Gladys Lee and Michael J. Turner
This paper aims to provide a discussion of the application of the research pitch template developed by Faff (2015, 2016b) to a research topic on whistle-blowing. Specifically, the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a discussion of the application of the research pitch template developed by Faff (2015, 2016b) to a research topic on whistle-blowing. Specifically, the template was used to develop a research proposal that investigates whether government administered financial rewards undermine a firm’s internal whistle-blowing system. This letter provides a brief commentary on using the pitch template and then discusses personal reflections on the pitch exercise.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies the template of Faff (2015) and provides a narrative of the pitching exercise.
Findings
As a first-time user of Faff’s (2015) pitching template, I have found the template very helpful in articulating the essence of this research project and mapping out the fundamentals for the project.
Originality/value
This is a new research idea that is not a pitch retrofitted from published papers or theses. The pitch template was used for the purposes of developing and refining the research idea.
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Michael J. Turner and Leonard V. Coote
While investment decisions may be financial decisions, there is a growing recognition that they are also often non-financially based decisions. The purpose of this study is to…
Abstract
Purpose
While investment decisions may be financial decisions, there is a growing recognition that they are also often non-financially based decisions. The purpose of this study is to report findings focused on the project selection stage of capital budgeting, which has the objectives of exploring for: the relative degree of emphasis decision makers attach to a financial and non-financial orientation in capital budgeting; and the role, if any, that two agency theory variables have on the relative degree of emphasis: a personal incentive for project go-ahead and monitoring of project outcomes through a post-audit.
Design/methodology/approach
Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are used and framed in a between-subjects 2 (personal incentive) × 2 (monitoring) design. DCEs are well-suited to research questions which examine some tension between competing alternatives. For example, trade-offs involving the relative degree of emphasis decision makers attach to a financial and non-financial orientation in capital budgeting.
Findings
In the absence of a personal incentive and monitoring, decision makers attach a significant degree of emphasis to cash inflows and cash outflows, both financial factors, and one strategic non-financial factor being improvement in the position of the firm vis-à-vis competitors in capital budgeting. However, when decision makers receive a personal incentive from project go-ahead, they attach a lower degree of emphasis to cash outflows. Alternatively, when there is monitoring through a post-audit and a personal incentive, decision makers attach a higher degree of emphasis to cash outflows.
Practical implications
Decision makers attach a significant degree of emphasis to only a relatively narrow band of attributes in making a capital budgeting decision, which is true in both the absence of and in the presence of the agency conditions. There is also little support for the view that there is any higher degree of emphasis attached to a financial orientation vis-à-vis a non-financial orientation. A particularly important finding relates to the overarching goal of monitoring through a post-audit. One view is that it should foster more accurate forecasting by making forecasters aware that their efforts will be reviewed. However, the findings of this study appear to be more supportive of a view that post-audits might lead agents to become more conservative or even shy away from projects.
Originality/value
The study makes contributions to the growing field of research which has the objective of exploring for the relative degree of emphasis decision makers attach to a financial and non-financial orientation in capital budgeting. In particular, it extends the prior research through its investigation of the role that two agency theory variables play in the relative degree of emphasis decision makers attach to a financial and non-financial orientation: a personal incentive for project go-ahead and monitoring of project outcomes through a post-audit.
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Felipe Zúñiga, Roxana Pincheira, Julie Walker and Michael Turner
The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of integrated reporting (IR) quality on both market liquidity and analyst forecast accuracy in South Africa as the only country…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of integrated reporting (IR) quality on both market liquidity and analyst forecast accuracy in South Africa as the only country in the world having IR as a listing requirement. This study uses the Sustainability Disclosure Transparency Index (SDTI) as a proxy for IR disclosure quality. The analysis of this study is based on the period after the publication of the international framework and its adoption by the International Reporting Committee of South Africa in 2014.
