Applying continuous improvement to teaching in another culture

As international business programs proliferate, the mixing of many cultures in the classroom creates new teaching challenges. This paper reports on how an American accounting professor coped with cultural differences at INSEAD in France. Student evaluations for the first course taught at INSEAD revealed a variety of problems that the professor tried to resolve by applying the principles of continuous improvement in the next course he taught. Confronting the students directly with the problem, enlisting their aid in improving the course, and eliciting specific feedback all combined to substantially raise the level of student satisfaction. The principles applied in this intervention are broadly applicable to college professors, not only those working with “international” students.     

Teaching ideas for the commencement of the governmental accounting source

Many undergraduate accounting students enter their first course in governmental accounting with a negative attitude about the subject. This is due, in part, to the fact that after several courses in “accounting,” the governmental course presents methods and procedures which are quite different and are, therefore, suspect. This paper encourages an approach to the course which can overcome this bias by providing an appropriate context from which to commence the course.     

The use of on-line summative assessment in an undergraduate financial accounting course

According to the Quality Assurance Agency [QAA (2006). Section 6: Assessment of students, Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education. <http://www.qaa.ac.uk/>. Accessed 14.03.2007] “Assessment describes any processes that appraise an individual’s knowledge, understanding, abilities or skills” and is inextricably linked to a course or programme’s intended learning outcomes. Assessment also has a fundamental effect on students’ learning where it serves a variety of purposes including evaluation, feedback and motivation. Assessment also provides a performance indicator for both students and staff. Computer-aided assessment (CAA) offers an option for “sustainable assessment” and provides opportunities for creating innovative assessment practices that help engage students and increase their motivation for learning. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study where a series of on-line summative assessments were introduced into a first-year financial accounting course. Feedback from students obtained from an evaluative survey and focus group interviews indicates that assessment played a significant role in the teaching/learning process. That is, students perceived a beneficial impact on learning, motivation, and engagement.     

Towards an understanding of the phases of goodwill accounting in four Western capitalist countries: From stakeholder model to shareholder model

The objective of this paper is to illustrate that the change in shareholders’ attitude towards firms (from stakeholder model to shareholder model) influences the accounting treatments of goodwill. Our study is based on four countries (Great Britain, the United States, Germany, and France) and covers more than a century, starting in 1880. We explain that all these countries have gone through four identified phases of goodwill accounting, classified as (1) “static” (immediate or rapid expensing), (2) “weakened static” (write-off against equity), (3) “dynamic” (recognition with amortization over a long period) and (4) “actuarial” (recognition without amortization but with impairment if necessary). We contribute several new features to the existing literature on goodwill: our study (1) is international and comparative, (2) spans more than a century, (3) uses the stakeholder/shareholder models to explain the evolution in goodwill treatment in the four countries studied. More precisely, it relates a balance sheet theory, which distinguishes four phases in accounting treatment for goodwill, to the shift from a stakeholder model to a shareholder model, which leads to the preference for short-term rather than long-term profit, (4) contributes to the debate on whether accounting rules simply reflect or arguably help to produce the general trend towards the shareholder model, (5) demonstrates a “one-way” evolution of goodwill treatment in the four countries studied, towards the actuarial phase.     

On the Myth of “Anglo-Saxon” Financial Accounting

The term “Anglo-Saxon accounting” (ASA) is used by a number of academic writers on the subject of International Accounting to refer to an approach to financial accounting and reporting that is supposedly common to the UK and Ireland, the USA and other English-speaking countries including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. While most of the writers we cite as using this term are continental Europeans, they also include an Englishman, J. Flower. The term is typically used to imply not just similar conceptual and technical approaches, but also a hegemonic alliance in the international politics of accounting regulation.This article seeks to establish that ASA in this sense is a myth. We do this first by critically examining four putative commonalities that are frequently attributed to the UK and USA approaches to financial accounting and that form the basis of the myth, and second by indicating the unfeasibility of such a hegemonic alliance within the IASC. A myth may have some factual foundations, but belief in it rests also on bases that are non-factual. So it is with ASA. In particular, analysis of the terms “true and fair view” (TFV) and “fair presentation (FP) in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)” shows that, far from their possessing a semantic equivalence that constitutes a commonality between UK and US financial reporting, their interpretation indicates a profound difference between the UK and US approaches. What UK and US financial reporting have historically shared is a micro- and capital market orientation that lends itself to international accounting regulation in a context of global capital markets. But with such an orientation now being generally accepted internationally, the differences between UK and US financial reporting are taking on an increased significance that this article seeks to highlight.     

