Karen C. Miller, J. Riley Shaw and Tonya K. Flesher
The use of corporate aircraft has increased as businesses place more value on ease of mobility. The bonus depreciation incentives of 2002 and 2003 provided growth opportunities…
Abstract
The use of corporate aircraft has increased as businesses place more value on ease of mobility. The bonus depreciation incentives of 2002 and 2003 provided growth opportunities for the general aviation market by allowing accelerated depreciation deductions for the purchase of new corporate aircraft. These incentives allowed more than twice the traditional MACRS allowance for depreciation for the first year of operation of an asset, but the present value of the tax savings after the full depreciable life of the corporate aircraft only generated a 3.25 percent reduction in the after-tax-cost. This study documents that the bonus depreciation incentives did not generate significant growth in the general aviation aircraft market via increased production of aircraft. These incentives may have simply slowed the recession that might have taken place in this industry otherwise. However, the incentives in this study did play a significant role in determining which type of aircraft to purchase, piston or turbine.
Gerry H. Grant, Karen C. Miller and Fatima Alali
The purpose of this paper is to examine information technology (IT) control deficiencies and their affect on financial reporting.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine information technology (IT) control deficiencies and their affect on financial reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examines 278 companies reporting IT control deficiencies in the first three years of the SOX 404 requirements (2004‐2006). Using quantitative analysis, the study evaluates the impact of IT deficiencies on financial reporting and determines significant differences between companies that report IT deficiencies and companies that do not report IT deficiencies.
Findings
Four accounting errors: revenue recognition issues; receivables, investments and cash issues; inventory, vendor and cost of sales issues; and financial statement, footnote, US GAAP, and segment disclosures issues stand out as common financial reporting problems in companies reporting weak IT controls. This study also suggests that companies with IT control deficiencies report more internal control (IC) deficiencies, are smaller, pay higher audit fees, and are typically audited by smaller accounting firms.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited in scope since only SOX accelerated filers are included in the analysis. As of this study, smaller, non‐accelerated filers are not required to report IC control weaknesses under SOX.
Originality/value
As of this research, no analysis exists to support or refute the relationship of IT controls and accounting errors. This study re‐affirms the widespread impact that deficient IT controls can have on the overall IC structure of the business. Our study reveals some of the important issues associated with IT in the financial reporting process. The role of IT in financial reporting systems is destined to escalate. Studies, like ours, can help managers and auditors identify IT problems that affect financial reporting and take remedial steps to correct these weaknesses.
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Karen C. Miller, Morris H. Stocks and Thomas Y. Proctor
Prior research that attempts to empirically correlate research activity and effective teaching generates conflicting results. These contradictory findings contribute to the…
Abstract
Prior research that attempts to empirically correlate research activity and effective teaching generates conflicting results. These contradictory findings contribute to the scrutiny that currently threatens to undermine accounting education and to impact funds currently directed toward the support of accounting research. The purpose of this study is to measure the impact of relevant research on students’ perceptions of effective teaching. This two-phase study incorporates both a between-subjects decision-making experiment and a ranking instrument to measure the importance of various faculty attributes of teaching effectiveness. The two factors of interest in this study are whether a hypothetical accounting professor (1) conducts and publishes relevant research and (2) incorporates relevant research into classroom lectures. The results of the first phase of the study experimentally demonstrate that students enrolled in accounting classes perceive the professor who does both (conducts and publishes relevant research and incorporates research into classroom lectures) to be significantly more effective than others. Specifically, the study identifies a statistically significant two-way interaction between the two factors of interest. This suggests that students perceive the professor's research to be a component of teaching effectiveness if, and only if, that research is incorporated into the classroom experience of the student. The second phase of the study finds that students generally rank both of the faculty research attributes lower in importance than other previously identified factors used to describe the professor.
The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources and research and computer skills…
Abstract
The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources and research and computer skills related to retrieving, using, and evaluating information. This review, the twenty‐first to be published in Reference Services Review, includes items in English published in 1994. A few are not annotated because the compiler could not obtain copies of them for this review.
Tim Pullen, David Smith, Jacquelyn Humphrey and Karen Benson
The purpose of this paper is to examine how the practices, processes and expertise embedded within Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) distinctively mediate the tensions between outcome…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how the practices, processes and expertise embedded within Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) distinctively mediate the tensions between outcome payers’ competing and contradictory programmatic discourses.
Design/methodology/approach
We use qualitative research methods and employ concepts drawn from the governmentality literature to analyse interviews with SIB outcome payers.
Findings
SIBs are shown to challenge the degree of negative influence of biopolitics, neoliberalism and financialization by highlighting a broader and more holistic set of influences. SIB operations pre-empt and counteract perceived risks and are refined through a “learning by doing” effect. In contrast to other approaches to funding social interventions, the SIB structure attributes and independently validates outcomes. Payments to investors are based on the achievement of outcomes and are funded by the outcome payers. SIBs’ operational processes allow the responsibilities of the various parties to be explicitly assigned and contracted. The interests are aligned, yet the cultural differences harnessed.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first to apply governmentality concepts to SIBs. By focusing on outcome payers, the paper provides new perspectives on the practices, processes and expertise of governing and the programmatic discourses of governing, as well as their relationship. The insights offered are supported by one of the largest and most diverse empirical SIB samples including 34 interviews where 43 individuals reflect on their experiences across 32 unique outcome payer organisations.
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Daniel Gilhooly and Chris Mu Htoo
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how teachers can use their Sgaw Karen students’ names as a means to gaining awareness of their students’ home culture, language and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how teachers can use their Sgaw Karen students’ names as a means to gaining awareness of their students’ home culture, language and personal stories.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study uses interviews with four Karen families to explore the meanings behind the names and nicknames given to Karen individuals.
Findings
The findings of this study reveal that Karen names can provide teachers important insights into Karen culture, history and language. Moreover, Karen names can also provide important biographical information about the student.
Research limitations/implications
This study only focuses on Sgaw Karen names and does not include other Karen subgroups like the Pwo Karen, who are also resettling in the USA. This study does not include all Sgaw Karen names, but the authors have made efforts to include Karen names from various regions of Burma and of different religious backgrounds.
Practical implications
Teachers and others working with culturally and linguistically diverse students like the Karen will gain a better understanding of the various ways that names are given across cultures. While this paper focuses on one particular ethnic group, it is believed that teachers need to expand their notions about how other non-European groups name their children and how these names may reveal something about the student’s heritage culture, history, language and the unique lived experiences of their students.
Social implications
Too often teachers and others working cross-culturally do not realize that other cultures follow different naming practices than those used in the USA. Teachers often mispronounce or misunderstand students’ names when the student comes from a cultural group unfamiliar to them. This paper helps a general audience better realize the unique approach Karen culture takes to naming children and how these names are often transformed to fit American naming conventions. As the title suggests, Karen students often feel embarrassed and take on a negative opinion of their given name as a result of a lack of awareness by teachers and others.
Originality/value
This paper provides a unique perspective in the literature on the ways cultural naming conventions can serve teachers aspiring to incorporate biography-driven instruction into their classroom practices.
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Kamalesh Kumar, Ram Subramanian and Karen Strandholm
This study examines the scanning/strategy relationship in the context‐specific setting of the health care industry. It extends the current research on the strategy/scanning…
Abstract
This study examines the scanning/strategy relationship in the context‐specific setting of the health care industry. It extends the current research on the strategy/scanning relationship to include performance. Results confirm the moderating role played by environmental scanning activities in the strategy/performing relationship, thus providing further evidence for the contingency relationship among the environment, the organization's internal processes, and performance.