Blockholders’ Ownership and Audit Fees: The Impact of the Corporate Governance Model

This paper examines how two prominent corporate governance models, namely the shareholder and stakeholder models, have different effects on the relation between agency conflicts and the supply, and demand of audit services. Shareholder (stakeholder) countries rely heavily on public (private) information to reduce information asymmetry for outside investors in the context of high (low) litigation risk. We expect audit fees to reflect the level of agency conflicts in shareholder countries as well as the needs for information of the major blockholders in stakeholder countries. Using a sample of 7982 firm-year observations from 19 countries, we find a U-shaped relation between controlling shareholding and audit fees for shareholder countries and an inverted U-shaped relation between controlling shareholding and audit fees for stakeholder countries. These results are consistent across different firm-level governance arrangements.     

An Enquiry Into the Responsiveness of Corporate Profitability to Corporate Governance Mechanism＂ Evidences From Malaysian Government-Linked Companies （GLCs）

Realizing the importance of corporate governance, many governments have embarked upon various initiatives. In Malaysia, the recently introduced Green Book program aims to strengthen the corporate governance among the government-linked companies （GLCs）, in view of their significant contributions to the national socio-economic development. The Green Book initiative, launched in 2005, contains, among other things, a provision to create a high-performing board. Performance of GLCs, therefore, is likely to scale better heights with the modification of the constitution of the boards. The present paper aims to examine the association between the selected corporate governance attributes and performance of GLCs in 2010, approximately five years since the implementation of the transformation program. The regression analysis reveals that none of the selected corporate governance indicators has significantly impacted the performance of GLCs. The findings serve as a wake-up call to the authorities to appraise the effectiveness of the transformation program in enhancing the performance of GLCs.     

Corporate governance mechanisms and performance： Analysis of Malaysian family and non-family controlled companies

Most study concentrating on family and non-family companies is conducted overseas with little research carried out in Malaysia. This study examined the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on family and non-family controlled companies＇ performance. The sample size of this study is 730 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2003 to 2007. The findings reveal that corporate governance mechanisms influence the family and non-family controlled companies＇ performance. But not all corporate governance mechanisms are significant. The significant variables differ between family and non-family controlled companies. Thus, regulators need to be vigilant that family and non-family controlled companies practise differently and to set different code needed for each type of families.     

The Perception of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises （SMEs） on the Importance of a Proper Accounting System： Malaysian Evidence

This paper examines the relationship between small- and medium-sized enterprises＇ （SMEs） entrepreneurs＇ perceptions towards a proper accounting system with the level of accounting staff recruited, preparation of final accounts, meetings with accounting staff, and entrepreneurs＇ ranking of accounting according to their priority. The methodology used to gather the data is survey questionnaire. It has been distributed to SMEs based on simple random sampling method. Three hundred businesses were selected from the total of 3,390 businesses listed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia area obtained from Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation （SMIDEC） website and a few random selected from Ampang and Cheras areas. Regression analysis has been used to analyze the data. The results of the study reveal that there was a significant relation between SMEs entrepreneurs＇ perceptions on the importance of a good accounting system and the level of professional accounting staff recruited. Furthermore, findings of this study also found that there was an insignificant relationship between SMEs entrepreneurs＇ perceptions on the importance of a good accounting system and preparation of final accounts of the company and frequency of meetings with accounting staff.     

Effect of personality on fraud detection： The Malaysian case

Auditing standards require external auditors to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatements, either due to fraud or error. Inability of the external auditors to detect the material misstatements, particularly fraud, may expose them to litigation. The present study aims to examine the effect of personality factors （i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience and agreeableness） on the external auditors＇ ability to detect the likelihood of fraud. An experimental approach is adopted by sending case materials to audit partners and audit managers attached to auditing firms operating in Malaysia. The result shows that personality does not have a positive effect on the external auditors＇ ability to detect the likelihood of fraud.     

Good Corporate Governance （GCG） Mechanism and Audit Delay： An Empirical Study on Companies Listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange （IDX） in the Period of 2009-2011

Audit delay is a delay in reporting audit to the Indonesia Stock Exchange （IDX） after the allotted time of 90 days after closing the book. Delay to publish audit report will affect the value of infromation, causing a bad sign for the company. As good corporate governance （GCG） is one way to solve the different interests, practices, and culture, companies implement GCG in an attempt to get more value. This study aims to measure the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on audit delay in companies listed on the IDX in the period of 2009-2011. Variables of GCG mechanism consist of institutional ownership, number of audit committee members, and the percentage of independent commissioners. Purposive sampling method is used in sample selection procedure. Samples comprise 42 companies listed on the IDX. The simultaneous test results show that all the variables have a significant influence on audit delay. By the partial test, number of audit committee members has significantly affected audit delay, while institutional ownership and independent commissioners have no significant effect on audit delay. This study is limited to use only three variables to study their influence on audit delay in the reseach period of only three years.     