Intertopical sequencing of examination questions: An empirical evaluation

This research examines whether the ordering of topics within an accounting examination influences either (a) the time necessary to complete the examination, or (b) examination scores. Further, these effects are examined on both introductory students (n=83) and on more advanced accounting students (n=84).Six hypotheses concerning examination time and examination score were tested via two three-factor ANOVAs. It was found that “better” students are disadvantaged by random sequencing of multiple-choice questions and score significantly lower than on an ordered format. Poorer students appear not to be affected. No differences were found relating to time necessary to complete the exam.     

Adopting commercial software in the accounting classroom: A focus on learning

Concerns about the current state of accounting education are well documented. A common anxiety is that students are not prepared to deal with the complex issues and unstructured problems that they will encounter throughout their professional lives. Recent studies conclude that an educational objective for accounting is to teach students how to learn. This paper discusses adopting commercial-use software as an approach to accomplish this objective. The paper also provides an example for an accounting information systems class. Because “learning to learn” involves teaching students learning strategies, accounting educators need to find new ways to help students acquire these strategies. This paper will be useful for instructors seeking ways to assist students in developing strategies for learning that will better prepare them for careers in a complex and dynamic environment.     

Jinan Qingqi Motorcycle Co., Ltd

The case deals with the decision in mid-1997 of StarInvest, an American investment company, on whether to subscribe to a new issue of 230 million B shares by Jinan Qingqi Motorcycle Co., Ltd. Qingqi Motorcycle is incorporated in the People’s Republic of China, and B shares were tradable only among foreign investors. The case solution is in the form of policy report from Daniel Campbell, asset manager at StarInvest, to his Investment Committee. The report contains his assessment of the opportunities and risks from China investment in general, and his recommendations on the Qingqi Motorcycle stock issue in particular. The objective of this case is to introduce students to the unique accounting issues and investment environment in China. From working on this case, the students should become familiar with the developmental steps and basic features of China’s accounting standards and capital markets. An important theme that should be emphasized by the instructor is that institutional environments are more important at influencing the accounting information in a country than the accounting standards as written on paper. The case has been used in an international accounting course offered to the MBA students. It could also be used in a similar course offered at the undergraduate level. Students having completed an introductory financial accounting course should have the required knowledge and skills to work on this case. The case can be used either as an individual assignment or as a group assignment.     

A Critical Theory and Postmodernist approach to the teaching of accounting theory

