Exploring the presence of accounting amongst petty traders in Ghana

This paper seeks to investigate the presence of accounting among petty traders in Ghana. The methodology applied was the mixed method under the multiple methods choices. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used. The findings were that formal education is not a pre-requisite requirement to the operations of a petty trading business. However, the study revealed the presence of accounting in petty trading; thus confirming the assumption that accounting is a universal good and is present in the petty trading business. Findings on the three major factors that influenced the present or absent of accounting among petty traders revealed that： there were no state institutions or pressure groups in Ghana to influence or oblige private entrepreneurs （petty traders） to prepare financial statements; the literacy of the petty trader though was found to be a necessary factor, it was not sufficient to explain the accountancy presence or absence in the traders＇ businesses. The usefulness of the accounting information to the petty trader influenced the presence of accounting in the traders＇ business. Finally, the level of trust - social capital in the community, and its influence on the presence of accounting, was relatively insignificant in the context of urban Ghana. No study of this kind has been conducted in the field of accounting presence or absence in Ghana.     

Breakthrough of the Bottleneck in the Application of Management Accounting——Insights from Events Accounting

The purpose of management accounting information system is to serve for management. Since 1980＇s, innovations in management-have seen the application of several accounting techniques such as activity-based costing, balanced scorecard and target costing. However, subsequent surveys have shown that the application of these innovative management accounting techniques is not widespread. Indeed, the application of many techniques has been decidedly ephemeral. The authors suggest two important and interrelated reasons for the apparent failure to adopt such techniques. First, the absence of a conceptual framework needed to envision the collection and integration of multi-dimensional data needed in the modern organization. The second reason is the failure to exploit the data handling potentialities offered by modem computer systems. Reconstruction of contemporary management accounting system using insights from principles of events based accounting is offered as possible solution.     

Applications of Business Process Management （BPM） in Chinese Firms： A Managerial Accounting Perspective

Based on a questionnaire survey, the aim of this paper is to explore the relationship of business process management （BPM） with managerial accounting system （MAS） and their economic performance consequences in Chinese firms. Statistical data show that more firms accept business process improvement （BPI） other than business process reengineering （BPR） and optimize their activity chains other than supply chains. Through the construction of three elements, i.e., goal-setting, monitoring, and incentive schemes, of MAS, the study finds that when implementing BPM, firms usually use accounting indexes to set goals of the effect of business processes and combine the goals with monitoring and incentive schemes. Statistical data also show that incentive schemes get the lowest usage degree compared with goal-setting and monitoring. In addition, there are differences in their managerial accounting usages for BPM among firms considering ownership, industry, and scale. The main finding of this paper is that BPM empirically brings favorable changes to firms＇ economic performance via managerial accounting in general, and via goal-setting, monitoring, and incentive schemes in particular.     

Evaluation of Several Phases in the Development of Management Accounting

This paper discusses three issues, raised by Relevance Lost （Johnson ＆ Kaplan, 1987）, about historical evaluation of the development of management accounting. The first issue is when management accounting system was formed; the second is how to evaluate its development in subsequent decades; the third is how to evaluate the development of practice and research of management accounting in almost twenty years after Relevance Lost was published. The role of Relevance Lost in practice and theoretical research of management accounting is widely recognized, and the disagreement with it in this paper is in the specific area of the development history of management accounting. The authors of this paper believe that the development, through having its ups and downs over time, is generally speaking a continuous process, not separated by disconnected phases, leaping from one to another. Along with the progress in practice and research, researchers and practitioners are deepening their understanding about the theoretical foundation and practical development of management accounting. The history of development of management accounting is consistent with the process people gradually understand it.     

Introductory course in accounting-Factors affecting the choice of students＇ consideration

This study attempts to investigate if and how students＇ perceptions regarding the first accounting course related with the selection of accounting as a major. Moreover, it examines students＇ initial perceptions and course performance regarding the introductory accounting course. Participants in this study were 120 students from Technological Educational Institute of Kavala, School of Business and Economics （3 departments）, who were asked to complete a survey instrument. The instrument used eleven statements regarding students＇ perceptions （such as difficulty and motivation of the course） of the first accounting course. The main factors affect students＇ decisions to follow accounting and seem to be similar with other researchers＇ findings （Geiger ＆ Ogilby, 2000）. Future research could be used larger sample from different countries and the survey could also be used for a longer time period.     