Organizational Learning （OL） and Organizational Innovation （OI）： The Case of Information and Communication Technology （ICT） Industry in Malaysia

The progression through which a person acquires ,;kills, understanding, and opinions regarding a particular organization or company is called organizational learning （OL）. In this study, the connection between organizational innovation （OI） and OL within the inf3rmation and communication technology （ICT） industry in Malaysia is surveyed. These relationships are examined, because various previous inquiries have shown that an imperative precursor to firm performance is OL. Two hundred and seventy-eight surveys were completed by small and medium organizations across Malaysia. The connections existing between the causes of OL and the causes of OI were ascertained by using structural equation modeling （SEM）. Amongst the Malaysian small- and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs） that participated in fire study, OI and OL are considerably linked.     

Corporate Internet Disclosure in the Arabian Gulf： An Empirical Examination of Determinants and Attributes

This paper investigates and reports on the extent and nature of corporate internet disclosure and the determinants of internet financial disclosure （IFD） by companies listed in three Gulf Corporation Council （GCC） countries. This paper uses data from 207 listed companies in Muscat Securities Market （MSM）, Dubai Financial Market （DFM）, and Qatar Exchange （QE）. Binary logistic regression analysis is used to examine the determinants of IFD. Kruskal-Wallis test is used to examine the differences in disclosure characteristics among the three countries. The results of this study reveal that firm size is the major factor influencing intemet financial reporting in the GCC. The results reveal that the three countries differ significantly in all the disclosure attributes with the exception of the existence of email link. This paper extends the stream of research that confirms the widespread use of internet in disclosing financial information. The results are consistent with previous literature that corporate size is a major determinant of internet financial reporting. This paper provides insights into corporate internet disclosure in the GCC that will benefit all stakeholders with an interest in corporate reporting in this important region of the world.     

The Impact of Financial Distress Status and Corporate Governance Structures on the Level of Voluntary Disclosure Within Annual Reports of Firms （Case Study of Non-financial Firms in Indonesia Over the Period of 2009-2011）

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of financial distress status and corporate governance structures on the level of voluntary disclosure. We apply six independent variables, including the firm＇s financial distress status and five components of corporate governance structures, such as board independence, audit committee independence, institutional ownership, board meeting frequency, and audit committee meeting frequency. This research is carried out by examining the annual reports of 114 non-financial firms listed at the Indonesian Stock Exchange over the period of 2009-2011. To test hypotheses, we undergo two different analyses, including independent samples t-test and Multiple Linear Regression. We find that： （1） The audit committee independence and the audit committee meeting frequency have significant positive impacts on the level of voluntary disclosure; （2） The financial distress status is negatively related to the level of disclosure at various levels of significance; and （3） All the independent variables are simultaneously related to voluntary disclosure.     

Audit Quality in Practice A Critical Analysis of the Financial Reporting Council （FRC） Discussion Paper

The efforts by the Financial Reporting Council （FRC） in the United Kingdom （UK） to stimulate audit firms to improve audit quality manifest in its Discussion Paper： Promoting Audit Quality warrant further analysis. The discussion paper identified factors such as audit firm culture, the quality of people, the effectiveness of audit process, and outside factors such as management and audit committee （AC） which can affect level of audit quality in practice. Reporting upon the analysis of responses to the discussion paper, the objective of this study is to analyze views from the respondents about various issues related to audit quality. This study composes of how subject of audit quality is seen in practice, which contributes to our understanding of conditions, events, or processes that can affect audit quality in practice.     

Measuring the Impact of Information Technology （IT） on Supply Chain Management （SCM） Through Indicators： An Exploratory Study

Enterprises are looking to adapt to this scenario focusing on performance, seeking to improve the level of service and reduce costs in an attempt to differentiate and increase the perceived value of their customers. A strong partner to achieve these goals is the information technology （IT）. IT has an important role in the performance of companies, providing a flow of information that makes the supply chain more robust and resilient, without compromising efficiency. To achieve the objective of this research, a survey of the literature on the four models was studied and then a field research with professionals was conducted in the areas of IT and supply chain management （SCM） of various companies of Sao Paulo. To collect the data needed for analysis, we used the exploratory research of a qualitative nature. Thus, we conclude that the use of IT impacts supply chain in five surveyed areas as planning, manufacturing, suppliers, customers, and delivery but does not impact the return area.