This paper outlines my teaching philosophy for the Accounting Theory subject. A Critical Theory and Postmodernist approach is recommended, which makes full use of non-accounting “tangential” material [Boyce G. Critical accounting education: teaching and learning outside the circle. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2004;15(4/5):565–86] and material from popular culture [Kell P. A teacher's tool kit: an introduction to social theory. In: Allen J, editor. Sociology of education: possibilities and practices. 3rd ed. Southbank, Melbourne: Social Science Press; 2004. p. 29–51 [chapter 2]; Nilan P. ‘Reality TV’? School students and popular culture. In: Allen J, editor. Sociology of education: possibilities and practices. 3rd ed. Southbank, Melbourne: Social Science Press; 2004. p. 306–21 [chapter 14]]. The paper discusses some classroom interactive activities, as well as interview results from interviews conducted with 11 international students and one Australian student at Charles Sturt University. The teaching approach proposed in this paper is to conduct classroom interactive activities which study theories and research results from a range of disciplines in order to illustrate key points that apply equally as much to accounting theories and the accounting research process, e.g. the Positive/Normative dichotomy. Classroom interactive activities are discussed in class using the “dialogical approach” to education recommended by Freire [Freire P. Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Pelican; 1996], Kaidonis [Kaidonis MA. Teaching and learning critical accounting using media texts as reflexive devices: conditions for transformative action or reinforcing the status quo? Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2004;15(4/5):667–73], Boyce [Boyce G. Critical accounting education: teaching and learning outside the circle. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2004;15(4/5):565–86], and Thomson [Thomson I, Bebbington J. It doesn’t matter what you teach? Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2004;15(4/5):609–28]. Once students gain experience in studying material from outside accounting, the interview results suggest that they are then better motivated [Wynder M. Creative management accountants: short case studies to promote creativity in the classroom. In: Paper presented at the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand annual conference; 2006] and better equipped to study and evaluate accounting theories.     

A writing intervention for the accounting classroom: dealing with the problem of faulty modifiers

Good communication skills continue to be viewed as critical for success in accounting. This paper demonstrates a writing-skills “intervention” that deals with faulty modifiers, a grammatical problem that can inhibit accounting students and professionals from achieving the clarity and conciseness widely regarded as essential in the accounting profession. The intervention consists of a handout distributed to students – fashioned to sensitize them to the pervasiveness of faulty modifiers and help them avoid the problem – and an in-class discussion of the handout. By design, this intervention is both inexpensive and unobtrusive. For the accounting instructor, we provide in the body of the paper a technical, but unpedantic and informal, analysis of faulty modifiers, including numerous examples of the problem, accompanied by alternative corrections. To date, few papers in the accounting education literature that deal with writing problems present direct assessment evidence. To assess the efficacy and perceived value of our learning intervention, we collected assessment data – both direct (i.e., a set of three diagnostic tests) and indirect (i.e., feedback from a student questionnaire) from two institutions at which our learning intervention was tested. These data suggest than an intervention of the sort described here can be valuable in remedying discrete weaknesses of student writing. In a larger sense, we believe our paper can be used as a model for the development of similar “interventions” that cover other grammatical problems, and that can serve either as stand-alone entities (similar to the method proposed by Reinstein and Houston (2004) [Using the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “plain English” guidelines to improve accounting students’ writing skills. Journal of Accounting Education, 22, 53–67]) or as complementary resources to more comprehensive and formal writing programs.     

The birth of a nation: Accounting and Canada’s first nations, 1860–1900

The 1860–1900 period was both the “birth” of Canada but also the birth and institutionalization of a specific set of social relations between the federal government and First Nations peoples. This study examines the roles played by accounting and funding relations within the process of nation building. Throughout this formative period in Canada’s history, governance was attempted via the introduction of financial legislation and enacted by the Indian Department and agents in the field. As our analysis highlights, legislative initiatives, Indian Department pronouncements and the activities of agents imposed, enlisted and implied a variety of accounting technologies. This study not only explores how the federal government has used accounting/funding mechanisms in the attempt to translate government policy regarding indigenous peoples into practice but also provides a history of the present by examining the historical consequences of these interventions.     

An active learning strategy for the classroom—“who wants to win … some mini chips ahoy?”

Skillfully presenting technical accounting material has been identified as an important dimension of effective teaching [Issues in Accounting Education (1993) 8(2), 436]. Faculty may more effectively present material by modifying the traditional lecture approach to incorporate visual-based instruction and increase student involvement through active learning exercises. One approach to presenting accounting material more effectively is described in this article. A “Who Wants to Win…?” game, similar to that seen on television, is constructed with the instructor in the role of master of ceremonies and one class member, a group, or the entire class in the role of contestants. The method described can be adapted and used to present a variety of accounting topics. Anecdotal evidence from two very different college classroom settings indicates a high level of student enjoyment, increased class participation, and an increased level of advance preparation on the part of the students. While a significant amount of material is presented in a concise, novel, and effective manner, the game provides a relaxed classroom atmosphere for the students and an enjoyable method of presentation for the instructor.     