Modem Cost Management in the Transport Company Through the Activity-Based Costing （ABC） Method

Road transport is a flexible mode of transport and its importance in era of globalization increases. Management of road transport companies is, in this turbulent environment, exposed to many technical, legislative, and economic problems. Especially, the growing economic pressure leads to an urgent requirement of the manager and control system improvement. Activity-based costing （ABC） method is a very powerful tool to improve products, services, processes, and market strategies. ABC allows company management to understand what causes costs and how to manage them. Company under this scheme may get a glimpse of how efficiently a company converts the source value. The main objective of our research was to assess the possibility of application of the ABC method in a transport undertaking. ABC method as a fundamentally different view on the cost in the transport business helps to find the reasons of cost and thereby influences their levels to make better use of resources.. New managerial accounting methods aim to show management what information is needed, how and where this information can be obtained, and how they can be useful for the management of the company＇s proper planning, decision-making, and control. Information provided by management accounting is often a key factor in the analysis of alternative ways of solving problems. This article focuses on the transport enterprise management and helps to decide on the use of this method in business practice.     

Forensic Accounting in the ＂Big Four＂： A Survey from Their Websites

This paper investigates the forensic and investigative accounting services provided by the ＂Big Four＂ accounting firms. The purpose of this study is to show the full image of forensic and investigative accounting services offered by the top accounting firms in the post-Enron era. Section 3 and 4 present the findings of this study. The countries and regions where the services of forensic accounting are offered by these firms and the detailed services provided by them in Australia, Canada, USA, and UK are illustrated in these sections. Section 5 provides the conclusions and summary of findings of this study.     

Stages,Content, and Theory of Strategic Human Resource Management （SHRM）： An Exploratory Study

This study discusses ＂theory of strategic human resource management （HRM） has an impact on research topic of this study is to discuss SHRM resource management （SHRM）＂. Theory of SHRM is that human firm performance through employee performance. Therefore, the theory. Research method is literature scanning. Research findings are, firstly, that strategic HRM can be defined with employee/firm performance relationship. Secondly, this study depicts its own SHRM model. In this model, HRM practices develop individual performance of employees in organizations, and individual performance increases performance of business departments, such as supply department, finance department, marketing department, logistics department, etc., and performance of business departments has an impact on firm performance. Furthermore, this study makes its SHRM definition. So far, there have been two definitions of SHRM in literature studies. The first definition identifies SHRM with corporate strategies and competitive advantage. The second definition describes SHRM with HRM-firm performance relationship. This study makes the third definition, namely, SHRM is employee/firm performance relationship, and this definition is figured in an SHRM model in this study.     

Accounting Education Changes in USA and Its Implications to PRC

The internationalization of accounting education in PRC as one of the most important parts of Chinese accounting internationalization has been Americanized to some extent since 1980s. As the representative of the world＇s most advanced education system, the USA accounting education is worth learning, but had been suffering from a crisis in the past 20 years. To better understand this crisis and draw some lessons from it, we have to review the 100-year history of the US＇ accounting education, identify key initiatives taken to struggle out, and conclude that this accounting education crisis in USA is due to its congenital professional examination orientation and about 40 years of deviation of accounting education from accounting practice. This paper is ended with some policy recommendations on the future development of accounting education in PRC including establishing university board of trustees and re-engineering accounting programs.     

Triangulation Approach to Costing in Higher Education Institutions

This study presents a triangulation approach to the investigation of costing possibilities in Greek higher education institutions. The historical data contained in the financial statements of universities provide the expenditures of the latter. These expenditures are then re-determined with the use of independent variables （Jacobian determinants）, as well as with activity-based costing （ABC） and interviews, in order to obtain certainty of accuracy of the calculations and an indication of the cost of educational services, which can help determine magnitudes and improve the long-term planning of university resources. The above process can be used to create cost drivers and cost pools for the new financial burden of academic departments （cost centres） and to calculate the cost per student for each department. This information does not function at variance with or as a substitute for traditional accounting systems but in parallel （or supplementally）, providing administrators with more comparative data and a clearer picture of a university＇s economic operations which will facilitate its decision planning. Thus, it can provide higher education institutions with a decision-making tool for the following tasks： （1） allocation of national and community funds to university departments; （2） financing of textbooks, food, and accommodation; and （3） determining the optimum number of new enrolments.     

