpose
The author takes a comprehensive look at the accessibility of e-resources for all people, including those with disabilities, in the context of collection development (CD).
Methodology/approach
Employing a combination of research methodologies
Findings
Several professional library organizations recommend accessibility-sensitive selection and procurement procedures. However, not all students enrolled in library school programs might learn about the issue. Few books on the subject cover the issue adequately. Nationwide, CD policies requiring conformance to accessibility standards are the exception; and when librarians meet to make decisions about the selection of specific e-resources, the needs of people with disabilities are rarely on their radar screens.
Research limitations/implications
Researchers conducting similar surveys in the future might want to not only select a statistically more representative sample of academic libraries but also widen their focus and include both accessibility and usability in their investigations.
Practical implications
Textbook authors and course instructors in the area of CD need to address accessibility and usability. Librarians need to raise the issue with database and e-book vendors during license negotiations.
Social implications
The acquisition of e-resources designed to be accessible and usable for all will enable people with disabilities to participate more fully in our information-driven society.
Originality/value
The data collected provide for a broad discussion of the extent to which the needs of people with disabilities are considered in connection with CD.
Jonatas Dutra Sallaberry, Lauren Dal Bem Venturini, Isabel Martínez-Conesa and Leonardo Flach
This study aims to analyze the relationship between the personal responsibility, the intrinsic knowledge of the norms and the knowledge of signs of money laundering of accountants.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the relationship between the personal responsibility, the intrinsic knowledge of the norms and the knowledge of signs of money laundering of accountants.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was developed with responses from 381 Brazilian accounting professionals through a survey, statistically analyzed using structural equations.
Findings
The results indicate that personal responsibility directly affects the levels of intrinsic knowledge and knowledge about signs of money laundering; however, the different dimensions of knowledge were not related to each other.
Practical implications
From these results, organizations can clarify the individual about their responsibility, optimizing the use of training and mitigating costs, with greater sustainability and security for the organization, employees and business partners.
Social implications
The results contribute to the construction and modeling of latent constructs on money laundering knowledge, with validity, reliability and statistical significance.
Originality/value
This research discusses and empirically explores the knowledge about money laundering of the accountants’, one of the main explanatory factors of whistleblowing in business.
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Lori R. Fuller and Tara J. Shawver
This study explores the whistleblowing judgments and intentions of accounting students utilizing scenarios involving accounting earning’s manipulations and fraud. Individual…
Abstract
This study explores the whistleblowing judgments and intentions of accounting students utilizing scenarios involving accounting earning’s manipulations and fraud. Individual differences affect how one makes decisions yet are rarely explored in the whistleblowing literature. As such, the authors conducted an exploratory study to determine if one’s cognitive style (the method a person uses to perceive incoming information and how they make decisions) affects whistleblowing judgment and intent. Using multivariate regression, the authors find that cognitive style significantly affects moral sensitivity, whistleblowing judgment, and whistleblowing intent. This chapter makes several important contributions to the existing literature. This is the first study that explores whether cognitive style affects moral sensitivity, whistleblowing judgments, and whistleblowing intentions. Second, it demonstrates that the models which exclude individual differences may be incomplete.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of organisational commitment (OC) and corporate ethical values (CEV) on the whistle-blowing intentions of non-public…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of organisational commitment (OC) and corporate ethical values (CEV) on the whistle-blowing intentions of non-public accountants in Barbados.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a sample of 236 self-administered questionnaires from non-public accountants working in corporate organisations.
Findings
OC and CEV significantly influence internal and external whistle-blowing intentions. Non-public accountants with high OC, who also operate in organisations with strong perceived CEV, are more likely to exhibit high internal whistle-blowing intentions and low external whistle-blowing intentions. Non-public accountants with high perceived personal costs, low OC and a low degree of trust and confidence in the reporting systems, cite a general reluctance to whistle-blow internally and externally.
Research limitations/implications
The findings may not be generalisable to other professions. In addition, it utilises a quantitative survey method, which does not allow for further investigation of non-public accountants’ perceptions and feelings.
Practical implications
The study can assist firms in developing effective whistle-blowing mechanisms. The findings show the importance of high OC, strong CEV and reduced personal costs in a whistle-blowing framework.
Originality/value
This study provides evidence of the influence of OC and CEV on whistle-blowing among members of the accounting profession in an emerging economy. The study also provides a whistle-blowing matrix and discusses the unique social and cultural factors influencing the whistle-blowing process in Barbados.
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Will Hutton, Judy Clements and Bob Sang
Will Hutton is chief executive of The Work Foundation, an independent, not for dividend research‐based consultancy that is an influential voice on work, workplace and employment…
Abstract
Will Hutton is chief executive of The Work Foundation, an independent, not for dividend research‐based consultancy that is an influential voice on work, workplace and employment issues in Britain. Will began his career as a stockbroker and investment analyst, before working in BBC TV and radio as a producer and reporter. Prior to joining The Work Foundation, Will spent four years as editor in chief of The Observer.Will has written several best‐selling economic books including The World We're In, The State We're In, The State to Come, The Stakeholding Society, On The Edge with Anthony Giddens and The Writing on the Wall. In addition, he won the Political Journalist of the Year award in 1993. Other roles that Will performs outside The Work Foundation include: Governor of the London School of Economics; Honorary Fellow, Mansfield College, Oxford; Visiting Professor, Manchester University Business School and Bristol University. He is also a member of the Scott Trust and a Fellow of the Sunningdale Institute.
Megan Seymore and Mary B. Curtis
Some of the best information for preventing accounting violations is received from employees who have observed the unethical behavior (Henning, 2016). However, receiving…
Abstract
Some of the best information for preventing accounting violations is received from employees who have observed the unethical behavior (Henning, 2016). However, receiving information about accounting violations or other unethical behavior in organizations requires employees to voluntarily report the behavior. Employees may be particularly hesitant to report unethical behavior when the behavior benefits them. Employees may also justify their own unethical behavior as morally appropriate when their moral identity allows the behavior. The authors draw on psychology and ethics literature to examine the relationships among moral identity, moral disengagement, and unethical behavior. In the exploration of behavior, the authors examine both commissions and omissions. While unethical commissions are violations directly committed by an individual without cooperation from others, unethical omissions are violations resulting from an individual failing to take steps necessary to correct another's unethical behavior.
The authors conduct a survey about cheating with a sample of college students. Using structural equation modeling, the authors find that intentions to engage in unethical commissions are positively associated with moral disengagement, while unethical omissions do not appear to create the moral disengagement that can arise from cognitive dissonance. The authors also find a feedback loop from moral disengagement to future intentions, which suggests moral disengagement created from one unethical act increases intentions for future unethical behavior. Finally, the authors find a simple intervention that can help to increase the moral intensity of observed unethical behavior.