Strategy and accounting in a U.K. conglomerate

This paper sets out to explore various aspects of the relationship between the use of accounting information for performance reporting and control and the formulation and implementation of business and corporate strategy. It does this by means of a case study of the acquisition and subsequent management of “ELB Ltd” by “Conglom Inc.” The case gives an account of the structuring of relationships both between the Corporate centre and ELB senior management, and within ELB itself. A very complex picture of the relationship between strategy and accounting emerges. Although accounting results are often taken as a proxy for the relative success of strategy, the case suggests that in this respect accounts typically conceal as much as they reveal. Especially with a conglomerate structure it is quite possible for corporate financial “success” to be realized at the expense of the long term strategic positioning of individual unit companies. The paper illustrates how the sharing and integration of market knowledge required for the successful formulation and implementation of strategy can conflict with the conformity and distorted communication encouraged by the hierarchical use of accounting controls. It also describes some of the positive effects that can be realized from deliberate attempts to integrate strategic decision making with routine accountability.     

Expanding your accounting classroom with digital video technology

In the past, many activities of accounting professors were restricted or confined by their classroom walls. Bringing in guest speakers, taking students on field trips and teaching students off-campus (either locally or globally) were extraordinary efforts that required significant organization. Today, numerous technological advancements in communication infrastructure, equipment and online tools greatly facilitate such initiatives. Outside experts can now visit the classroom, students can explore or collaborate in distant places and professors can extend the geographical reach of their lessons simply via the means of digital video technology. Based on our 2010 Conference on Teaching and Learning in Accounting (CTLA) Master Class, we share our experiences in exploring the use of digital video in teaching accounting and explain how numerous accounting professors are taking advantage of the capabilities afforded by digital video technologies. Online video clips, student video projects, and online video lecture recordings hold great promise for accounting education. We have created a website that complements and demonstrates the teaching ideas presented in this article and that facilitates video integration into accounting courses. We discuss the pedagogical benefits of using video, including those from general education and accounting literature. The article concludes with suggestions for how accounting faculty can keep current with video technology, areas for future accounting research and a call to action for accounting educators. Our work with digital video technology has led to the 2011 American Accounting Association (AAA) Innovation in Accounting Education Award as well as the 2010 Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA) Howard Teall Innovation in Accounting Education Award.     

Professional judgment and accounting standards

This essay explores relationships between accounting standards and people's inferences and judgments. Acknowledging that Demski's impossibility theorem implies that the standards will be “social-preference incomplete”, the paper shows that they are also “decision-procedure incomplete” on three levels. These levels correspond to three kinds of professional judgment: semantic, pragmatic and institutional. The investigation facilitates understanding of (1) how accountants exercise judgment and deduction in applying incomplete standards; (2) how financial statement readers use the incomplete standards to draw deductive inferences from financial reports which are based on accountants' judgments; (3) the special kinds of judgment required of standard setters; and (4) the meaning and extent of professional liability, given the relationships identified between accounting standards, inferences and judgments.     

Communists Among Us in a Market Economy: Accountancy in the People's Republic of China

