Collaboration risk management in IT-enabled asymmetric partnerships: Evidence from telestroke networks

Information technology (IT)-enabled partnerships can unlock previously unattainable value propositions between organizations that have resource, capability, and other asymmetries by allowing larger organizations access to niche and local resources while providing smaller organizations access to enhanced resources and capabilities. However, recent studies have shown that many IT-enabled asymmetric partnerships often fail because the organizations do not effectively manage the involved collaboration risks. Most organizations focus on the strategic aspect of whether partners behave cooperatively or competitively, while paying scant attention to the operational aspect of bringing together partner contributions through coordination. To examine this problem, we report on a case study of two hub-spoke networks that used telemedicine to facilitate expertise sharing and decision making about stroke treatment at emergency departments in rural hospitals (spokes) based on information exchanges with remote neurologists at academic medical centers (hubs). As a result, we contribute to the inter-organizational information systems literature by explaining how organizations in IT-enabled asymmetric partnerships manage collaboration risks. We demonstrate how partners in such relationships perceive and approach strategic cooperation and operational coordination risks differently. We also explain how collaboration interactions change over time as the partners manage risks based on needs and resource endowments. Drawing on these findings, we provide guidance to organizations on how to manage sustainable IT-enabled asymmetric partnerships in general, and telestroke networks in particular.     

国家审计与国家监察服务腐败治理的路径探索——基于协同视角的思考

随着国家监察体制改革的全面推进，国家监督系统焕发新的生机。国家审计与国家监察作为国家监督系统的重要组成部分，理应充分发挥监督职能以保证国家可持续发展。从国家监察体制改革特点入手，基于受托经济责任观，全面分析国家审计及国家监察分别与腐败治理的相关关系，并以腐败治理为核心，从战略层面、管理层面和结果层面三个层面探求国家审计与国家监察的耦合路径，使两者通过有效耦合路径将监督协同效应发挥到极致，进而保证政府公共受托经济责任全面有效地履行。     

Examining the extent of and determinants for sustainability assurance quality: The role of audit committees

This study examines the extent of and determinants for sustainability assurance quality. Data comprise sustainability assurance statements published by the top 100 listed companies in Australia and New Zealand from 2017 to 2019. The findings indicate that Australian companies lead their New Zealand counterparts in sustainability assurance. Although sustainability reporting has risen, assurance rates remain significantly low. Accountants dominate the market, and companies prefer to use their own auditors for sustainability assurance work. Sustainability assurance quality is poor and does not vary significantly among Australian and New Zealand companies. Low-quality sustainability assurance plays a limited role in mitigating potential stakeholder–agency conflicts. The regression analysis indicates that audit committee characteristics such as members' independence, industry/market expertise, and attending meetings enhance sustainability assurance quality, whereas audit committee size has no affect. These findings suggest that audit committee characteristics such as independence, industry expertise, and regular meeting attendance have the potential to reduce stakeholder–agency conflicts by improving the quality of sustainability statement assurance. Our findings build on the sustainability assurance literature by exploring current trends in sustainability assurance practices in Australia and New Zealand where corporate governance codes have been recently revised. Further, these findings are timely given recent changes in standards (International Standard on Assurance Engagements [ISAE] 3000 and Global Reporting Initiative [GRI]). Our study contributes to the audit committee literature and sheds light on the role played by audit committee characteristics on sustainability assurance statement quality. The study findings potentially offer useful insights for practitioners, standard setters, and regulators.     

