Virtue in small business in small places: Organisational factors associated with employee dishonest behaviour in the retail sector

The organisational factors associated with employee dishonest behaviour are understudied because dishonesty is sensitive topic and organisations are not willing to reveal misbehaviour to the wider public. This paper addresses this research gap by providing an empirical study on reporting of dishonest behaviour of retail employees in Estonia and Latvia. The aim of the paper is to find out how organisational factors affect the reporting of dishonest behaviour in retail sector. Local vs international retailers and rural vs capital city stores characterise organisational factors and these are analysed in different hypothetical scenarios: low wage, perceived injustice and boredom. The sample consists of 781 retail employees from six retail organisations. The study employed a survey with manipulated questionnaires. Some of the main findings are the following: employees in international retail chains and in stores located in capital cities deem dishonesty more prevalent compared to domestically owned shops and stores situated outside metropoles. However, employees outside capital cities were more sensitive to the motives, especially perceived injustice. Implications for retailers are discussed at the end of the paper.     

Marketing Cues and Perceptions of Service Quality in the Selection of Accounting Firms

Abstract

This study tests the survey responses of clients of accounting firms to determine what marketing cues influence their selection of firms and what relationship these cues have on the perceived service quality of the firms' products. The study argues that three marketing cue factors are influential in the clients' selection of accounting firms. Using Principle Components Analysis, three factors were identified: Factor 1, termed Internal Factors-Tangibles includes the following cues: fees, physical facilities, appearance/dress of employees, convenience of location, and available parking. Factor 2, termed Internal Factors-Intangibles includes reputation of the firm, professional quality of employees, and “my own personal experience with other accounting firms.” Factor 3, termed External Factors comprises the opinion of friends/relatives, manner of employees, and word-of-mouth reputation. The relationship betwecn the resultant cues and perceived service quality measures suggests that the intangible and external factors have more influence than tangible factors on the perceived service quality of accounting firms.     

Support for the Use of Deception Within the Work Environment: A Comparison of Israeli and United States Employee Attitudes

As businesses become more global, the opportunities for employees to work with individuals from different cultures increase. Research in cross-cultural interactions has increased in response to such changes. This research study considers employee attitudes and perceived organizational support for the use of deception within the work environment. In this study, two types of deception have been considered; deception for personal gain and deception for the organization's benefit. The reported likelihood for committing these two types of deception for United States and Israeli employees was gathered. The results indicate that United States employees are more likely to deceive others for personal gain than the Israeli employees. In addition, the results indicate that United States employees were more likely to perceive organizational support for the use of deception for personal gain than were the Israeli employees. No differences between the two samples were found for personal or organizational support for deception for the organization's benefit. Differences are explained using Hofstede's (1991) theory of international cultures.     

Employees and the Operation of Accountability

This article examines a social accounting cycle in a Danish savings bank with specific focus on how employees interacted with the cycle. The case study is based on archival material and observations of employee engagement sessions that were a significant part of the cycle. The article exposes the ways in which the cycle can be understood as an initiative that prompts different forms of accountability. The cycle had the potential to bring different forms of accountability together, but the cycle also faced challenges that threatened its relevance from an employee perspective. These challenges might have implications for the way we perceive social accounting and the role of employees.     

Tendency to Infer Bribery and Corrupt Intent in Social and Business Situations: Comparing Chinese and Singaporean Employees

The present paper investigates the differences in ethicalperceptions between Chinese and Singaporean employees. Twocontrasting predictions based on socialization theory are testedusing 142 Chinese and 141 Singaporean employees as subjects. Results show that Chinese employees tend to infer a greaterdegree of unethical (bribery and corrupt) intent than Singaporeanemployees in 17 of the 25 ethical vignettes. The converse isfound in only two and no significant differences are found in therest of the vignettes. Implications for international managersand assignees and researchers in international business workingon or in China are discussed.     