Working capital management and corporate performance： Case of Malaysia

Working capital always being disregard in financial decision making since it involve investment and financing in short term period. However, it is an important component in firm financial management decision. An optimal working capital management is expected to contribute positively to the creation of firm value. To reach optimal working capital management firm manager should control the trade off between profitability and liquidity accurately. The intention of this study is to examine the relationship between working capital management and firm profitability. Cash conversion cycle is used as measure of working capital management. This study is used panel data of 1628 firm-year for the period of 1996-2006 that consist of six different economic sectors which are listed in Bursa Malaysia. The coefficient results of Pooled OLS regression analysis provide a strong negative significant relationship between cash conversion cycle and firm profitability. This reveals that reducing cash conversion period results to profitability increase. Thus, in purpose to create shareholder value, firm manager should concern on shorten of cash conversion cycle till optimal level is achieved.     

Empirical study on factors motivating business students to move to the entrepreneurial sector

This exploratory study is attempting to examine how employable individuals turn their focus to start-ups. Today, majority of employees still practice a more or less self-protective strategy. In this paper the authors have reported the results of an empirical study of factors motivating degreed potential employees to move to self-enterprising. The deciding factors to become an entrepreneur and of sustainable employment-oriented factors are analyzed in order to discover how they differ. Participants consisted of 200 students from Malaysia entered final year of business undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Self-administered questionnaires were used to gather data on factors and types of relationships influencing career choice and entrepreneurial intention. The results will serve as a basis for improvement of employment practices and promising entrepreneurial curriculum in universities to support start-ups in creating sustainable businesses.     

The Biological Parameters： Support for a Successful and Sustainable Business

This study is of conceptual nature and analyzes the annual reports of agriculture ministry. Albania is an economy characterized by a high percentage of agriculture of gross domestic product （GDP） with 25%. Actually, Albania for many decades and varied reasons will remain, to the future, a country where agriculture and especially livestock will play an important role. This paper starts from the actual situation and tries to find solutions to any effective management＇s problems. Treatments in this paper are based on literature reviews and combined with empirical research. Part of this article clarifies the scope of modem agricultural business and the impacts of circumstances of biological parameters on a sustainable livestock.     

Accounting treatment and internal controls in financial shared services ofmultinational corporations

Financial shared services （FSS） play an important role in multinational corporations for the effective cost management. FSS also can reduce errors and fraud so as to achieve perfect internal controls by standardized and procedural business processes which are important parts of internal controls. This paper emphasizes on two popular procedures and methods in multinational corporations. One is balance sheet reconciliation. It can illustrate the situation of accounts on an accrual basis which are the focus of internal audit and external audit. The other is Interco-Sop （Intercompany-standard operating procedure） which are important for to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of accounting system and internal controls.     

Cognitive Heuristics and Dual Process Models A Perspective for Management Accounting （MA）？

Classical management accounting （MA） Focusing on the facilitating perspective, focuses on decision facilitating and influencing （Demski ＆ Feltham, 1976）. MA has to provide information to managers and depending on the problem complexity, they have to solve problems in a dyadic way. A dual process model, the heuristic systematic model （HSM）, expands this so-called manager-accountant-dyad and shows different cases of actual human information processing. Managers and accountants either process systematically or heuristically. So far, many concepts have been designed in relation to the normative concept of the economical rational principle. Consequently, recent research only uses systematic information processing, based on the principle of the economic man. In this paper, a decision-behavior oriented approach tries to describe actual decision makers such as managers and accountants and shows new possibilities within MA. Therefore, the potential of heuristic information processing is analyzed, based on the phenomenon of ecological rationality as one shape of bounded rationality. Thus, different cognitive heuristics in business economics are identified and analyzed. Furthermore, the outstanding performance of heuristics compared with more complex calculations is shown. Unfortunately, these findings have been limited to marketing and investments so far. Significant research is needed, regarding conditions for applications and success factors of heuristics in business economics. New empirical findings have to be explicitly transferred to MA.     