强化责任意识提升审计执行力

本文结合工作实践,从提升科级干部履职能力,有效执行能力,务实创新三个角度分别阐述审计干部强化责任意识的重要意义及有效途径。     

华北油田冀中电网输配电线路存在的主要问题及应对措施

本文论述了华北油田冀中电网输电线路存在的老化、线路下方违章建筑物、树木顶线、杆塔缺土、施工车辆、挖掘机、吊车误碰导线跳闸等情况,并提出了应对措施。     

An empirical investigation of analytical procedures using mixture distributions

Analytical procedures are evaluations of account and transaction flow information made by a study of plausible relationships between both accounting and non‐accounting data. This study investigates the performance of Tweedie distributions (which have Gaussian distributions as members) in improving fit of zero‐inflated, non‐negative, kurtotic and multimodal analytical review data. The study found that account valuations are more informative than marginal data in analytical review, that mixture Poisson–Gamma distributions offer better fit than Gaussian distributions, even under assumptions of central limit theorem convergence, and that mixture Poisson–Gamma distributions provide better predictions of future account and transaction volumes and values. Model performance improvement with price versus returns data in this empirical study was substantial: from less than one‐quarter of variance, to almost two‐thirds. Tweedie generalized linear model risk assessments were found to be a magnitude smaller than traditional risk assessments, lending support to market inefficiency and increased risk from idiosyncratic factors. An example with several differing distributions shows that use of mixture distributions instead of point estimation can reduce sample size while retaining the power of the audit tests. The results of this study are increasingly important as accounting datasets are growing exponentially larger over time, requiring well‐defined roles for models, algorithms, data and narrative which can only be achieved with statistical protocols and algorithmic languages.     

The perceiver’s social role and a risk’s causal structure as determinants of environmental risk evaluation

We present a dual-process risk perception model that integrates cognitive and emotional as well as consequentialist and deontological components by distinguishing between two modes of evaluative processing: (a) a consequentialist evaluation that focuses on potential consequences and (b) a deontological evaluation that focuses on moral values. Each of these two modes is assumed to trigger specific cognitive evaluations, specific emotions, and specific behavioral tendencies concerning a perceived risk. We conducted an experiment (N = 270) that tested whether the relative dominance of the two evaluative modes would depend on the causal structure of the environmental risk being evaluated and on the social role of the evaluator. Three types of causal structure were varied by providing scenario information: (a) anthropogenic risks that endanger only nature, (b) naturally caused risks with potential harmful consequences for humans, and (c) anthropogenic risks that may harm humans. Participants evaluated each scenario from the perspective of one of three social roles: mayor, expecting parent, and environmental activist. For each scenario, participants specified their focus and evaluated the event’s morality and perceived risk, the intensity of specific emotions, and their preferences for prospective behaviors. Results showed that the consequentialist evaluation was generally stronger than the deontological evaluation and was less affected by the experimental manipulations. The deontological evaluation was substantially affected by the risk’s causal structure. It was stronger for anthropogenic than for natural causation; risks caused by humans were associated with greater perceived moral blameworthiness, more intense morality-based emotions (e.g. outrage), and a stronger tendency to perform agent-related behaviors (e.g. aggression) than naturally occurring risks. The effect of the social role was less pronounced than that of the causal structure. Furthermore, the effect of an evaluative focus on behavior was fully mediated by emotions for deontological evaluations and partially mediated for consequentialist evaluations. The implications for environmental risk perception and communication are discussed.     

Explaining municipal audit costs in Sweden: Reconsidering the political environment,the municipal organisation and the audit market

With the purpose of explaining professional audit costs in Swedish municipalities, we hypothesised that audit costs are partly driven by various signalling and monitoring incentives in order to manage stakeholder relationships. Our model of the determinants of audit costs was tested on data from Swedish municipalities, thus extending the study of audit costs to political organisations in a Scandinavian institutional context. The test supported to some extent the traditional propositions of organisational complexity, risk and market determinants, as well as the proposition of the political environment. Our results indicate that audit costs are used to signal accountability, thereby suggesting that audit as a signal could be managed without managing professional auditors.     

成品油内贸销售业务内部审计关注点分析与实践

作为大宗商品的代表,成品油贸易销售业务独具特点。文章结合内部审计实践,通过专项审计案例,对成品油内贸销售业务的内部审计关注点进行分析探讨,从风险导向出发,阐述了审计实施要点、主要审计方法、审计发现的问题及审计成果运用,总结了专项审计中的经验和感悟。     

考虑BI保险的供应链中断模型分析

突发事件引起的供应链中断,会造成供应链成员巨大的经济损失。以一个二级供应链为基础,考虑存在供应中断风险情况下,引入BI保险,建立供应中断下制造商不投保、制造商单独投保、以及制造商和零售商联合投保模型,探究零售商和制造商利润、最优订购量、最优批发价等参数的变化趋势,其理论分析结果为决策部门提供指导。