Export Attitudes of Taiwanese Executives

SUMMARY

Taiwanese-based firms have long been actively involved in exporting and international trade. This article investigates their export attitudes and qualities for effective international conduct. Data from 182 companies in Taiwan provide mixed support for three hypotheses advanced in this study. International experience is found to significantly influence exporting attitude. In addition, two measurements of size (annual sales and number of employees) and international business experience are found to have some influence on export attitudes and on the needed qualities for effective international business conduct.     

TQM: Just what the ethicist ordered

Total quality management (TQM) has become a basic business practice in organizations throughout the world. Implementation of TQM in these organizations has been driven by the desire to increase profits in the highly competitive business world. Total quality management techniques are designed to improve performance.Concurrently, organizations are striving to eradicate the concept that the termbusiness ethics is an oxymoron. Corporate codes of conduct have been developed to indicate the outside boundaries of acceptable organizational behavior and companies are espousing and enforcing the ideals contained within these codes.It is our contention that these two business trends are intimately related. TQM encompasses concepts and practices that are in the best organizational interest for all stakeholders. Additionally, TQM promotes activities that encourage high moral behavior. To support this notion, consider the following six important concepts that provide a foundation for TQM:Empowerment of employees Throughput that is prompt and without defects Helpfulness of managers and employees in task accomplishment Integrity of products, services and people Change in process and behavior Stakeholder emphasis (stockholders, customers, and equity)Viewed in the above form, TQM is simply good ethics put into practice. Cecily Raiborn is a Professor of Accounting at Loyola University. Her teaching and research interests include managerial accounting, cost accounting, business ethics, and international business. She has published articles in the Journal of Business Ethics,the Labor Law Journal,the Journal of Corporate Accounting and Financeand Management Accounting.She is the author of two accounting books: Cost Accountingand Managerial Accounting.She is heavily involved in professional and student organizations. Dinah Payne is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of New Orleans. Her teaching and research interests include business ethics, the legal environment of business, international business and international management: She has published articles in the Journal of Business Ethics,the Labor Law Journal,the Journal of Managerial Issuesand Management Accounting.She is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Southern Academy of Legal Studies in Business.     

Exploring the link between internationalization of top management and accounting quality: The CFO’s international experience matters

This study examines whether and how top management internationalization is associated with accounting quality. We combine upper echelons perspectives, agency theory, human capital theory and accounting research, and demonstrate that top management internationalization mitigates the level of managerial discretion in financial reporting. By decomposing the top management team, our analysis reveals that higher levels of accounting quality are associated with the internationalization of the CFO, not the internationalization of the CEO. In particular, we find that CFO’s international education and international work experience are important factors in higher accounting quality.     

The Importance of Hotel Employee Service Attitude and the Satisfaction of International Tourists

Although there have been numerous studies dealing with service attitude and customer satisfaction, they have not specifically addressed international hotel customers. Moreover, most of them have discussed the subject from the viewpoint of the employee. This study takes a customer perception approach and emphasises critical factors (elements) of service attitude affecting the satisfaction of international tourists. It has been found that the importance of employee attitudes to service and the level of satisfaction with the service vary significantly among customers of different nationalities. For example, American travellers emphasise elements such as employees being able to solve their problems, and so are dissatisfied with the service when employees lack an adequate command of English. Taiwanese customers stress the importance of employees treating customers politely regardless of their attire. They feel that they are treated unfairly because of employee expectations of tips from well-dressed customers. These findings could furnish managers with useful information for planning marketing and personnel training.     

Would you work abroad? The effect of English proficiency on Chinese employees’ willingness to accept international assignments

The process of globalization has led to a considerable number of expatriates working abroad. In this article, we investigate whether those with a higher level of English proficiency are more willing to accept international assignments. To examine our hypotheses, we conducted a time-lagged survey of 239 employees from Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs). The results reveal that employees’ English language proficiency is positively related to their willingness to accept international assignments, and that their openness to corporate globalization mediates this relationship. In addition, employees’ foreign language anxiety (FLA) moderates the mediating effect of English language proficiency on willingness to accept international assignments via openness to corporate globalization. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

国际会计准则下的寿险责任准备金核算浅析

随着社会发展步伐的加快,经济的迅速发展,政治、科技交流的不断加快,会计成为最受关注的职业,各国的会计准则也在不断地适应市场而变化,国际会计准则也不断修正,寿险责任金的核算成为了新的关注焦点,那么在国际会计准则下的寿险责任准备金的核算是什么样的呢?     

