Analysis of the learning context, perceptions of the learning environment and approaches to learning accounting: a longitudinal study

This study investigates student approaches to learning over the 3 years of an undergraduate degree course in accounting. The objective of the study was, first, to identify changes in learning approaches over the course duration. Second, the study examined whether any changes in learning approaches were consistent with changes in the context of learning as well as students' perceptions of the teaching/learning environment. The results show that students made greater use of sophisticated learning approaches over time linked to their more favourable perceptions of the teaching/learning environment as they progressed in their course. However, there were no significant changes in learning approach attributable to the learning context. Implications for accounting educators drawn from the findings are discussed.     

Tell me a story: Using creative writing in introductory accounting courses to enhance and assess student learning

Low student motivation, apprehension and anxiety towards accounting, and diversity in learning styles are a few incentives for employing non-traditional tools for teaching introductory accounting courses. Three modes of storytelling – fairy tales, fables, and poetry – are used in financial and managerial accounting courses to enhance and assess student learning. We find the storytelling exercises give us good insight as to whether students genuinely understand course content. Students indicate that storytelling helps them to understand accounting concepts and make the course more fun. Assignment outcomes have been used at conferences and campus events and have generated conversations about accounting beyond business faculty.     

Teaching auditing using cases in an online learning environment: the role of ePortfolio assessment

While teaching auditing using cases is regarded as an effective approach, spatial separation of students and teachers in online contexts can restrict the application of case teaching. This study examines an undergraduate auditing course implemented to address this challenge by integrating case teaching with ePortfolio assessment. Students’ written ePortfolio submissions and scores were analysed. Results show that despite spatial separation of the online learner from peers and teachers, integrating case teaching with ePortfolio assessment elicits learner behaviour desirable in online auditing courses. This approach enables online learners’ self-directed engagement as compared to instructor-led case teaching in conventional teaching contexts. Based on a new pedagogical approach for teaching auditing trialled in reduced (or absence of) face-to-face interaction, this study informs course design in auditing. It demonstrates that active student engagement, which presupposes an instructor’s role to facilitate student involvement in case discussions, can be implemented in online teaching of auditing.     

Fostering deep and elaborative learning and generic (soft) skill development: the strategic use of case studies in accounting education

It is vital that accounting educators take responsibility for the development of students' generic (soft) skills in conjunction with, discipline-specific skills. Research indicates that the typical learning styles of accounting students are not suited to the acquisition of generic skills. In this paper learning theory is used to provide a framework to support the use of case studies as a tool to promote appropriate learning styles and thereby enhance generic skill development. The paper details a number of strategies that may be implemented with case studies to achieve these goals. The implications for accounting educators, which are significant, are discussed.     

The contract,accounting and trust: A case study of an international joint venture (IJV) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

This paper reports on the results of a case study that examines the effect of the contract and accounting on inter-organisational trust in an international joint venture (IJV). The empirical setting of the research was an IJV relation between a United Arab Emirates (UAE) firm and its western partner. Data were gathered from multiple sources, including documents, observations, interviews and discussions with managers. The paper aims to explore the process of trust development and the role of the contract and accounting in this. We find that trust developed differently for the partners. Moreover the trust concerns of the partners were not the same. Based on this we conclude that trust was not automatically reciprocated. Instead it needs relating to other items such as the contract, accounting and also the institutional environment. The open-book accounting we observed could only be termed ‘partial’ because the western partner had access to the local partner's books but not the vice versa. But this partial open-book accounting created conflicts between the partners. We argue that developing one kind of trust through one particular medium may help one party but may damage the relationship between the partners.     

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.     

Developments in accounting regulation: A synthesis and annotated bibliography of evidence and commentary in the academic literature (1999-2000)

In this article, we synthesize in annotated bibliography form, recent regulation-related findings and commentaries in the academic literature. This annotated bibliography is the fourth in a series of bibliographies that will summarize regulation-related academic research for at least the period 1990 and forward. We reviewed academic outlets such as The Accounting Review, The Journal of Accounting Research, The Journal of Accounting and Economics, Accounting Horizons, The Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, The Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, The Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, and Research in Accounting Regulation. We annotate results of regulation-related research studies and key points from regulation-related commentaries.     

Interactions between control and organizational learning in the case of a municipality: A comparative study with Kloot (1997)

Control systems are frequently described as hindering organizational learning. The reality is far more complex. In this framework this article tries to complete Kloot's work (1997) by coming up with a more comprehensive approach. Indeed, it highlights through an analysis grid the impact of controlling systems on the questioning of organizational methods and objectives. In this research on a local community our standpoint consists notably in taking account of the political aspect, more concretely, of the influence of elected representatives whose role is predominant in questioning the validity as well as the rationality of controlling tools.     

Management controls in family-owned businesses (FOBs): A case study of an Indonesian family-owned University

This paper reports on the results of a case study of management controls in an Indonesian family-owned University. The paper attempts to understand the nature and dynamics of management controls in the operations of the University. Data for the analyses are gathered from multiple sources including document analysis, observations and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the case study showed that culture and social relations are very instrumental in the management of the University [Ansari, S. L., & Bell, J. (1991). Symbolism, collectivism and rationality in organizational control. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 4(2), 4–27]. Decisions such as recruitment, rewards, performance evaluation, and resource allocations are often made in cognizance of social and cultural factors. The strong influence of culture and social relations in the organization thus made formal management controls less relevant. These findings have implications for understanding management controls in FOBs especially in the developing world.     