China is undergoing a unique experience. Its strategy to move the country to a market economy is based on “marketization” instead of “privatization.” The state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are intended to continue to be the mainstay of the economy. The recent accounting reform, a 16-point economic stabilization policy, and the decision to maintain the dominance of the SOEs were all promulgated in the same month. To put the recent accounting reform in perspective, four stages in the development of accounting theory since the Communist Revolution are identified. The first stage is Mao Tse-Tung's initial society, where the control function of accounting, in its narrowest sense, was emphasized. The Counter Revolution with the Post-Revisionist Era relaxed, at the macroeconomic level, the notion of control. The third stage of opening up the Chinese economy to outside capital combines allocative techniques, albeit limited, with Western accounting concepts, all blended with Chinese cultural values. The current stage of macroeconomic liberalization of state enterprises, which accompanied a major macroeconomic stabilization program, is a result of a number of demonstration effects that has further exposed the Chinese economy to various outside factors. Accordingly, such recent accounting reform introduces the concept of equity capital, provides a relatively sharper distinction between product cost and period cost, realistically incorporates the capital maintenance concept and allows a limited number of Westernized accounting standards, mostly adapted to accommodate traditional Chinese values. Accounting forms an indispensable component of an overall economic policy.     

Microcomputer competency requirements in the accounting industry: A pilot study

The significant changes in the accounting environment resulting from the expanding use of microcomputers suggests a need for an evaluation of the changing requirements placed on universities in educating accounting students. The purpose of this paper is to update information on how microcomputers are being used in public accounting and in industry and to report on the investigation of the resulting microcomputer competency requirements as defined from the perspective of those companies.There have been many attempts to define computer literacy (or competency) from a pedagogical point of view (see Barger [1983]). Herbert Simon [1983] explained the term, computer literacy, as a part of “a broader problem that has been with us for a long time … the problem of quantitative literacy for the population of the technical world.” Ijiri [1983] saw the problem as one of moving from illustrative methods of teaching that rely on the students' inductive abilities to the “algorithmic” method of instruction that utilizes the computer's powerful deductive abilities. In this study, however, microcomputer competency is defined in terms of the specific requirements of the accounting industry. The depth and breadth of desired knowledge for graduating accountants relating to broad microcomputer topics as well as specific concepts considered important by prospective employers are investigated. The normative question of curriculum development is not discussed, although the information presented may assist those involved in developing curricula in reaction to this important change in the accounting environment.     

The use of historical analysis to provide alternatives to authoritative justifications of accounting standards: A focus on stock dividends

This study demonstrates the effectiveness and importance of historical analysis as a pedagogic tool. Specifically, the study illustrates how historical analysis may provide explanations that provide greater insight into the reasons underlying the construction of current reporting requirements than may be obtained from the authoritative text, the conceptual framework, or accounting theory. The study also examines how historical analysis may be used to demonstrate to students that, rather than being conceived and constructed in a theoretical and conceptual vacuum, accounting policy decisions are often heavily influenced, and sometimes constrained, by legal, political, and societal forces. In this particular case, the research suggests that current reporting requirements were constructed to discourage the use of stock dividends that policymakers perceived as a deceptive financial practice. In addition, the research illustrates how the dynamic and evolutionary attributes of the standard-setting process become clearly visible when examined from a historical perspective. The study concludes by recommending and describing a “positive approach” to accounting education that challenges students to question why current reporting requirements exist in their present form.     

Faculty perspectives on international accounting topics

Given the increasing globalization of business, including the widening acceptance of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the capital markets, the international dimension is of great importance to the accounting profession. The international accounting course plays a key role in the accounting curriculum in providing students with information about this critical area of accounting. This study examines the relative importance of various international accounting topics through a survey of members of the American Accounting Association's International Accounting Section. Results are compared with those of prior studies in order to determine whether and to what extent perspectives have changed over time. The findings should be helpful for faculty designing or updating an international accounting course or curriculum or desiring to integrate international issues into various accounting courses. They should also help practitioners identify with which areas their new hires are likely to be more familiar.     

Accounting as a legitimating institution

Recent attempts to reconceptualize the role of accounting in organizations and society have suggested that accounting may be examined as a “legitimating institution”. The concept of legitimation, however, has not developed within a single theoretic tradition, rather it emerges from three sociological traditions, each suggesting a distinct perspective on the phenomena and opening new areas for research. This paper reviews perspectives on legitimation, locates existing research on accounting within them, and suggests some areas for further research.