Design/methodology/approach
The companies sampled in this study are those listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) from 2013 to 2015. The major factor driving the selection of this particular period was to not only analyse the existing IR practice but also investigate IR two years after King III came into force. The SDTI developed by Integrated Reporting and Assurance Services (IRAS) was used to analyse IR quality. Ordinary least squares regressions were analysed. The models include year and industry fixed effects. The variance inflation factor and its tolerance were used to test the severity of multi-collinearity. Also, alternative measures of IR quality and alternate model specifications were analysed to check the robustness of the results.
Findings
The authors find that quality of IR is associated with lower earnings forecast error. The evidence indicates that earnings forecast error is lower for firms in the materials sector of the South African economy. Consistent with prior research, the results also suggest that forecast errors are higher for companies with volatile returns and lower for larger firms. Additional analysis indicates that IR quality is positively associated with market liquidity. Overall, these findings support the virtues of IR, thus providing useful information to capital markets.
Research limitations/implications
The results obtained cannot be generalised to other jurisdictions. While the South African economy is the best setting to investigate IRs, new economies are also working actively on IR disclosures, so future research is likely to extend the literature in this field. Secondly, the availability of data constrained the sample size; however, this only mediates against finding any statistically significant result. While the IRAS database offers information about 324 JSE companies, Datastream covers only the 170 largest South African firms. In spite of the sample reduction, robust and consistent results are found in the market liquidity and analyst forecast accuracy proxies.
Practical implications
The sample period of this study (2013-2015) allows to understand disclosure behaviour after the international IR framework was published and endorsed by the JSE. The release of the IIRF gave clear guidance to firms regarding the nature and purpose of IR. Overall, the results obtained in this paper are consistent with IR expectations, thus providing useful information for investors and financial analysts. It is expected that the results might have practical implications for other nations about the cost and benefits of implementing integrated management reporting.
Originality/value
This paper contributes incrementally to the existing debate about whether disclosure information through IR has real benefits or is a passing fad. It examines the economic consequences of IR in a mandatory setting using an in-house ranking system, adapted to South Africa, designed by IRAS to determine IR quality. IRAS provides an SDTI that assesses the accuracy, consistency, completeness and reliability of quantitative data for 84 indicators based on IR and global reporting initiative aspects and subdivided into seven categories.
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Michael J. Turner and Leonard V. Coote
This paper aims to introduce and illustrate how discrete choice experiments (DCEs) can be used by accounting researchers and present an agenda of accounting-related research…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce and illustrate how discrete choice experiments (DCEs) can be used by accounting researchers and present an agenda of accounting-related research topics that might usefully benefit from the adoption of DCEs.
Design/methodology/approach
Each major phase involved in conducting a DCE is illustrated using a capital budgeting case study. The research agenda is based on a review of experimental research in financial accounting, management accounting and auditing.
Findings
DCEs can overcome some of the problems associated with asking decision-makers to rank or rate alternatives. Instead, they ask decision-makers to choose an alternative from a set. DCEs arguably better reflect the realities of real-world decision-making because decision-makers need to make trade-offs between all of the alternatives relevant to a decision. An important advantage that DCEs offer is their ability to calculate willingness-to-pay estimates, which can enable the valuation of non-market goods. Several streams of experimental accounting research would appear well-suited to investigation with DCEs.
Research limitations/implications
While every effort has been made to ensure that this illustration is as generic to as the many potential studies as possible, it may be that researchers seeking to utilise a DCE need to refer to additional literary sources. This study, however, should serve as a useful starting point.
Practical implications
Accounting researchers are expected to benefit from reading this article by being: made aware of the DCE method and its advantages; shown how to conduct a DCE; and provided with an agenda of accounting-related research topics that might usefully benefit from application of the DCE methodology.
Originality/value
It is the authors’ understanding that this is the first article directed to accounting academics regarding the conduct of DCEs for accounting research. It is hoped that this study can provide a useful platform for accounting academics to launch further research adopting DCEs.