Accounting and control in Barclays Bank (DCO): the lending to Africans episode

This paper analyses the accounting, control and operational consequences of a pre-independence experiment by Barclays Bank (DCO) in the British Nigerian colony to liberalize its credit policy towards Africans. This was partly an attempt to develop African business, an area previously neglected by foreign banks. The new policy also appeased Africans who believed that the colonial banks discriminated against them. This experiment resulted in 'alarming' bad debts and led to a reappraisal of the bank's accounting, control and operational procedures. The paper highlights the limitations of internal controls in an era of change.     

It Pays to Set the Menu: Mutual Fund Investment Options in 401(k) Plans

This paper investigates whether mutual fund families acting as service providers in 401(k) plans display favoritism toward their own affiliated funds. Using a hand‐collected data set on the menu of investment options offered to plan participants, we show that fund deletions and additions are less sensitive to prior performance for affiliated than unaffiliated funds. We find no evidence that plan participants undo this affiliation bias through their investment choices. Finally, we find that the subsequent performance of poorly performing affiliated funds indicates that this favoritism is not information driven.     

乘势前进 奋发作为 大力推动“十二五”会计人才建设再上新台阶——在全国会计人才工作座谈会上的讲话

王军副部长在座谈会上指出,准拥有人才,就拥有发展的先机.拥有灿烂的未来.他要求各级财政部门和中央主管单位各尽其资,齐心协力;形成合力,扎实推进会计人才规划的全面贯彻落实。要突出里点、打造亮点.继续特力推进会计领军人才培养工程,若力培养提升总会计师、主任会计师、会计院系负贵人的能力和水平,努力打造成具有国际影晌力的名片。解放思想,开拓创新.把协十二五,时期打造成会计人才长足发展的重要时期。     

Changes in social and environmental reporting practices in an emerging economy (2004–2007): Exploring the relevance of stakeholder and legitimacy theories

We examine social and environmental reporting (SER) practices of listed companies in the island economy of Mauritius. Based on a content analysis of annual reports, quantitative and qualitative changes in SER were analyzed in light of recent developments in corporate governance and with regard to the prevailing social and political contexts of this emerging economy. We find a significant but selective increase in the volume and quality of SER over the period under review (2004–2007). We rely on Suchman's (1995) conceptualizations of legitimacy to argue that the changes in SER are related to a need for companies to demonstrate an affiliation to pro-social objectives (moral legitimacy) and, to a lesser extent, are motivated by the need to manage specific stakeholders (pragmatic legitimacy). More specifically, the increase in ethical disclosures reflects an attempt at gaining procedural legitimacy in response to criticisms of corruption and unfair/unethical business practices. Furthermore, the increase in social disclosures can primarily be seen as a mechanism to gain consequential legitimacy in response to concerns that local companies are not sufficiently contributing to the country's social development. We suggest that future empirical research should devote more attention to the specific characteristics of emerging economies (such as levels of corruption and unethical business practices and the level of corporate governance) and examine whether these can explain patterns of corporate SER in a given national context or on a cross-country basis.     

From risk analysis in Europe to European risk analysis: the first ten years of SRA-E (1987-97)

Risk analysis has both a long past and a short history. This latter is written in the past 30 years. Technology's potential to create sometimes irreversible damage, as well as unprecedented improvement in standard of living, prompted the need for risk analysis. The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) was created in the United States at the end of the 1970s. Its purpose was and is to bring together scientists and professionals concerned by issues of risk to health, safety and the environment, on an international and interdisciplinary basis. This article traces European participation in the SRA and recounts the founding of the chapter Society for Risk Analysis- Europe (SRA-E) in 1987. The composition of founding, Advisory and Executive Committees is given, as are themes and Directors of the seven Conferences held by SRA-E to date. SRA in 1987 counted 69 Europe-based members in 13 countries; in 1997, 25 countries are represented in SRA-Europe by 317 members. A trend is seen from a mainly geographic extension of SRA towards a more specific identity springing from risk research and management as practised today in Europe. The multicultural and multilingual experience of members, and their capacity for collaboration across national and disciplinary lines, are among European risk analysis' strongest assets. The present Journal of Risk Research can provide a forum for reinforcing new currents in risk analysis. The creation of a European university cursus in risk studies is recommended, as is a stronger role for SRA-E as a body of expertise. A call is made for risk analysis sustainable in national and cultural contexts removed from those that have developed today's art and practice: needed are appropriate conceptualizations of risk, management methods, and indicators of success. The Mediterranean basin and North Africa are targeted as areas for development and new learning for risk analysts, communicators, managers and researchers in the 21st century.     

Life risk assessment in cancer: a guide to using the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) program

A guide to the use of SEER data to analyze cancer survival using the SEER*Stat software package is presented. Relative and cause-specific survival techniques are demonstrated via examples, and the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches are explored.