Women and international assignments: the impact of supervisor-subordinate relationships

During the past two decades, more and more organizations have been going global, and, as a result, more and more employees are being sent on international assignments. For the most part, though, the percentage of females being sent on these assignments is much lower than the percentage of males. Several recent studies have suggested that the supervisor-subordinate relationship might be a critical determinant of who gets selected for expatriate assignments. To explore this issue in some detail, the leader-member exchange (LMX) model is used to examine the link between supervisor-subordinate relationships and selection for international assignments. Strategies that female employees can use to improve their chances of being sent on international assignments are also suggested.     

会计国际趋同的构建模式及路径分析

会计准则国际趋同是顺应时代要求的必然选择,尽管2006年颁布的会计准则实现了实质性趋同,但仍存在目标定位、质量和对公允价值计量属性认识等方面的差异。通过对会计国际趋同的规范性研究,本文构建了具有中国特色的渐进式的会计准则国际趋同模式,在此模式下分析了我国会计准则国际趋同应遵循的原则及实施路径,这对于我国的经济发展具有现实意义。     

Institutional drivers of conformity – Evidence for management accounting from Brazil and Germany

This paper contributes to the discussion of international convergence in management accounting, which has included only limited empirical data. Building on institutional theory, we have analysed cross-sectional field study data from a unique set of manufacturing companies in Brazil and Germany. Our data suggest that management accounting structures and practices in both countries are converging towards international standards under the pressure of coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphism. Although firms generally tend to adopt Anglo-American practices, we also find that German management accounting concepts have a strong influence in Brazil. In addition to elaborating on the imitation of international best practices and standardised information systems, we show the pressures created by the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards and the pursuit of legitimacy via adherence to social expectations.     

Faculty Perspectives on International Accounting Topics

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to provide insight as to the relative importance of various international accounting topics. A survey of all accounting professors listing an international specialization in the Accounting Faculty Directory was conducted in the fall 1991. The findings should be helpful in the design of an accounting course or curriculum regarding international issues.     

“一带一路”倡议下会计高等教育国际化战略研究

“一带一路”经济合作的快速实施,促使经济全球化深入推进.国际化的经济合作需要国际通用的商业语言会计来支持,为了实现各国财务信息互联互通,在实践中就要实现会计国际化,其中高校的任务就是要实现会计高等教育国际化。然而目前我国会计高等教育国际化程度不高,这就有必要对此进行研究。本文结合“一带一路”倡议,分析我国会计高等教育国际化发展现状,最后提出“一带一路”倡议下高校会计高等教育国际化战略,为实现会计高等教育国际化提供参考依据。     

高新技术产品对外贸易对我国就业技能结构影响的实证分析

高新技术产品对外贸易是技术外溢的渠道,它能引起技能偏向性技术改变,从而对劳动力技能产生引致需求。文章通过建立计量模型,分别考察在短期内高新技术产品贸易对我国就业技能结构的影响以及在长期内除高新技术产品贸易因素之外,其它关键因素对我国就业技能结构的影响,并根据其结论为我国改善就业技能结构提出合理政策建议。     

Reducing Turnover in Public Accounting Firms: An Internal Marketing Strategy

ABSTRACT

If one considers that public accounting firms are involved in a labor-intensive service, dependent on staff members for their input, the seriousness of high employee turnover levels becomes evident. Thus, it is imperative that public accounting firms find a means to retain experienced accountants if they are to successfully service clients. This requires a change in philosophy for accounting firms. Previous research has focused primarily on determining the reasons employees give for leaving/remaining with a firm. This is generally where the process ends. Few accounting firms lake the next step which involves the development of an internal marketing plan to reduce turnover.