Ethical Awareness： Do We Need to Teach Accounting Ethics？ The Case of Bahrain

Based on the premise that ethics education leads to creation of the required （acceptable level of） ethical awareness, the general streamline of accounting ethics literature is strongly in favor of teaching adequate, efficient, and effective accounting ethics. This paper takes the position that this premise must be checked in an educational setting in which accounting ethics education lacks the characteristics of being adequate, efficient, and effective. Accordingly, a questionnaire with two parts was distributed to accounting students about to graduate from the University of Bahrain （UoB）. The first part is an exploratory investigation consisting of 21 variables/questions. The second part is an experimental investigation consisting of 13 hypothetical accounting cases representing various ethics violations. The general tendency by an accounting student based on the two parts indicates that he/she holds an acceptable level of ethical awareness, despite the fact that accounting education programs lack an adequate, efficient, and effective approach to teaching accounting ethics.     

Issues on Public Sector Accounting Reform in Jordan

This study reviews recent articles discussing the benefits of International Public Sector Accounting Standards(IPSAS)implementation in reforming public sector accounting,specifically in developing countries.These benefits are among others better transparency,accountability,and decision making in public sector financial transactions.The purpose of this study is to examine the role of IPSAS in addressing some critical financial issues,including financial aids,budget deficit,taxes,and corruption,which may hinder the progress of Jordanian public sector and the country’s economic growth.This study concludes that IPSAS has an effective role in addressing these thorny issues and its implementation would therefore allow the Jordanian public sector to reach its development goals.The unique contribution of this study is that it enriches the body of knowledge regarding the benefits of IPSAS implementation in a more holistic manner and in a new context,Jordan.     

Relationships of Corporate Social Responsibility （CSR） With Accounting Information Systems A Study

The objectives of the present study are to put forth the concept of corporate social responsibility （CSR） in Turkey （Kayseri） and to examine research on this concept and the relationships between CSR and accounting information systems. Research data were gathered from 100 accounting managers who work in businesses with 250 or more employees in Kayseri. The dimensions of CSR were considered as business policies, environmental policies, market policies, and social policies, and the effects of these factors on accounting information systems were tested. Market policies and social policies dimensions of CSR had no significant impact on accounting information systems. Business policies and environmental policies dimensions of CSR had significant impacts on accounting information systems. Two basic conclusions were drawn from the current study： The business policy dimension of CSR had significant impacts on accounting information systems; the business policy and environmental policy dimensions of CSR together had significant impacts on accounting intbrmation systems.     

Application of International Public Sector Accounting Standards in Vietnam in Current Conditions

The objective of improving the state accounting system is to build a state accounting system based on a single and complete database which is applied uniformly across all public authorities and agencies from central to local. Such an accounting system must ensure a reliable and smooth flow of information among all the entities that take part in the preparation, allocation, execution, and finalization of the state budget. In order to improve the quality of financial information, to harmonize, and to develop accounting profession globally, the trend of international economic integration requires the standardization of accounting legislative framework among countries and first of all, the harmonization and unification of the preparation, presentation, and disclosure of financial information. Financial statements of each business in the private sector and financial statements of the government in the public sector in different countries should be transparent and presented in accordance with the accounting standards and principles and in line with international practices so that the financial information will be able to be compared and evaluated. Therefore, financial statements of each entity in the public sector and the consolidated financial statements of public sector entities issued by the government in different countries must be prepared and presented in a unified form to suit the international public sector accounting standards. Accordingly, with the application of the interview method in research, the main objective of this article is to focus on searching for the bases and consideration for the application of international public sector accounting standards in Vietnam in current conditions. This article consists of eight sections： （1） what are international public sector accounting standards？ （2） accounting entities of the public sector; （3） the limitations of current public sector accounting in Vietnam; （4） financial information to meet the requirements of state management and to comply with international practices; （5） the advantages of applying international public sector accounting standards in Vietnam; （6） the difficulties and challenges of applying international public sector accounting standards in Vietnam; （7） learning experiences from other countries; and （8） conclusion.