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Richard G. Brody, Gaurav Gupta and Michael Turner
The purpose of this paper is to examine factors motivating an individual to report a whistleblowing scenario to various stakeholders within a company. This paper examines how four…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine factors motivating an individual to report a whistleblowing scenario to various stakeholders within a company. This paper examines how four factors (country of origin and the espoused national cultures of masculinity, collectivism and uncertainty avoidance) influence the level of responsibility toward three stakeholders at different levels of hierarchy in an organization.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a case-based approach, this study collects data from 432 accounting students from two different countries. Using regression analysis on the pooled data, this paper provides evidence on how accounting students would behave when facing a whistleblowing situation involving their immediate supervisor.
Findings
This study finds that country of origin and espoused national cultural values influence the individual’s decision regarding whom to blow the whistle.
Originality/value
The study has improved upon the methodological deficiencies of previous studies that rely on Hofstede’s (1980) cultural values in that the paper focuses on the espoused national culture at the individual level.
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Designed to serve short to medium ranges (up to 3,300 nm), the Airbus Industrie A310 achieves optimum performance on routes requiring a capacity of 200–265 passengers. It is…
Abstract
Designed to serve short to medium ranges (up to 3,300 nm), the Airbus Industrie A310 achieves optimum performance on routes requiring a capacity of 200–265 passengers. It is notable that some 80% of airlines' short to medium range network consists of operations over sectors up to 1,500 nm and over these distances the A310 will have 22% lower fuel consumption per seat than competing wide bodies and 7% lower than semi‐wide bodied aircraft. The A310 is a logical extension of the company's products that will fill the gap between the large narrow‐bodied types such as the Boeing 757, and the A300. Formally launched in July, 1978, design and development work on the new aircraft has now been completed and it will commence ground testing before the end of this year. First flight of the A310 is scheduled for March, 1982, and initial entry into service with Swissair and Lufthansa will be in March, 1983.
Michael J. Turner and Chris Guilding
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the differential motivations of hotel owners and operators to engage in earnings management through the selective…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the differential motivations of hotel owners and operators to engage in earnings management through the selective capitalisation or expensing of asset related expenditures.
Design/methodology/approach
Research evidence has been collected via a mixed methods approach utilising 20 semi‐structured interviews with key hotel management contract stakeholders in Australia and a questionnaire survey administered to hotel general managers in Australia and New Zealand.
Findings
A review of the literature has resulted in an original distillation of 18 distinct earnings management motivations for hotel owners and operators. Qualitative data collected suggest an additional four motivations and that the primary motivation for hotel owners and operators to engage in earnings management stems from the two parties' desire to affect the size of the incentive management fee that is paid to hotel operators. A suggestion that operators have a greater tendency to seek to capitalise asset related expenditures, relative to owners, has been supported by both qualitative and quantitative data collected.
Originality/value
This study appears to be the first to have examined the manner in which an idiosyncratic aspect of hotel governance can result in competing earnings management motivations between hotel owners and operators; the first to pursue a broad level of abstraction with respect to examining earnings management in the context of asset related expenditure capitalisation decision making; the first to assess the relative strength of earnings management motivations concerning the capitalisation or expensing of asset related expenditure; and the first to conduct earnings management research utilising a mixed methods research approach involving the conducting of face‐to‐face interviews as well as administration of a questionnaire survey.
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IF we count the University of Strathclyde School of Librarianship as a “new” school—rather than simply an old school transferred from a College of Commerce to a university—then…
Abstract
IF we count the University of Strathclyde School of Librarianship as a “new” school—rather than simply an old school transferred from a College of Commerce to a university—then four “new” schools were established between 1963 and 1964, three of the four in universities and the other closely linked with a university, though remaining independent. All four schools have their special features but I consider the more significant of Belfast's features to be its right, from the outset, to conduct all its own examinations for graduates and non‐graduates. Queen's was also the first British university to provide non‐graduates with courses in librarianship. (Strathclyde is the second.) All successful students are eligible for admission to the Register of Chartered Librarians (ALA) after they have completed the prescribed period of practical experience.
Raymond G. McInnis and Michael Turner
Many people fear the approach of 1984. Why? Because in their minds too many of George Orwell's dark prophecies in his 1948 novel, 1984, appear to be coming true.